Buoy Measurements of Wind–Wave Relations during Hurricane Matthew in 2016

• Published in: Journal of physical oceanography Vol. 47; no. 10; pp. 2603 - 2609
• Main Authors: Hsu, S. A., He, Yijun, Shen, Hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.10.2017
• ISSN: 0022-3670; 1520-0485
• DOI: 10.1175/JPO-D-16-0280.1

Abstract Studies suggested that neutral-stability wind speed at 10 m U 10 ≥ 9 m s −1 and wave steepness H s / L p ≥ 0.020 can be taken as criteria for aerodynamically rough ocean surface and the onset of a wind sea, respectively; here, H s is the significant wave height, and L p is the peak wavelength. Based on these criteria, it is found that, for the growing wind seas when the wave steepness increases with time during Hurricane Matthew in 2016 before the arrival of its center, the dimensionless significant wave height and peak period is approximately linearly related, resulting in U 10 = 35 H s / T p ; here, T p is the dominant or peak wave period. This proposed wind–wave relation for aerodynamically rough flow over the wind seas is further verified under Hurricane Ivan and North Sea storm conditions. However, after the passage of Matthew’s center, when the wave steepness was nearly steady, a power-law relation between the dimensionless wave height and its period prevailed with its exponent equal to 1.86 and a very high correlation coefficient of 0.97.