Coupled numerical modelling of wind and waves and the theory of the wave boundary layer

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Title: Coupled numerical modelling of wind and waves and the theory of the wave boundary layer
Author(s): Chalikov, D.; Rainchik, S.
Abstract: The description of a coupled wind and wave model in conformal coordinates is given. The wave model is based on potential equations for the flow with a free surface, extended with the algorithm of breaking dissipation. The wave boundary-layer (WBL) model is based on the Reynolds equations with the K − ε closure scheme with the solutions for air and water matched through the interface. The structure of the WBL and vertical profiles of the wave-produced momentum flux (WPMF) in a long-term simulation of the coupled dynamics are investigated and parameterized. The shape of the β function connecting elevation and surface pressure is studied up to high nondimensional wave frequencies. The errors of a linear presentation of the surface pressure are estimated. The β function and the universal shape of the WPMF profile obtained in coupled simulations allow a formulation of the one-dimensional theory of the WBL, and the carrying out of a detailed study of the WBL structure including the dependence of the drag coefficient on the wind speed. It is shown that a wide scatter of the experimental data on the drag coefficient can be explained, taking into account the age of waves. It is suggested that a reduction of the drag coefficient at high wind speeds can be qualitatively explained by the high-frequency wave suppression.
Publication type: Journal article
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences
Source: Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 138, no. 1 (Jan. 2011), pp. 1-41
Publication year: 2011
FOR Code(s): 0401 Atmospheric Sciences
Keyword(s): Boundary layers; Numerical modelling; Sea waves; Wind-wave interaction
Publisher: Springer
ISSN: 0006-8314
Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10546-010-9543-7
Peer reviewed