Wind action on water standing in a laboratory channel

Abstract

The development of waves and currents resulting from the action of a steady wind on initially standing water has been investigated in a wind–water tunnel. The mean air flow near the water surface, the properties of wind waves, and the drift currents were measured as they evolved with increasing fetch, depth and mean wind speed. The results suggest how the stress on the water surface changes with an increasingly wavy surface, and, from a different viewpoint, how the drift current and the waves develop in relation to the friction velocity of the air. The amplitude spectra calculated for the wavy surface reflected certain features characteristic of an equilibrium configuration, especially in the higher frequencies. The observed equilibrium range in the high frequencies of the spectra fits the f−5 rule satisfactorily up to frequencies f of about 15 c/s. The wave spectra also revealed how the waves grow in the channel, both with time at a fixed point, and with distance from the leading edge of the water. These results are discussed in the light of recent theories for wave generation resulting from the action of pressure fluctuations in the air, and from shearing flow instabilities near the wavy surface. The experimental observations agree reasonably well with the predictions of the recent theory proposed by Miles, using growth rates calculated for the mechanism suggesting energy transfer to the water through the viscous layer in the air near the water surface.