The effects of surfactants on spilling breaking waves

Breaking waves markedly increase the rates of air-sea transfer of momentum, energy and mass. In light to moderate wind conditions, spilling breakers with short wavelengths are observed frequently. Theory and laboratory experiments have shown that, as these waves approach breaking in clean water, a ripple pattern that is dominated by surface tension forms at the crest. Under laboratory conditions and in theory, the transition to turbulent flow is triggered by flow separation under the ripples, typically without leading to overturning of the free surface. Water surfaces in nature, however, are typically contaminated by surfactant films that alter the surface tension and produce surface elasticity and viscosity. Here we present the results of laboratory experiments in which spilling breaking waves were generated mechanically in water with a range of surfactant concentrations. We find significant changes in the breaking process owing to surfactants. At the highest concentration of surfactants, a small plunging jet issues from the front face of the wave at a point below the wave crest and entraps a pocket of air on impact with the front face of the wave. The bubbles and turbulence created during this process are likely to increase air-sea transfer.     

Reduced drag coefficient for high wind speeds in tropical cyclones

The transfer of momentum between the atmosphere and the ocean is described in terms of the variation of wind speed with height and a drag coefficient that increases with sea surface roughness and wind speed. But direct measurements have only been available for weak winds; momentum transfer under extreme wind conditions has therefore been extrapolated from these field measurements. Global Positioning System sondes have been used since 1997 to measure the profiles of the strong winds in the marine boundary layer associated with tropical cyclones. Here we present an analysis of these data, which show a logarithmic increase in mean wind speed with height in the lowest 200 m, maximum wind speed at 500 m and a gradual weakening up to a height of 3 km. By determining surface stress, roughness length and neutral stability drag coefficient, we find that surface momentum flux levels off as the wind speeds increase above hurricane force. This behaviour is contrary to surface flux parameterizations that are currently used in a variety of modelling applications, including hurricane risk assessment and prediction of storm motion, intensity, waves and storm surges.     

Dynamical coupling of wind and ocean waves through wave-induced air flow

Understanding the physical mechanisms behind the generation of ocean waves by wind has been a longstanding challenge. Previous studies have assumed that ocean waves induce fluctuations in velocity and pressure of the overlying air that are synchronized with the waves, and numerical models have supported this assumption. In a complex feedback, these fluctuations provide the energy for wave generation. The spatial and temporal structure of the wave-induced airflow therefore holds the key to the physics of wind-wave coupling, but detailed observations have proved difficult. Here we present an analysis of wind velocities and ocean surface elevations observed over the open ocean. We use a linear filter to identify the wave-induced air flow from the measurements and find that its structure is in agreement with 'critical-layer' theory. Considering that the wave-induced momentum flux is then controlled by the wave spectrum and that it varies considerably in vertical direction, a simple parameterization of the total air-sea momentum flux is unlikely to exist.     

Effect of surface waves on air-sea momentum flux in high wind conditions for typhoons in the South China Sea

The WAVEWATCH-III wave model is implemented in the South China Sea to investigate the air-sea momentum flux in high wind conditions during 23 passages of typhoon occurred in 2005. The wave model is driven by the reanalyzed surface winds assimilated by several meteorologic data sources. The friction velocity was calculated and the relationships between different air-sea momentum param- eters were studied. The results show that the drag coefficient decreases with the wave age generally and levels off for wind speeds higher than 35 m/s under typhoon wind forcing. The spatial variations of air-sea momentum flux parameters in high wind conditions forced by typhoons are completely different from those at weak wind speeds and significantly depend on the relative position from the typhoon center.     

基于投影网格上的Phillips谱真实感海浪仿真模拟

针对如何有效利用现代图形硬件渲染大规模真实感海浪场景的难题,构建了一种基于投影网格上的Phillips谱海浪模型,利用GPU得到的海面浪高渲染为实时高度浮点纹理图,对每个像素进行求梯度得到海水法向纹理图。提出了基于GLSL语言的海水光照算法,实现动态海面光照效果,通过对程序参数的调节,进行不同风向风速下海面浪高的控制以及能见度、太阳高度角等不同气象要素下的真实感海浪绘制。仿真结果表明,该模型及渲染方法能够获得逼真的场景特效。     

Observed oceanic feedback to the atmosphere over the Kuroshio Extension during spring time and its possible mechanism

High-resolution satellite measurements are used to study the air-sea interaction over the Kuroshio Extension （KE） region during spring time. There are two oceanic fronts in the KE region off the east coast of Japan. These fronts are generally associated with strong ocean currents, which may display unstable meander, resulting in remarkable warm sea surface temperature （SST） ridges and cold SST troughs. Analyses of these satellite observations reveal a significantly positive correlation between sea surface wind speed and its underlying SST along these fronts. This positive SST-wind correlation becomes even more significant when strong meanders occur along the fronts. This positive SST-wind correlation indicates an ocean-to-atmosphere feedback over the KE region during spring time. A high-resolution regional atmospheric model is used to investigate the atmospheric response to SST changes along the two fronts.     

热带气旋与海洋暖涡间的海-气相互作用

采用区域海?气耦合模式WRF-sbPOM, 设计敏感性试验, 通过控制海洋暖涡(WCR)的有无以及暖涡与热带气旋(TC)的相对位置, 对理想性TC与WCR间的海-气相互作用进行模拟研究。结果表明, 当TC经过WCR后, 因为WCR区域较厚的暖水使海表温度在TC经过后并没有明显的降低, 削弱了海?气间的负反馈机制, 所以TC强度增大。但受作用时间、气旋强度以及WCR处较强流速的影响, TC强度增大的程度不同, 移动速度较慢的TC有明显增强, 移动速度较快的TC增强不明显。同时TC向海洋中输入大量的机械能, 与WCR的反气旋式环流发生相互作用, WCR的形状由最初的圆形变为椭圆形, 热容量损失约30%, 动能损失约60%。     

Simulation of the equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation based on the parameterization of continuously spectral gravity waves

On the basis of previous parameterization schemes, considering both the wave breaking and absorbed at critical level, a parameterization with a continuous spectrum of gravity waves is realized by introducing a momentum flux density function for the wave spectrum, and then the parameterization scheme of the gravity waves is improved. Choosing parameter values of the background atmosphere and waves based on the observations, a more realistic equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) driven by the incorporated drag from the planetary and gravity waves can be simulated. The numerical results indicate that the forcing magnitude of the planetary and gravity waves varies with the wind field, and in some phases of the QBO, the contribution of the gravity waves is comparable with that of the planetary waves. After the QBO is steadily formed, its amplitude and period and wind configuration are relevant to the effect of vertical diffusion and the momentum flux distribution with spectrum, however, independent of the initial background wind field. Moreover, for any given nonzero initial background wind, a steady QBO can be finally generated due to the incorporated drag from the planetary and gravity waves. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40731055 and 40774085), the Innovative Research Team Project, Ministry of Education, the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IAP07315), the China Meteorological Administration (Grant No. GYHY200706013) and the Open Programs of Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment and Geodesy, Ministry of Education     

Observing seasonal variations of sea surface wind speed and significant wave height using TOPEX altimetry

One year of ocean topography experiment (TOPEX) altimeter data are used to study the seasonal variations of global sea surface wind speed and significant wave height. The major wind and wave zones of the world oceans are precisely identified, their seasonal variability and characteristics are quantitatively analyzed, and the diversity of global wind speed seasonality and the variability of significant wave height in response to sea surface wind speed are also revealed.     

Heat exchange at air-sea interface in the South China Sea during monsoon periods in 1986

Air-sea interaction is achieved by air-sea interface flux exchange. Therefore, general attention has been paid to connective researches of the air-sea interface flux exchange and the burst of the summer monsoon in the South China Sea. Some preliminary res…     

River plumes as a source of large-amplitude internal waves in the coastal ocean

Satellite images have long revealed the surface expression of large amplitude internal waves that propagate along density interfaces beneath the sea surface. Internal waves are typically the most energetic high-frequency events in the coastal ocean, displacing water parcels by up to 100 m and generating strong currents and turbulence that mix nutrients into near-surface waters for biological utilization. While internal waves are known to be generated by tidal currents over ocean-bottom topography, they have also been observed frequently in the absence of any apparent tide-topography interactions. Here we present repeated measurements of velocity, density and acoustic backscatter across the Columbia River plume front. These show how internal waves can be generated from a river plume that flows as a gravity current into the coastal ocean. We find that the convergence of horizontal velocities at the plume front causes frontal growth and subsequent displacement downward of near-surface waters. Individual freely propagating waves are released from the river plume front when the front's propagation speed decreases below the wave speed in the water ahead of it. This mechanism generates internal waves of similar amplitude and steepness as internal waves from tide-topography interactions observed elsewhere, and is therefore important to the understanding of coastal ocean mixing.     

在c#中结合LOD技术实现海浪模拟

利用海浪P-M频谱及SWOP方向函数计算得到的不同频率、方向角、振幅的组成波,线性叠加生成海面高度场.通过OpenGL的顶点数组结合细节层次(LOD)技术,建立海面网格,应用光照和纹理映射的渲染,在基于.net平台上使用C#与OpenGL结合进行海浪建模和仿真,实现深海区域的海浪模拟.     

Retrieval of ocean surface wind stress and drag coefficient from spaceborne SAR

A model for retrieval of wind stress and drag coefficient on the sea surface with the data measured by spacebome synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has been developed based on the SAR imaging mechanisms of ocean surface capillary waves and short gravity waves. This model consists of radiometric calibration, wind speed retrieval and wind stress and drag coefficient calculation. A Radarsat SAR image has been used to calculate wind stress and drag coeffi cient. Good results have been achieved.     

Mackenzie三角洲风暴相关的海岸水动力现象

针对西北风和东风这2种强风在Mackenzie三角洲开敞水域时期占主导地位的特点,运用SWAN模型对1次西北向风暴过程中的风暴浪进行模拟,并基于实测风、流数据和MODIS数据对2次东风引起的海岸水动力现象进行分析。结果表明:西北向风暴影响水域中上层的波浪和强流,引起明显的波浪增水和波能耗散;东向风暴可以引起从海表到海底的强流,甚至强度较弱的持续东风都可以引起上升流和水体混合;西北风和东风都会使水底的细小泥沙发生运动。     

冲击波引起瓦斯爆炸的动力学特性仿真研究

美国学者苏黛瑞的《在中国城市中争取公民权:农民工、国家与市场逻辑》一书,以公民权为切入点,揭示了在国家计划体制、市场与农村流动人口三方动态博弈过程中,农民工的流动路径、其城市居留形态的塑造及城市生存策略。作为一本美籍学者对当代中国流动人口的研究论著,对国内学界而言,其价值在于不仅提供了农民工研究的新视角,而且更新了流动人口的研究范式,对中国流动人口研究有相当的启发与借鉴意义。     

路面固体结构辐射集热影响特性实验研究

针对道路固体结构太阳能集热过程的主要影响因素开展实验研究,建立了热辐射集热实验系统,探索诸如辐射强度等众多客观因素的影响和作用.在定辐射强度和动态辐射强度实验中,重点研究了单位面积集热量、单位流程温差、集热效率、集热表面其温度的影响特性.研究表明,随着热源辐射强度增加,单位面积集热量增加,但是集热效率却呈下降趋势;同时,道路固体结构集热系统存在明显的热响应滞后性,固体结构的热容量是重要的制约因素.     

Field evidence for surface-wave-induced instability of sand dunes

Field studies of barchans--crescent-shaped dunes that propagate over solid ground under conditions of unidirectional wind--have long focused on the investigation of an equilibrium between sand transport by wind and the control of air flow by dune topography, which are thought to control dune morphology and kinematics. Because of the long timescale involved, however, the underlying dynamic processes responsible for the evolution of dune fields remain poorly understood. Here we combine data from a three-year field study in the Moroccan Sahara with a model study to show that barchans are fundamentally unstable and do not necessarily behave like stable solitary waves, as suggested previously. We find that dune collisions and changes in wind direction destabilize the dunes and generate surface waves on the barchans. Because the resulting surface waves propagate at a higher speed than the dunes themselves, they can produce a series of new barchans of elementary size by breaking the horns of large dunes. The creation of these new dunes provides a mechanism for sand loss that prevents dune fields from merging into a single giant dune and therefore plays a fundamental role in the control of size selection and the development of dune patterns.     

Bubbles in a freshwater lake

WHEN the wind is strong enough to produce whitecaps on Loch Ness, patchy 'clouds' of acoustic reflectors are detected well below the surface, the depth to which they penetrate increasing with wind speed (Fig. 1). No seasonal variation in the occurrence of the reflectors has been detected. A biological explanation is therefore discounted and we suggest here that they are bubbles caused by waves breaking and forming whitecaps in deep water. Similar bubble clouds may occur in other lakes and in the sea.     

星载激光测高仪海面回波的仿真与分析

星载激光测高仪发射的1 064 nm波长激光被波动海洋表面反射,系统接收的时间波形与瞬时海面波浪分布相关。而海面波浪又直接受海面风速影响,因此可以通过观测激光测高仪回波变化监测不同风速下海态变化。本文依据激光雷达方程,利用蒙特卡洛法模拟不同风速下的海面波浪分布,通过光线追击建立海面回波波形仿真器;以地球科学激光测高系统(geo-science laser altimeter system,GLAS)参数为输入,仿真得到不同风速下的海面回波:发现当海面风速在3~10 m/s之间时,回波呈单峰高斯波形,与GLAS发布的实际回波相符;且回波脉宽,以及有效能量反射率(即有效回波能量与发射能量之比)与实测参数误差小于10%。进一步分析可知,回波特征参数与海面风速之间存在显著关联,为利用激光测高仪大规模精确反演海洋表面风速奠定了基础。