Abstract
The effect of the surface gravity waves over sea surface roughness length (z0) is investigated from several idealized numerical experiments with the Wave-Watch-III (WW3) model. The WW3 model is combined with a simplified model to estimate z0, CD, u* and U10 as function of the sea state. The impacts related to the presence of the ocean waves over z0 are obtained from conditions of growing (young waves) and mature seas (old waves). The wave spectrum is obtained from WW3 model for each idealized simulation under uniform wind conditions. Uniform wind experiments range from 15 to 45 m/s. The simplified algorithm determines z0, CD, u* and U10 for cases of young waves, old waves and by the Charnock method. The results show that when the ocean is characterized by young waves, both z0 and CD (drag coefficient) increase while U10 is reduced. In Charnock case, the values of z0, CD and U10 have no dependence with the presence of gravity waves. Experiments using winds higher than 30 m/s result in young waves’ CD values higher than the CD value for old waves. Even for young waves CD values are high for cases of strong winds. The results also show that in experiments using winds higher than 30 m/s the dependence between CD and wave age becomes stronger, which is in accordance with other studies.
Highlights
Ocean surface waves are the result of forces acting on the ocean
The effect of waves on sea surface roughness length, sea drag, and wind velocity at 10 meters has been investigated by combining the WW3 model with a simplified algorithm
The results showed that there is a significant dependency between z0 and the sea state
Summary
Ocean surface waves are the result of forces acting on the ocean. The characteristics of the waves depend on theHow to cite this paper: Veiga, J.A.P. and Queiroz, M.R. (2015) Impact of the Waves on the Sea Surface Roughness under Uniform Wind Conditions: Idealized Cases for Uniform Winds (Part I). Ocean surface waves are the result of forces acting on the ocean. (2015) Impact of the Waves on the Sea Surface Roughness under Uniform Wind Conditions: Idealized Cases for Uniform Winds (Part I). Wind-generated gravity waves are almost always present at sea. These waves are generated by winds somewhere on the ocean. They are very relevant in climate processes since they play a role in the heat, energy, gases and particles exchange between the oceans and atmosphere. Gravity waves can be classified into wind sea and swell. Wind seas are waves that constantly experience the action from the winds. Swells are waves that propagate away from the wind forcing area
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