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Laboratory studies on the surface drift current induced by wind and swell

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2006

Zhan Cheng
Affiliation:
National Research Center for Marine Environment Forecasts, no. 8 Da Hui Si, Hai Dian District, Beijing, China
Hisashi Mitsuyasu
Affiliation:
Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University 87, Kasuga, 816 Japan

Abstract

Systematic measurements of the surface drift current, the wind profile over the water surface and the wave spectra have been made for (i) pure wind-waves, (ii) a coexisting system of wind-waves and swell propagating against the wind, and (iii) a coexisting system of wind-waves and swell propagating in the direction of the wind. The surface drift current is gradually intensified by the swell propagating against the wind when the swell steepness increases. The maximum increase of the surface drift velocity caused by the opposing swell is about 46 % of the surface drift velocity for pure wind-waves at the same wind speed. Such a phenomenon was not observed when the swell was propagating in the direction of the wind.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1992 Cambridge University Press

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