Wave follower field measurements of the wind input spectral function. Part III: Parameterization of the wind input enhancement due to wave breaking

Abstract

This is the third in a series of papers describing wave-follower observations of the aerodynamic coupling between wind and waves on a large shallow lake during the Australian Shallow Water Experiment (AUSWEX). It focuses on the long-standing problem of the aerodynamic consequences of wave breaking on the wind-wave coupling. Direct field measurements are reported of the influence of wave breaking on the wave-induced pressure in the airflow over water waves, and hence the energy flux to the waves. The level of forcing, measured by the ratio of wind speed to the speed of the dominant (spectral peak) waves, covered the range of 3-7. The propagation speeds of the dominant waves were limited by the water depth and the waves were correspondingly steep. These measurements allowed an assessment of the magnitude of any breaking-induced enhancement operative for these field conditions and provided a basis for parameterizing the effect. Overall, appreciable levels of wave breaking occurred for the strong wind forcing conditions that prevailed during the observational period. Associated with these breaking wave events, a significant phase shift is observed in the local wave-coherent surface pressure. This produced an enhanced wave-coherent energy flux from the wind to the waves with a mean value of 2 times the corresponding energy flux to the nonbreaking waves. It is proposed that the breaking-induced enhancement of the wind input to the waves can be parameterized by the sum of the nonbreaking input and the contribution due to the breaking probability.