Wind Stress at Air‐Water Interface

Abstract

The field and laboratory data for wind shear stress coefficient at the air-water interface are reanalyzed. The major discrepancy between the field and laboratory data for wind shear stress coefficient is removed by adjusting the laboratory data to the same elevation as the field data. The adjusted laboratory data for wind shear stress follow closely the corresponding field data. Based on this result, it is concluded that wind shear stress coefficient is independent of fetch length. Finally, the Charnock hypothesis is tested statistically based on the available data. The results of the test indicate that the roughness parameter, zo, varies linearly with (V*2/g) in the laboratory. However, the corresponding variation is not linear for field conditions contrary to the results reported in previous studies.