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Effect of wind profile on the instability of wind blowing over water

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2006

L. C. Morland  and
P. G. Saffman
L. C. Morland
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275, USA
P. G. Saffman
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Mathematics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
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Abstract

A linear stability analysis of the inviscid, parallel flow of air over water leads to an eigenvalue problem for the wave speed, which is solved numerically for air profiles typical of both laminar and turbulent flows. Comparison is made with Miles’ (1957) theory; growth rates differ from those predicted from the Miles (1957) formula but are in agreement with Conte & Miles’ (1959) computations for turbulent flow profiles. In the limit of a highly sheared wind profile the numerical computations retrieve the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 252 , July 1993 , pp. 383 - 398
Copyright
© 1993 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

With an Appendix by J. W. Miles

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