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A quasi-similarity between wind waves and solid surfaces in their roughness characteristics

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Abstract

A formulation for the aerodynamic roughness length of air flow over wind waves

$$z_0 = \gamma {\text{ }}u_* /\sigma p$$

which was proposed by Toba (1979) and Toba and Koga (1986) from dimensional considerations with some data analysis, is shown to correspond with a formulation for irregular solid surfaces

$$(z_0 /h) = a(h/l)^{1 + \beta } $$

which resulted from work by Woodinget al. (1973) and Kustas and Brutsaert (1986);u * is the friction velocity,σ p the spectral peak frequency of wind waves,h the mean height of the solid obstacles,l the mean distance between their crests, andα,Β, andγ are constants. This correspondence is reached by the existence of a statistical 3/2-power law and an effective dispersion relationship for wind waves. Because both approaches of parameterizingz 0 were arrived at independently, they provide each other mutual reinforcement.

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Brutsaert, W., Toba, Y. A quasi-similarity between wind waves and solid surfaces in their roughness characteristics. Journal of the Oceanographical Society of Japan 42, 166–173 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02109351

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02109351

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