scholarly journals Ocean's response to Hurricane Frances and its implications for drag coefficient parameterization at high wind speeds

Author(s):  
S. E. Zedler ◽  
P. P. Niiler ◽  
D. Stammer ◽  
E. Terrill ◽  
J. Morzel
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1248
Author(s):  
Jian Shi ◽  
Zhihao Feng ◽  
Yuan Sun ◽  
Xueyan Zhang ◽  
Wenjing Zhang ◽  
...  

The sea surface drag coefficient plays an important role in momentum transmission between the atmosphere and the ocean, which is affected by ocean waves. The total air–sea momentum flux consists of effective momentum flux and sea spray momentum flux. Sea spray momentum flux involves sea surface drag, which is largely affected by the ocean wave state. Under strong winds, the sea surface drag coefficient (CD) does not increase linearly with the increasing wind speed, namely, the increase of CD is inhibited by strong winds. In this study, a sea surface drag coefficient is constructed that can be applied to the calculation of the air–sea momentum flux under high wind speed. The sea surface drag coefficient also considers the influence of wave state and sea spray droplets generated by wave breaking. Specially, the wave-dependent sea spray generation function is employed to calculate sea spray momentum flux. This facilitates the analysis not only on the sensitivity of the sea spray momentum flux to wave age, but also on the effect of wave state on the effective CD (CD, eff) under strong winds. Our results indicate that wave age plays an important role in determining CD. When the wave age is >0.4, CD decreases with the wave age. However, when the wave age is ≤0.4, CD increases with the wave age at low and moderate wind speeds but tends to decrease with the wave age at high wind speeds.


2008 ◽  
Vol 136 (3) ◽  
pp. 1217-1223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Il-Ju Moon ◽  
Isaac Ginis ◽  
Tetsu Hara

Abstract Effects of new drag coefficient (Cd) parameterizations on WAVEWATCH III (WW3) model surface wave simulations are investigated. The new parameterizations are based on a coupled wind–wave model (CWW) and a wave tank experiment, and yields reduced Cd at high wind speeds. Numerical experiments for uniform winds and Hurricane Katrina (2005) indicate that the original Cd parameterization used in WW3 overestimates drag at high wind speeds compared to recent observational, theoretical, and numerical modeling results. Comparisons with buoy measurements during Hurricane Katrina demonstrate that WW3 simulations with the new Cd parameterizations yield more accurate significant wave heights compared to simulations with the original Cd parameterization, provided that accurate high-resolution wind forcing fields are used.


Nature ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 422 (6929) ◽  
pp. 279-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark D. Powell ◽  
Peter J. Vickery ◽  
Timothy A. Reinhold

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Shi ◽  
Zhong Zhong ◽  
Xunqiang Li ◽  
Guorong Jiang ◽  
Wenhua Zeng ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 135 (8) ◽  
pp. 2869-2878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Il-Ju Moon ◽  
Isaac Ginis ◽  
Tetsu Hara ◽  
Biju Thomas

Abstract A new bulk parameterization of the air–sea momentum flux at high wind speeds is proposed based on coupled wave–wind model simulations for 10 tropical cyclones that occurred in the Atlantic Ocean during 1998–2003. The new parameterization describes how the roughness length increases linearly with wind speed and the neutral drag coefficient tends to level off at high wind speeds. The proposed parameterization is then tested on real hurricanes using the operational Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) coupled hurricane–ocean prediction model. The impact of the new parameterization on the hurricane prediction is mainly found in increased maximum surface wind speeds, while it does not appreciably affect the hurricane central pressure prediction. This helps to improve the GFDL model–predicted wind–pressure relationship in strong hurricanes. Attempts are made to provide physical explanations as to why the reduced drag coefficient affects surface wind speeds but not the central pressure in hurricanes.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 2912
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Doerffer ◽  
Janusz Telega ◽  
Piotr Doerffer ◽  
Paulina Hercel ◽  
Andrzej Tomporowski

Savonius rotors are large and heavy because they use drag force for propulsion. This leads to a larger investment in comparison to horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) rotors using lift forces. A simple construction of the Savonius rotor is preferred to reduce the production effort. Therefore, it is proposed here to use single-segment rotors of high elongation. Nevertheless, this rotor type must be compared with a multi-segment rotor to prove that the simplification does not deteriorate the effectiveness. The number of segments affects the aerodynamic performance of the rotor, however, the results shown in the literature are inconsistent. The paper presents a new observation that the relation between the effectiveness of single- and multi-segment rotors depends on the wind velocity. A single-segment rotor becomes significantly more effective than a four-segment rotor at low wind speeds. At high wind speeds, the effectiveness of both rotors becomes similar.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 246
Author(s):  
Difu Sun ◽  
Junqiang Song ◽  
Xiaoyong Li ◽  
Kaijun Ren ◽  
Hongze Leng

A wave state related sea surface roughness parameterization scheme that takes into account the impact of sea foam is proposed in this study. Using eight observational datasets, the performances of two most widely used wave state related parameterizations are examined under various wave conditions. Based on the different performances of two wave state related parameterizations under different wave state, and by introducing the effect of sea foam, a new sea surface roughness parameterization suitable for low to extreme wind conditions is proposed. The behaviors of drag coefficient predicted by the proposed parameterization match the field and laboratory measurements well. It is shown that the drag coefficient increases with the increasing wind speed under low and moderate wind speed conditions, and then decreases with increasing wind speed, due to the effect of sea foam under high wind speed conditions. The maximum values of the drag coefficient are reached when the 10 m wind speeds are in the range of 30–35 m/s.


2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 742-763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yevgenii Rastigejev ◽  
Sergey A. Suslov

Abstract In-depth understanding and accurate modeling of the interaction between ocean spray and a turbulent flow under high wind conditions is essential for improving the intensity forecasts of hurricanes and severe storms. Here, the authors consider the E–ε closure for a turbulent flow model that accounts for the effects of the variation of turbulent energy and turbulent mixing length caused by spray stratification. The obtained analytical and numerical solutions show significant differences between the current E–ε model and the lower-order turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) model considered previously. It is shown that the reduction of turbulent energy and mixing length above the wave crest level, where the spray droplets are generated, that is not accounted for by the TKE model results in a significant suppression of turbulent mixing in this near-wave layer. In turn, suppression of turbulence causes an acceleration of flow and a reduction of the drag coefficient that is qualitatively consistent with field observations if spray is fine (even if its concentration is low) or if droplets are large but their concentration is sufficiently high. In the latter case, spray inertia may become important. This effect is subsequently examined. It is shown that spray inertia leads to the reduction of wind velocity in the close proximity of the wave surface relative to the reference logarithmic profile. However, at higher altitudes the suppression of flow turbulence by the spray still results in the wind acceleration and the reduction of the local drag coefficient.


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