Effect of Breaking Waves on the Transport of Heat and Vapor Fluxes from the Oceans

Abstract

One way of studying the complex subject of atmospheric surface-layer over the ocean during high-sea states is the consideration of the waves as moving drag objects for the wind. The resultant transport equations for the momentum, temperature, humidity, and micro-water droplets fields are treated as inter-coupled fields. In this study, we have found that the micro droplets produced by breaking waves is a major source of atmospheric moisture and latent heat from the ocean. Field data reduced by the present model gives highly consistent results. During high-sea states, the vertical energy flux from the ocean was found to be more than four times larger than the existing formulation, in which the effect of water droplets was not taken into consideration.