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Growth and dissipation of wind-forced, deep-water waves

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2013

Laurent Grare ,
William L. Peirson ,
Hubert Branger ,
James W. Walker ,
Jean-Paul Giovanangeli  and
Vladimir Makin
Laurent Grare*
Affiliation:
Institut de Recherche sur les Phénomènes Hors Equilibre, CNRS UMR 6594, Aix-Marseille Université, France
William L. Peirson
Affiliation:
Water Research Laboratory, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, King Street, Manly Vale NSW 2093, Australia
Hubert Branger
Affiliation:
Institut de Recherche sur les Phénomènes Hors Equilibre, CNRS UMR 6594, Aix-Marseille Université, France
James W. Walker
Affiliation:
Water Research Laboratory, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, King Street, Manly Vale NSW 2093, Australia
Jean-Paul Giovanangeli
Affiliation:
Institut de Recherche sur les Phénomènes Hors Equilibre, CNRS UMR 6594, Aix-Marseille Université, France
Vladimir Makin
Affiliation:
KNMI, PO Box 201, 3730 AE De Bilt, The Netherlands
*
†Email address for correspondence: lgrare@ucsd.edu
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Abstract

The input of energy by wind to water waves is compared with the observed growth of the waves using a suite of microphysical measurement techniques in the laboratory. These include measured tangential stresses in the water and air immediately adjacent to the interface with corresponding form drag measurements above wind-forced freely propagating waves. The drag data sets are consistent but the comparison has highlighted important issues in relation to the measurement of fluctuating pressures above freely propagating waves. Derived normalized wind input values show good collapse as a function of mean wave steepness and are significantly in excess of the assembly of net wave growth measurements by Peirson & Garcia (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 608, 2008, pp. 243–274) at low steepness. Sheltering coefficients in the form of Jeffreys (Proc. R. Soc. Lond. Ser. A, vol. 107, 1925, pp. 189–206) are derived that are consistent with values previously obtained by Donelan & Pierson (J. Geophys. Res., vol. 92, 1987, pp. 4971–5029), Donelan (Wind-over-Wave Couplings: Perspectives and Prospects, Clarendon, 1999, pp. 183–194) and Donelan et al. (J. Phys. Oceanogr., vol. 36, 2006, pp. 1672–1689). The sheltering coefficients exhibit substantial scatter. By carefully measuring the associated growth of the surface wave fields, systematic energy budgets for the interaction between wind and waves are obtained. For non-breaking waves, there is a significant and systematic misclose in the radiative transfer equation if wave–turbulence interactions are not included. Significantly higher levels of turbulent wave attenuation are found in comparison with the theoretical estimates by Teixeira & Belcher (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 458, 2002, pp. 229–267) and Ardhuin & Jenkins (J. Phys. Oceanogr., vol. 36, 2006, pp. 551–557). Suitable normalizations of attenuation for wind-forced wave fields exhibit consistent behaviour in the presence and absence of wave breaking. Closure of the surface energy flux budget is obtained by comparing the normalized energy loss rates due to breaking with the values previously determined by Banner & Peirson (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 585, 2007, pp. 93–115) and Drazen et al.(J. Fluid Mech., vol. 611, 2008, pp. 307–332) when expressed as a function of mean wave steepness. Their normalized energy loss rates obtained for non-wind forced breaking wave groups are remarkably consistent with the levels found during this present study when breaking waves are subject to wind forcing.

JFM classification

Waves/Free-surface Flows: Surface gravity waves Waves/Free-surface Flows: Wave breaking
Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 722 , 10 May 2013 , pp. 5 - 50
Copyright
©2013 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

‡

Present address: UCSD, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92093, USA.

§

Present address: Sogreah Gulf – Artelia Group, PO Box 18271, Dubai, UAE.

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