American Geophysical Union Become an AGU Member
Subscribe to AGU Journals		 AGU Home AGU Publications

Read Full Article (file size: 1626718 bytes)    Cited by

JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 108, NO. C3, 3086, doi:10.1029/2002JC001321, 2003

Observations of oceanic whitecaps in the north polar waters of the Atlantic

Malgorzata Stramska

Hancock Institute for Marine Studies, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA


Tomasz Petelski

Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland


Abstract

Digital photographs of the sea surface were analyzed for the fraction of aerial coverage by whitecaps (stage A and B) in the north polar region of the Atlantic. Photography was accompanied by measurements of wind velocity, air temperature and humidity, sea surface temperature, and observations of significant wave height. Whitecap coverage increased significantly with an increase in wind speed (or wind friction velocity). Our data exhibit lower values of the average whitecap coverage at low and moderate wind speeds than previous estimates from literature. In addition, our results indicate that the prediction of whitecap coverage can be improved if the state of the development of surface waves is taken into account. Changes in sea surface temperature (2 to 13°C) and near-water air stability showed no discernible effect on whitecap coverage at any given wind speed within our data set.

Published 18 March 2003.

Index Terms: 4560 Oceanography: Physical: Surface waves and tides (1255); 3339 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Ocean/atmosphere interactions (0312, 4504); 4207 Oceanography: General: Arctic and Antarctic oceanography; 3360 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Remote sensing.

Read Full Article (file size: 1626718 bytes)    Cited by

Citation: Stramska, M., and T. Petelski (2003), Observations of oceanic whitecaps in the north polar waters of the Atlantic, J. Geophys. Res., 108(C3), 3086, doi:10.1029/2002JC001321.