Generation mechanisms for capillary-gravity wind wave spectrum

Abstract

We investigate the role of different physical mechanisms in the generation of the capillary-gravity wind wave spectrum. This spectrum is calculated by integrating a nonstationary kinetic equation until the solution becomes stready. The mechanisms of spectrum generation under consideration include three-wave interactions, viscous dissipation, energy influx from wind, nonlinear dissipation, and the generation of a parasitic capillary ripple. The three-wave interactions are taken into account as an integral of collisions without additional simplifications. It is shown that the three-wave interactions lead to solution instability if the kinetic equation takes into account only linear sources. To stabilize the solution, the kinetic equation should incorporate a nonlinear dissipation term, which in the range of short gravity waves corresponds to energy losses during wave breaking and microscale wave breaking. In the range of capillary waves, the account of nonlinear dissipation is also needed to ensure a realistic level of the spectrum for large wind velocities. For the steady-state spectrum, the role of three-wave interactions remains essential merely in the range of the minimum of phase velocity, where a trough on the curvature spectrum is formed. At the remaining intervals of the spectrum, the main contribution into the spectral energy balance is provided by the mechanisms of wave injection, nonlinear dissipation, and the generation of parasitic capillaries.