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A man standing next to large ocean waves at Porto Covo, Portugal Video of large waves from Hurricane Marie along the coast of Newport Beach, California. In fluid dynamics, a wind wave, or wind-generated water wave, is a surface wave that occurs on the free surface of bodies of water as a result of the wind blowing over the water's surface.
The Miles-Phillips mechanism is a physical interpretation of these wind-generated surface waves. Both mechanisms are applied to gravity-capillary waves and have in common that waves are generated by a resonance phenomenon. The Miles mechanism is based on the hypothesis that waves arise as an instability of the sea-atmosphere system. [1]
Wind-wave dissipation or "swell dissipation" is process in which a wave generated via a weather system loses its mechanical energy transferred from the atmosphere via wind. Wind waves, as their name suggests, are generated by wind transferring energy from the atmosphere to the ocean's surface, capillary gravity waves play an essential role in ...
Dissolved salt does not evaporate back into the atmosphere like water, but it does form sea salt aerosols in sea spray. Many physical processes over ocean surface generate sea salt aerosols. One common cause is the bursting of air bubbles, which are entrained by the wind stress during the whitecap formation.
The proportion of the ocean surface turbulent enough to produce significant sea spray is called the whitecap fraction. [10] The only other production mechanism of sea spray in the open ocean is through direct wind action, where strong winds actually break the surface tension of the water and lift particles into the air. [10]
If methane is detected (by using a spectrometer for example) this may indicate that life is, or recently was, present. This was debated [ 25 ] when methane was discovered in the Martian atmosphere by M.J. Mumma of NASA's Goddard Flight Center, and verified by the Mars Express Orbiter (2004) [ 26 ] and in Titan 's atmosphere by the Huygens probe ...
Breaking of water surface waves may occur anywhere that the amplitude is sufficient, including in mid-ocean. However, it is particularly common on beaches because wave heights are amplified in the region of shallower water (because the group velocity is lower there). See also waves and shallow water. There are four basic types of breaking water ...
Aside from the oscillatory motions associated with tidal flow, there are two primary causes of large scale flow in the ocean: (1) thermohaline processes, which induce motion by introducing changes at the surface in temperature and salinity, and therefore in seawater density, and (2) wind forcing.