Abstract: | Using the JONSWAP spectrum for describing the surface wave state in the near coastal zone, models for the roughness length and the drag coefficient are used to simulate the dependence of the wind stress on fetch and depth. The results of each model are then compared with a compiled set of past investigations of the neutral drag coefficient over a variety of conditions. It is found that the models of Donelan, Hsu, and Kitaigorodskii correctly predict the trends in the drag coefficient with fetch and depth. Although it did not account for all the observed variations in the neutral drag coefficient. Kitaigorodskii's model, when incorporating the JONSWAP spectrum, more accurately simulated the slopes of the various CDN regressions against windspeed. |