The Dynamics of the Oceanic Air-Sea Boundary Layer

This paper presents a model for the similarity structure of the velocity profiles in air and water in the wave boundary layer, which provides predictions in terms of two parameters, F and R, of all its important properties, including the Charnock parameter, the surface drift velocity and the condition for the cancellation of the surface Stokes velocity by the surface current. The parameter, F, arises from the fetch variability of the wave field, and the parameter, R, arises from the duration variability of the wave field. In the analysis two regimes emerge, namely the Ekman regime and the Hasselmann regime. In the Ekman regime, which occurs for R > ½(1 + F), there is a net loss of energy from the wave field to the deep ocean, and in the Hasselmann regime which occurs for R < ½(1 + F), there is a net gain of energy from the atmosphere to the wave field. The predictions are compared with observations from classical wave formulae, wind-wave studies, and also ROMS and SWAN modelling in the South Australian Basin. A general conclusion is that the condition, F = 1, which was used in the original inertial coupling model of Bye [1], is a good approximation for large scale theoretical ocean studies, and hence the wind-wave interaction is determined principally by R.