HR: 15:45h
AN: OS52G-06    [PDF]
TI: Atmospheric Pressure Fluctuations over the Ocean: Analysis of Field Experiment Data
AU: * Hristov, T S
EM: Tihomir.Hristov@jhu.edu
AF: Johns Hopkins University, Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Baltimore, MD 21218 United States
AU: Anderson, K D
AF: SPAWARSYSCEN-SD, 53560 Hull St., San Diego, CA 92152 United States
AU: Friehe, C A
EM: cfriehe@uci.edu
AF: University of California, Irvine, Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Irvine, CA 92697 United States
AU: Edson, J B
EM: jedson@whoi.edu
AF: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Dept. of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering, Woods Hole, MA 02543 United States
AB: Pressure fluctuations are an essential element of the dynamics of the marine boundary layer. They carry and embody the mechanical coupling at the air-sea interface and are pertinent to describing the transmission of electromagnetic signals over the ocean. Past experiments have measured the pressure distribution on the water surface, as it controls the generation of surface waves. However, since the pressure on the interface does not determine uniquely the the overlaying flow, agreement between such experimental results and theory predictions are insufficient to support a particular mechanism for surface wave generation. In this context, we conducted point measurements of pressure variation at fixed heights above the mean ocean surface, allowing an insight into the air flow structure. In this work we present data from the RED and CBLAST field experiments. Our analysis found a well pronounced wave-induced component in the pressure signal. We identify the spatio-temporal structure of the pressure field and discuss implications for the air-sea interaction and the turbulent transport in the surface layer. We also review previous experimental works and find that particular assumptions in the data interpretation may have amplified the reported discrepancies between the theory and experiment.
DE: 1223 Ocean/Earth/atmosphere interactions (3339)
DE: 4560 Surface waves and tides (1255)
DE: 6964 Radio wave propagation
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2004 Ocean Sciences Meeting