On the energy input from wind to surface waves

Abstract

A basic model relating the energy dissipation in the ocean mixed layer to the energy input into the surface wave field is combined with recent measurements of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation to determine the average phase speed of the waves acquiring energy from the wind. This phase speed and the square root of the corresponding wavelength are proportional to the vertically integrated dissipation. The calculations show that the maximum energy input occurs at the high-frequency end of the wave spectrum. -from Authors