THE NEAR-SURFACE LAYER OF THE OCEAN
6.1 Air Bubbles in the Near-Surface Turbulent
Boundary Layer
6.1.1 Active and passive phases in bubble life
The high wind speed regime is associated with energetic wave breaking
events. The fraction of the ocean surface covered with wave breakers
increases approximately proportionally to the cube of the wind speed.
396
(a) from 253 m altitude with flight level wind speed of 46 m s
-1 ; (b) from 450 m altitude with flight
level wind speed of 55 m s
-1 . Arrows show the wind direction, and scales suggest approximate sizes of
the wave features. Reprinted from Powell et al. (2003) by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd:
Nature 422, 279-283, © 2003.
Figure 6-1. Sea state photographs taken from a research aircraft during a hurricane eye-wall penetration:
6.1 Air Bubbles in the Near-Surface Turbulent
Boundary Layer
6.1.1 Active and passive phases in bubble life
The high wind speed regime is associated with energetic wave breaking
events. The fraction of the ocean surface covered with wave breakers
increases approximately proportionally to the cube of the wind speed.
396
(a) from 253 m altitude with flight level wind speed of 46 m s
-1 ; (b) from 450 m altitude with flight
level wind speed of 55 m s
-1 . Arrows show the wind direction, and scales suggest approximate sizes of
the wave features. Reprinted from Powell et al. (2003) by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd:
Nature 422, 279-283, © 2003.
Figure 6-1. Sea state photographs taken from a research aircraft during a hurricane eye-wall penetration: