Impacts of Ocean Waves on the Atmospheric Surface Layer: Simulations and Observations

The long term objective of our research is to advance the understanding of air-sea interaction and the coupling between the atmospheric and oceanic boundary layers (the ABL and OBL) mediated by the surface gravity wave field, in order ultimately to develop better parameter­ izations of the boundary layers and surface fluxes for coupled, large-scale numerical models. Turbulence-resolving, large-eddy and direct numerical simulations (LES and DNS) are the main tools to be used to investigate interactions among the ABL, OBL, and the air-sea interface. Us­ ing numerically generated databases, we intend to investigate: (1) vertical heat and momentum fluxes carried by wave-correlated winds and currents; (2) enhanced small-scale, turbulent en­ ergy, mixing, and dissipation due both to enhanced wave-correlated wind and current shears and to wave breaking; and (3) wave-averaged influences due to mean Lagrangian currents (Stokes drift) that give rise to coherent Langmuir circulations in the ocean. These mechanisms will be considered for a variety of surface wave states. Finally, we intend to make an effort to connect our simulation results with the proposed Coupled Boundary Layers Air-Sea Transfer (CBLAST) field campaigns (Edson et al. 2007; Black et al. 2007; Chen et al. 2007).