Abstract
Depending on the choice of reference wind speed, the quantitative and qualitative properties of the drag coefficient may vary. On the ocean surface, surface waves are the physical roughness at the air-sea interface, and they play an important role in controlling the air-sea exchange processes. The degree of dynamic influence of surface waves scales with wavelength. Drag coefficient computed with the reference wind speed at an elevation proportional to the wavelength (for example, U λ/2) is fundamentally different from the drag coefficient computed with the wind speed at fixed 10 m elevation (U 10). A comparison has been carried out to quantify the difference in wind stress computation using several different parameterization functions of the drag coefficient. The result indicates that the wind stress computed from U 10 input using a drag coefficient referenced to U λ/2 is more accurate than that computed with drag coefficient functions referenced to U 10.
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Hwang, P.A. Comparison of Ocean Surface Wind Stress Computed with Different Parameterization Functions of the Drag Coefficient. J Oceanogr 61, 91–107 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-005-0022-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-005-0022-6