Relationship of oceanic whitecap coverage to wind speed and wind history

Abstract

Sea surface images obtained during the 2006 Marine Aerosol Production (MAP) campaign in the North East Atlantic were analysed for values of percentage whitecap coverage (W). Values of W are presented for wind speeds up to circa 23 m s−1. The W data were divided into two overlapping groups and a piecewise, wind‐speed‐only parameterization of W is proposed that is valid for wind speeds between 3.70 m s−1 and 23.09 m s−1. Segregation of data points based upon a 2.5 hour wind history acted to decrease data scatter at wind speeds above approximately 9.25 m s−1. At these wind speeds W values were greater for decreasing wind speeds than for increasing wind speeds. No clear wind history effect was observed at wind speeds below 9.25 m s−1.