Water-Temperature Effect on the Spectral Density of Wind Gravity Waves and on Sea-Surface Roughness

摘要

The results of hourly measurements of sea roughness and hydrometeorological parameters, which were automatically taken from special buoys over a long period of time, were used. These buoys were located in the open regions of both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in different climatic zones; the mean water-surface temperature around the buoys varies from 1-3°C to 26-28°C. In addition to measurement results, the tables contain data on the spectral density of sea roughness for a wide range of frequencies. An analysis of these data, which was made for a short-wave region of the wind-wave spectrum, for the first time revealed a noticeable water-temperature dependence of the spectral density of wind waves within the frequency range 0.30-0.40 Hz, which corresponds to wave lengths of 9-4 m. The presence of such dependence is explained by a rapid temperature change in kinematic sea-water viscosity. Earlier, we indicated the temperature dependence of only very short spectral components that relate to a centimetric wavelength range. The statistical significance of the water-temperature effect on the spectral density of waves of the indicated frequency is supported by the results of a variance analysis. Temperature variations in the parameter of sea-surface roughness, which is determined, first of all, by the energy of the spectral shortwave region, are estimated. Altimetry is the basic method which is used in remotely determining the velocity of near-water wind. This method allows one to obtain records of deviations of the sea surface from the geoid surface and to calculate (on the basis of these records) the spectral density of wave components of almost any frequency. It is known that the wave-spectrum components in the region of low frequencies are almost always affected by ripple. Consequently, the energy of these components is determined not only by wind forcing, and only the components in the range of frequencies exceeding approximately 0.3 Hz are purely windy. Therefore, using the results of sea-surface altimetry in order to determine the velocity of near-water wind, one should use the spectral densities of wave components in this frequency region. The water-temperature dependence of the spectral density of short wind waves is manifested only in a certain frequency interval, which supports this recommendation.