On the variability of sea drag in finite water depth

Abstract

[1] The coupling between the atmospheric boundary layer and the ocean surface in large-scale models is usually parameterized in terms of the sea drag coefficient, which is routinely estimated as a function of mean wind speed. The scatter of data around such parametric dependencies, however, is very significant and imposes a serious limitation on the forecasts and predictions that make use of sea surface drag parameterizations. The analysis of an atmospheric and wave data set collected in finite water depth at the Lake George measurement site (Australia) suggests that this variability relates to a number of parameters at the air-sea interface other than wind speed alone. In particular, result..