Computer Science
Scientific paper
Nov 1997
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997phdt........76c&link_type=abstract
Thesis (PhD). UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES (AUSTRALIA), Source DAI-B 58/05, p. 2449, Nov 1997, pages.
Computer Science
Scientific paper
The processes that are responsible for air-sea interaction in the planetary boundary layer are very complex, yet these processes shape the global weather and climate evolution. While appearing to be relatively well understood, the mean wind speed, wind stress and sea state over large averaging scales often show considerable scatter. Their variability over shorter averaging scales has received far less attention, yet an enhanced knowledge of their local behaviours and mutual relationship should improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying air-sea interaction on a larger scale. To pursue these objectives, a comprehensive airborne air- sea interaction experiment called SOWEX was carried out over the Southern Ocean, off the west coast of Tasmania during June, 1992, during which the 10m wind speed varied from almost 20m/sec to less than 5m/sec. Based on the atmospheric data obtained from this experiment, besides reporting the traditional drag coefficient and roughness length over large averaged scales, the present study describes the localised behaviour of momentum flux associated with large scale atmospheric motions. The momentum flux within the ascending motion regions where the wind speed on the average slows down was found to be larger than that within the more extensive descending regions. This appears to be generally associated with the structure of atmospheric roll vortices. Our study of the sea state measured by an airborne scanning radar altimeter has contributed a significant extension to gale force wind speeds of the relation between wind speed and surface mean square slope (mss). The present determination of mss has been improved by including the influence of the tilts of the dominant ocean waves on the local incidence angle of the radar altimeter. A major result from the present data analysis shows that the sea surface roughness as measured by the local (2km) averaged mss responds to local wind speed variations more closely than it follows the wind stress variations. These findings have significant implications for refining the high wavenumber part of the directional wave spectrum and for interpreting the signals from major ocean remote sensing instruments.
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