Wind–wave stabilization by a foam layer between the atmosphere and the ocean

The study is motivated by recent findings of the decrease in the momentum transfer from strong winds to sea. The Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (KHI) of a three-fluid system of air, foam and water is examined within the range of intermediately short surface waves. The foam-layer thickness necessary for effective separation of the atmosphere and the ocean is estimated. Due to high density contrasts in the three-fluid system, even a relatively thin foam layer between the atmosphere and the ocean can provide a significant stabilization of the water surface by the wavelength shift of the instability towards smaller scales. It is conjectured that such stabilization qualitatively explains the observed reduction of roughness and drag.     

Correlation between foam-bubble size and drag coefficient in hurricane conditions

A recently proposed model of foam impact on the air–sea drag coefficient C _d has been employed for the estimation of the effective foam-bubble radius R _b variation with wind speed U₁₀ in hurricane conditions. The model relates C _d (U₁₀) with the effective roughness length Z _eff (U₁₀) represented as a sum of aerodynamic roughness lengths of the foam-free and foam-covered sea surfaces Z _w (U₁₀) and Z _f (U₁₀) weighted with the foam coverage coefficient α _f (U₁₀). This relation is treated for known phenomenological distributions C _d (U₁₀), Z _w (U₁₀), and α _f (U₁₀) at strong wind speeds as an inverse problem for the effective roughness parameter of foam-covered sea surface Z _f (U₁₀). The present study is aimed at the estimation of the effective roughness of the sea surface assuming that the measurement data for the effective drag coefficient are known. The effective foam-bubble size is found as a function of the wind speed.     

Momentum and heat transfer across the foam-covered air-sea interface in hurricanes

Ocean Dynamics - Procedures of formal averaging over the air-sea interface are applied to both momentum and enthalpy surface-transfer coefficients, CD and CK, in hurricane conditions. The transfer...