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Air entrainment by breaking waves
Author(s) -
Deike Luc,
Lenain Luc,
Melville W. Kendall
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2017gl072883
Subject(s) - breaking wave , air entrainment , wind wave , entrainment (biomusicology) , volume (thermodynamics) , wind speed , range (aeronautics) , physics , meteorology , surf zone , mechanics , geology , atmospheric sciences , wave propagation , oceanography , optics , acoustics , thermodynamics , rhythm , materials science , composite material
We present an estimate of the total volume of entrained air by breaking waves in the open ocean, based on a model for a single breaking wave and the statistics of breaking waves measured in the field and described by the average length of breaking crests moving with speeds in the range ( c , c + d c ) per unit area of ocean surface, Λ( c )d c , introduced by Phillips (1985). By extending the single breaking wave model to the open ocean, we show that the volume flux of air entrained by breaking waves, V A (volume per unit ocean area per unit time, a velocity), is given by the third moment of Λ( c ), modulated by a function of the wave slope. Using field measurements of the distribution Λ( c ) and the wave spectrum, we obtain an estimate of the total volume flux of air entrained by breaking for a wide range of wind and wave conditions. These results pave the way for accurate remote sensing of the air entrained by breaking waves and subsequent estimates of the associated gas transfer.