A Note on a Parameterization of the Sea Drag

A new parameterization of the sea drag is based on a wind-over-wavescoupling theory. The parameterization accounts for the wind speed, wave ageand finite depth dependencies of the sea drag. The latter two are introducedthrough the integral parameters of the wind-wave field: the dominant waveheight and the wavenumber at the spectral peak, and the water depth. Theparameterization is checked against the wind-over-waves model results andtwo field datasets obtained in a wide range of the wind speed and wave age.The comparison is encouraging. The parameterization is aimed for use inoperational ocean-state and atmosphere models.