Modeling whitecap fraction with a wave model

Brian Scanlon, Øyvind Breivik, Jean Raymond Bidlot, Peter A.E.M. Janssen, Adrian H. Callaghan, Brian Ward

Research output: Contribution to a Journal (Peer & Non Peer)Articlepeer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

High-resolution measurements of actively breaking whitecap fraction (WFA) and total whitecap fraction (WFT) from the Knorr11 field experiment in the Atlantic Ocean are compared with estimates of whitecap fraction modeled from the dissipation source term of the ECMWF wave model. The results reveal a strong linear relationship between model results and observed measurements. This indicates that the wave model dissipation is an accurate estimate of total whitecap fraction. The study also reveals that the dissipation source term is more closely related to WFA than WFT, which includes the additional contribution from maturing (stage B) whitecaps.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)887-894
Number of pages8
JournalJ. PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
Volume46
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Keywords

  • Atm/ocean structure/phenomena
  • Atmosphere-ocean interaction
  • Circulation/dynamics
  • Models and modeling
  • Numerical weather prediction/forecasting
  • Oceanic
  • Wave breaking
  • Waves

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