Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 April 2006
Turbulent air flow over a surface gravity wave of small amplitude is studied analytically on the basis of a family of rapid-distortion turbulence models. Results for the wave growth rate do not depend sensitively on the specific choice of these models. However, the agreement with results based on a so-called truncated mixing-length model (Belcher & Hunt 1993) is poor, despite physical similarity of the models. The present analysis also shows that the use of turbulence models based on rapid-distortion theory leads to significant underestimation of observed growth rates of high-frequency waves.