On the effect of sea spray on the aerodynamic surface drag under severe winds

We investigate the effect of the sea spray on the air-sea momentum exchange during the entire “life cycle” of a droplet, torn off the crest of a steep surface wave, and its fall down to the water, in the framework of a model covering the following aspects of the phenomenon: (1) motion of heavy parti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ocean dynamics 2016-05, Vol.66 (5), p.659-669
Main Authors: Troitskaya, Yuliya, Ezhova, Ekaterina, Soustova, Irina, Zilitinkevich, Sergej
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerodynamics
Air flow
Atmospheric Sciences
Driving ability
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Fluid- and Aerodynamics
Geophysics/Geodesy
Marine
Monitoring/Environmental Analysis
Ocean-atmosphere interaction
Oceanography
Surface waves
Wind
Wind speed
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Summary:We investigate the effect of the sea spray on the air-sea momentum exchange during the entire “life cycle” of a droplet, torn off the crest of a steep surface wave, and its fall down to the water, in the framework of a model covering the following aspects of the phenomenon: (1) motion of heavy particle in the driving air flow (equations of motion); (2) structure of the wind field (wind velocity, wave-induced disturbances, turbulent fluctuations); (3) generation of the sea spray; and (4) statistics of droplets (size distribution, wind speed dependence). It is demonstrated that the sea spray in strong winds leads to an increase in the surface drag up to 40 % on the assumption that the velocity profile is neutral.
ISSN:1616-7341
1616-7228
DOI:10.1007/s10236-016-0948-9