Abstract
The preliminary results of a statistical analysis of the atmospheric stability effects on the growth of sea waves are given in this paper. In unstable conditions (air colder than water) an increase of vertical mixing is experienced due to turbulence which makes the wind profile more uniform with height (deviating it from the logarithmic law). This circumstance increases the wind stress on the sea surface and thus gives rise to higher wave energy. In order to quantify the wave energy increase, the analysis of wave, wind and temperature data was performed, on the basis of the SWAN (Sea WAve monitoring Network) data set regarding both the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Sea. The statistical analysis was first performed in terms of relative deviation of non-dimensional wave energy as a function of the Bulk Richardson Number in terms of the wind velocity U10. Then another stability parameter, the MoninObukhov length, was related to the friction velocity u*. This approach needed the implementation of a numerical procedure to estimate the set of MoninObukhov parameters, which account for atmospheric stability.
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