Abstract
The inertial coupling model of the surface shear stress at the sea surface ( Bye, 1995 ) which takes account of the surface wavefield, has been applied to couple the Ekman layers of the ocean and atmosphere. We determine the surface shear stress and geostrophic drag coefficient, under barotropic conditions. The results are expressed in terms of the shear between the inertially weighted (i.e. velocity×square root of the density) relative geostrophic velocities in the two fluids, in which the reference velocity need not be specified, a priori. We find, in particular, that the deflection of the relative surface geostrophic wind to the surface shear stress in naturally occurring seastates, is about 9°. In the application of the analysis to general circulation models , it is argued that, since the inertially weighted relative geostrophic velocities in air and water are of similar magnitude, this implies that the surface shear stress can be significantly reduced by the current component of the inertially weighted geostrophic shear, with a corresponding reduction in importance of the Ekman transport .
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call