Laboratory investigation of wind wave breaking modulation in the inhomogeneous current field

摘要

A experimental laboratory study of the effect of a horizontally inhomogeneous current on breaking statistics of wind waves was carried out. Were creating a current having the same direction as wind waves with positive and negative gradients and a current of the counter direction with a negative gradient. The wind speed varied from 10.4 to 20.1 m/s based on a standard height of 10 m. The maximum current velocity near the surface was 27 cm/s. The maximum current gradient was equal to 0.09 1/s. The codirected current reduces the wind wave amplitude for all wind speeds, while the frequency of the spectral density maximum of wind waves remains the same. The frequency of the recorded by radar wind-wave breaking also decreases for positive, negative, and zero gradients. In the case of counter directions, for light winds in the presence of a current the wind wave amplitude reduces, the wind wave spectrum displaces in the direction of lower frequencies. At higher wind speeds, there were neither differences in the surface wave spectra in the presence and absence of a current, however, an increase in the frequency of the recorded by radar wind-wave breaking is observed. These laboratory investigations are carried out in the interests of the remote diagnostics methods development of inhomogeneous currents at higher wind speeds.