Variations of Whitecap Coverage with Wind Stress and Water Temperature

Abstract

Results of whitecap coverages from five previously reported oceanic experiments by Monahan and coinvestigators have been analyzed; the fractional coverage of the sea surface(W) was shown to follow a power law, W = 2U3.7510, where U10 is the wind velocity at 10 m above the mean sea surface. Attempts were then made to associate the coverage with the wind-friction velocity (u*) deduced from the wind velocity and air–sea temperature differences as W = 0.2u3*. Finally, we discuss effects of the water temperature on the coverage.