Rainfall effect on wind waves and the turbulence beneath air-sea interface

Rainfall effects on wind waves and turbulence are investigated through the laboratory experiments in a large wind-wave tank. It is found that the wind waves are damped as a whole at low wind speeds, but are enhanced at high wind speeds. This dual effect of rain on the wind waves increases with the increase of rain rate, while the influence of rainfall-area length is not observable. At the low wind speed, the corresponding turbulence in terms of the turbulent kinetic energy （TKE） dissipation rate is significantly enhanced by rain- fall as the waves are damped severely. At the high wind speed, the augment of the TKE dissipation rate is suppressed while the wind waves are enhanced simultaneously. In the field, however, rainfall usually hin- ders the development of waves. In order to explain this contradiction of rainfall effect on waves, a possibility about energy transfer from turbulence to waves in case of the spectral peak of waves overlapping the inertial subrange of turbulence is assumed. It can be applied to interpret the damping phenomenon of gas trans- fer velocity in the laboratory experiments, and the variation of the TKE dissipation rates near sea surface compared with the law of wall.     

Laboratory study of wave and turbulence characteristics in narrow-band irregular breaking waves

Wave elevations and water particle velocities were measured in a laboratory surf zone created by the breaking of a narrow-band irregular wave train on a 1/35 plane slope. The incident waves form wave groups that are strongly modulated. It is found that the waves that break close to the shoreline generally have larger wave-height-to-water-depth ratios before breaking than the waves that break farther offshore. After breaking, the wave-height-to-water-depth ratio for the individual waves approaches a constant value in the inner surf zone, while the standard deviation of the wave period increases as the still water depth decreases. In the outer surf zone, the distribution of the period-averaged turbulent kinetic energy is closely correlated to the initial wave heights, and has a wider variation for narrow-band waves than for broad-band waves. In the inner surf zone, the distribution of the period-averaged turbulent kinetic energy is similar for narrow-band waves and broad-band waves. It is found that the wave elevation and turbulent kinetic energy time histories for the individual waves in a wave group are qualitatively similar to those found in a spilling regular wave. The time-averaged transport of turbulent kinetic energy by the ensemble-averaged velocity and turbulence velocity under the irregular breaking waves are also consistent with the measurements obtained in regular breaking waves. The experimental results indicate that the shape of the incident wave spectrum has a significant effect on the temporal and spatial variability of wave breaking and the distribution of turbulent kinetic energy in the outer surf zone. In the inner surf zone, however, the distribution of turbulent kinetic energy is relatively insensitive to the shape of the incident wave spectrum, and the important parameters are the significant wave height and period of the incident waves, and the beach slope.     

Statistical characteristics of individual waves in laboratory wind waves I. Individual wave spectra and similarity structure

Statistical characteristics of individual waves in laboratory wind waves have been studied by use of a wind-wave tunnel. The individual waves are defined by actual undulations of the water surface at any instant, and are characterized by concentrated shearing stress and strong vorticity at their crests. A conspicuous self-similarity structure is found in the individual wave field. The similarity manifests itself as a simple spectral form, and as the statistical 3/2-power law between nondimensional wave height and wave period, and further as the -1/2-power relationship between nondimensional phase speed and frequency, for waves of the high frequency side. The normalized energy spectrum, specially defined for individual waves, has a form practically equivalent to the traditional spectrum for component waves in the main frequency range from 0.7 to 1.5 in the frequency normalized by the peak frequency, but does not have secondary peaks at harmonics. The phase speed of individual waves also coincides with that of component waves in the main frequency range.     

Measurement of wind waves by means of a buoy accelerometer wave gauge

An accelerometer buoy wave gauge developed in the Marine Hydrophysical Institute of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences is described. This allows measurement of acceleration and the sea surface elevation in the system of reference connected with a buoy. The integral and frequency spectral characteristics of waves can be computed from the records of the wave gauge signal. The use of a buoy accelerometer at sea provides a possibility to derive effective information on the wind waves.Translated by Mikhail M. Trufanov.     

Numerical modeling of multi-directional irregular waves incorporating 2-D numerical wave absorber and subgrid turbulence

In this paper, a finite difference scheme with an efficient 2-D numerical wave absorber for solving the extended Boussinesq equations as derived by Nwogu (Nwogu, O., 1993. Alternative form of Boussinesq equations for nearshore wave propagation. J. Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering, ASCE 119, 618–638) is proposed. The alternate direction iterative method combined with an efficient predictor-corrector scheme are adopted for the numerical solution of the governing differential equations. To parameterize the contribution of unresolved small-scale motions, the philosophy of the large eddy simulation is applied on the horizontal plane. The proposed method is verified by two test cases where experimental data are available for comparison. The first case is wave diffraction around a semi-infinite breakwater studied by Briggs et al. (Briggs, M.J., Thompson, E.F., Vincent, C.L., 1995. Wave diffraction around breakwater. Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering, ASCE 121, 23–35). The other case is wave concentration by a navigation channel as reported by Yu et al. (Yu, Y.-X., Liu, S.-X., Li, Y.S., Wai, O.W.H., 2000. Refraction and diffraction of random waves through breakwater. Ocean Engineering 27, 489–509). Numerical results agree very well with the corresponding experimental data in both cases.     

Measurement of directional spectrum of wind waves using an array of wave detectors

A method is proposed to estimate the true directional spectrum of wind waves by making use of more than four wave detectors. The true spectrum of wind waves whose wave lengths lie between about 1.1 and 2.6 times the largest span between the wave gauges can be recovered with an error less than 0.5 %. An additional wave gauge with fixed maximum span extends its effectivity to shorter wave lengths, but does not effect the upper limit of wave length.The method is based on the fact that the spectrum estimated byBarber (1961) is connected with true directional spectrum by the Fredholm integral equation of the first kind if the wave component satisfies the dispersion relation. Solving the equation by using the Fourier series method, we can get true spectrum.     

Statistical characteristics of individual waves in laboratory wind waves

On the basis of data on the statistical characteristics of individual waves in laboratory wind waves reported in part I of this series, a self-consistent similarity regime is found to exist among properties of the individual waves, such as the nondimensional frequency, the wave number, the phase speed, and the steepness. Also, it is shown that forms of past empirical formulas for the development of the peak wave can be derived starting from the 3/2-power law, as an extension of the persent laboratory experimental data. In the derivation, only values of the coefficient of the 3/2-power law, and the fraction of momentum transferred from the wind retained by the wind waves, remain on an empirical basis.     

Effects of wind waves of the Pacific westerly on the eastern Pacific wave transport

There exists a tongueshaped swelldominance pool known as Swell Pool (SP) in the Eastern Pacific region. The monthlymean wave transports (WT) for each month of 2000 is computed using the wave products of ECMWF reanalysis data. By comparing the 2000 monthlymean WT and monthlymean wind field from QUICKSCAT, large differences are found between the wave transport direction and the wind direction over the Eastern Pacific. This may serve as an evidence for the existence of the SP in this region. The work done in this study indicates that the sources of swell in the Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) are in the westerly regions of the Southern and Northern Pacific.     

Negative correlations of variations in near-water wind and surface wind waves

The relationship between the intensity of surface wind waves and near-water wind is analyzed. The data of measuring wind waves and near-water wind under natural conditions in the Black Sea (July 2004) and Norwegian Sea (June 2003, 16th cruise of the R/V Akademik Sergei Vavilov) are used. A phenomenon of negative correlations has been found between the intensity of wind waves and near-water wind in regions of substantial restructuring of wind waves in the field of inhomogeneous flows: wind-wave amplification during wind decay and vice versa. Examples of such observations are presented, a theoretical model is constructed for the observed phenomenon, and a good agreement is obtained between theory and experiment.     

False waves in wave records

A methodology to define discrete waves from free sea surface elevation time series is presented. The method allows an objective discrimination of false waves among small waves, avoiding the use of arbitrary criteria associated with zero-up-crossing, zero-down-crossing, or other definitions. The method uses the Hilbert Transform and the representation of the time series in the complex plane. A discrete wave corresponds to a 2π phase-advance in the complex plane. The waves between zero crossings which do not show 2π phase advance are considered false waves. Wave rider buoy records, measured off the west coast of Portugal, were employed in assessing some of the statistical implications of this methodology.     

The steepness and shape of wind waves

Variations are found in the shape and the steepness of wind-generated surface gravity waves between very young waves, such as seen in a laboratory tank, and larger waves of various wave ages encountered at sea as the result of wind stress over larger fetches. These differences in the characteristic shape of wind waves are presented as a function of the wave age. The wave steepness is also expressed as a function of wave age, the measurement of which is consistent with the 3/2-power law connecting wave height and characteristic period, normalized by the air friction velocity.     

Laboratory study of wave and turbulence velocities in a broad-banded irregular wave surf zone

The characteristics of wave and turbulence velocities created by a broad-banded irregular wave train breaking on a 1:35 slope were studied in a laboratory wave flume. Water particle velocities were measured simultaneously with wave elevations at three cross-shore locations inside the surf zone. The measured data were separated into low-frequency and high-frequency time series using a Fourier filter. The measured velocities were further separated into organized wave-induced velocities and turbulent velocity fluctuations by ensemble averaging. The broad-banded irregular waves created a wide surf zone that was dominated by spilling type breakers. A wave-by-wave analysis was carried out to obtain the probability distributions of individual wave heights, wave periods, peak wave velocities, and wave-averaged turbulent kinetic energies and Reynolds stresses. The results showed that there was a consistent increase in the kurtosis of the vertical velocity distribution from the surface to the bottom. The abnormally large downward velocities were produced by plunging breakers that occurred from time to time. It was found that the mean of the highest one-third wave-averaged turbulent kinetic energy values in the irregular waves was about the same as the time-averaged turbulent kinetic energy in a regular wave with similar deep-water wave height to wavelength ratio. It was also found that the correlation coefficient of the Reynolds stress varied strongly with turbulence intensity. Good correlation between u′ and w′ was obtained when the turbulence intensity was high; the correlation coefficient was about 0.3–0.5. The Reynolds stress correlation coefficient decreased over a wave cycle, and with distance from the water surface. Under the irregular breaking waves, turbulent kinetic energy was transported downward and landward by turbulent velocity fluctuations and wave velocities, and upward and seaward by the undertow. The undertow in the irregular waves was similar in vertical structure but lower in magnitude than in regular waves, and the horizontal velocity profiles under the low-frequency waves were approximately uniform.     

Large-scale turbulence under a solitary wave

The structure of large-scale turbulence under a broken solitary wave on a 1 in 50 plane slope was studied. Three-component velocity measurements were taken at different heights above a smooth bed in the middle surf zone using an acoustic Doppler velocimeter. The measured data showed that turbulent velocity components were well correlated in the middle part of the water column. The velocity correlations could be produced by an oblique vortex similar to the obliquely descending eddy observed previously by other investigators. The vertical distributions of the relative values of the components of the Reynolds stress tensor showed that the structure of turbulence evolved continuously between the free surface and the bottom. The evolution was related to transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional flow structures and the effect of the solid bottom on flow structures. Time histories of measured turbulent kinetic energy and turbulence stresses showed episodic turbulent events near the free surface but more sporadic turbulence in the lower layer. Large or intense turbulent events were found to have short duration and time lag relative to the wave crest point. These events also maintained good correlations between the turbulence velocity components close to the bottom.Instantaneous turbulent velocity fields were measured near the bottom at the same cross-shore location by using a stereoscopic particle image velocimetry system. These measurements showed that the near-bed flow field was characterized by large-scale, coherent flow structures that were the sources of most of the turbulent kinetic energy and turbulence stresses. The types of organized flow structures observed included vortices and downbursts of turbulence descending directly from above, lateral spreading of turbulent fluid along the bed, and formation of vortices in shear layers between fluid streams. A common feature of the organized flow structures near the bed was the large turbulence velocities in the longitudinal and transverse directions, which reflected the influence of a solid bottom on the breaking-wave-generated turbulence arriving at the bed.     

Forced convection accompanying wind waves

Wind-wave tunnel experiments reveal, by use of techniques of the flow visualization, that wind waves are accompanied by the wind drift surface current with large velocity shear and with horizontal variation of velocity relative to the wave profile. The surface current converges from the crest to a little leeward face of the crest, making a downward flow there, even though the wave is not breaking. Namely, wind waves are accompanied by forced convections relative to the crests of the waves. Since the location of the convergence and the downward flow travels on the water surface as the crest of the wave propagates, the motion as a whole is characterized by turbulent structure as well as by the nature of water-surface waves. In this meaning, the term of real wind waves is proposed in contrast with ordinary water waves. The study of real wind waves will be essential in future development of the study of wind waves.     

Directional energy distribution of wind waves

Two-dimensional ocean wave spectrum developing under the atmospheric surface pressure fluctuations is linearly correlated with that of wind pressure itself, so that angular distribution of energy of ocean surface waves can be determined by directional properties of surface pressure fluctuations with the same frequency to the surface wave.From empirically determined spectral formula of the atmospheric surface pressure fluctuations the coefficients of Fourier series expanded around mean direction of wind are analytically integrated, from which r.m.s. angular distribution, spectral peakedness and long-crestedness are calculated, compared with previously proposed empirical formulae and observations carried out by ultrasonic current meter.     

Effects of internal waves and turbulence on a horizontal aperturesonar

Random variability in the water column will affect the operation of a horizontal aperture sonar. Two sources of variability in shallow water are turbulence and internal waves. In a modeling study, the effects of turbulence and internal waves on a shallow-water imaging system are compared. The operational principles of a large aperture imaging system are first reviewed. A shallow-water internal wave model is developed by modifying the Garrett-Munk model. The internal waves are assumed to dissipate and drive the small-scale turbulence. The two phenomena are predicted to have markedly different effects on a system. Turbulence has short spatial correlation scales whose primary effects will be manifested in the variance of the acoustic phase. By contrast, internal waves will have much larger scattering but also a longer correlation scale. The primary acoustic quantity of interest for internal waves is shown to be the curvature of the phase as observed along the aperture. Properties of shallow-water internal waves are shown to preclude the use of standard acoustic calculations based on the Markov approximation. Using archival environmental data, sample calculations are presented for the site of a planned August 1996 experiment     

Measurements of the vertical correlation in turbulence under broken waves

Turbulence measurements have been carried out in the surf zone of a wave flume. The purpose of the measurements is to determine the length scale of the turbulence generated by the wave breaking. The length scale of the turbulence is estimated on basis of the correlation between simultaneous measurements of the vertical turbulent fluctuations, taken at different levels above the bed.     

Numerical calculation of drift current in wind waves

-Drift current induced by wind and waves is investigated with phase-averaged Navier-Stokes equation in which the Reynolds stress is closed by k-ε model. The governing equations are solved by the finite volume method in a system of nonorthogonal coordinates which is fitted to the phase-averaged wave surface. The predicted drift current is fairly reasonable and the drag coefficient of sea-surface predicted with the newly developed interface conditions shows good agreement with previous measurements when breaking waves do not exist.