Near-surface flow structure over wind-generated water waves, part I: wave-induced flow characteristics

Abstract

We report on an experimental study conducted to investigate the influence of small-scale wind waves on the airflow structure in the immediate vicinity of the air–water interface. PIV technique was used to measure the two-dimensional velocity fields at wind speeds of 3.7 and 4.4 m s−1 and at a fetch of 2.1 m. The flow structure was analyzed as a function of wave phase. In the near-surface region, significant variations were observed in the flow structure over the waveform. The phase-averaged profiles of velocity, vorticity, and Reynolds stress showed different behavior on the windward and leeward sides of the wave in the near-surface region. The influence of wave-induced velocity was restricted within a distance of three significant wave heights from the surface, which also showed opposite trends on the windward and leeward sides of the crest. The results also show that the turbulent Reynolds stress mainly supports downward momentum transfer whereas the wave-induced Reynolds stress is responsible for the upward momentum transfer from wave to wind. In the immediate vicinity of the air–water interface, the momentum is transferred from waves to wind along the windward side, whereas, the momentum transfer is from wind to waves along the leeward side.