The Vertical Mean Wind Profile Over the Ocean for Light to Moderate Winds

Abstract

Analysis of 299 wind profile observations collected at the oceanographic research platform provides a detailed picture of the behavior of wind profile parameters. A plot of roughness length vs velocity suggests the existence of classical hydrodynamic phenomena such as Jeffreysminimum wind speed and the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. The friction velocity appears to be, in general, a linear function of the wind velocity, except in regions where discontinuities exist.