Suppressing breakers with polar oil films: Using an epic sea rescue to model wave energy budgets

• Published in: Geophysical research letters 2017-02, Vol.44 (3), p.1414-1421
• Main Authors: Cox, Charles S., Zhang, Xin, Duda, Timothy F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: breakers; Cyclones; Energy budget; energy budgets; Energy flow; Exchange; Geophysics; Hurricanes; Meteorology; Ocean surface; Ocean-atmosphere interaction; Oil; oil film; Oil films; Retarding; Search and rescue; Storm surges; Storms; Surface films; Surface roughness; Temperature (air-sea); Wave energy; Wave power; wind; Wind energy; Wind power; Wind profiles
• ISSN: 0094-8276; 1944-8007
• DOI: 10.1002/2016GL071505

Oil has been used to still stormy seas for centuries, but the mechanisms are poorly understood. Here we examine the processes by using quantitative information from a remarkable 1883 sea rescue where oil was used to reduce large breakers during a storm. Modeling of the oil film's extent and waves under the film suggests that large breakers were suppressed by a reduction of wind energy input. Modification of surface roughness by the film is hypothesized to alter the wind profile above the sea and the energy flow. The results are central to understanding air‐sea momentum exchange, including its role in such processes as cyclone growth and storm surge, although they address only one aspect of the complex problem of wind interaction with the ocean surface. Key Points An 1883 sea rescue that used oil to reduce breakers provides the basis for a wave energy model We model responses to reduced wind energy input; results consistent with the rescue suggest that this reduced input suppressed breakers A possible cause of this reduced energy input is modified surface roughness that alters energy flow