Abstract
Ocean waves on all scales play an important role in air-sea interaction, since they strongly affect the transfers of heat, momentum, water vapour, gases (O2 and CO2), salt particles and micro-organisms, between ocean and atmosphere. For the transfer of momentum, wave breaking may be crucial. Banner and Melville (1977) have presented evidence that breaking tends to induce separation in the air flow above the surface, with a consequent increase in the local momentum flux from air to water by about two orders of magnitude. Wave breaking must also transfer momentum from waves to surface currents and supply energy to mix the upper layers of the ocean, thus greatly increasing the transfers of heat and gases across the surface.
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References
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Longuet-Higgins, M.S. (1978). On the Dynamics of Steep Gravity Waves in Deep Water. In: Favre, A., Hasselmann, K. (eds) Turbulent Fluxes Through the Sea Surface, Wave Dynamics, and Prediction. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-9806-9_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-9806-9_14
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