{"id":{"repo_id":"woods-hole","oai_identifier":"oai:darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org:1912/5687"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/woods-hole/oai:darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org:1912/5687","repository":{"repo_id":"woods-hole","name":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute","base_url":"https://darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"An investigation of wave-induced momentum flux through phase averaging of open ocean wind and wave fields","abstract":"This thesis presents an investigation of the influence of the dominant, wind-driven, surface waves on the vertical flux of horizontal momentum in the marine surface layer over open ocean conditions. Through a procedure which involves phase averaging the wind fields at the period of the dominant waves, the wave-induced component of the atmospheric fluctuations is isolated and vertical profiles of mean wave-induced momentum flux are computed. Previous investigators have used phase averaging to remove the turbulence from an oscillatory signal, but the absence of a monochromatic wave field in open ocean conditions complicates this approach. This difficulty is overcome by choosing only the time periods characterized by the most monochromatic-like waves present and filtering those sections of wind data with a narrow band-pass filter centered around the dominant wave frequency before beginning the phase averaging process. The analysis is carried a step further by investigating the dependence of wave-induced momentum flux on sea state through bin averaging according to wave age. This results in a set of profiles which express the ratio of wave-induced momentum flux to the total flux as a function of the wave age parameter c/U10. These profiles all tend to zero with height, and remain negligible at all heights over fully developed seas. Over younger seas, this ratio becomes increasingly more positive (corresponding to a positive value for - uw) with decreasing wave age; while over older seas, this ratio becomes increasingly more negative with increasing wave age. This provides strong quantitative evidence that there is a significant flux of momentum to the atmosphere from decaying waves, and a transfer of atmospheric momentum to developing waves.","abstract_html":"This thesis presents an investigation of the influence of the dominant, wind-driven, surface waves on the vertical flux of horizontal momentum in the marine surface layer over open ocean conditions. Through a procedure which involves phase averaging the wind fields at the period of the dominant waves, the wave-induced component of the atmospheric fluctuations is isolated and vertical profiles of mean wave-induced momentum flux are computed. Previous investigators have used phase averaging to remove the turbulence from an oscillatory signal, but the absence of a monochromatic wave field in open ocean conditions complicates this approach. This difficulty is overcome by choosing only the time periods characterized by the most monochromatic-like waves present and filtering those sections of wind data with a narrow band-pass filter centered around the dominant wave frequency before beginning the phase averaging process. The analysis is carried a step further by investigating the dependence of wave-induced momentum flux on sea state through bin averaging according to wave age. This results in a set of profiles which express the ratio of wave-induced momentum flux to the total flux as a function of the wave age parameter c/U10. These profiles all tend to zero with height, and remain negligible at all heights over fully developed seas. Over younger seas, this ratio becomes increasingly more positive (corresponding to a positive value for - uw) with decreasing wave age; while over older seas, this ratio becomes increasingly more negative with increasing wave age. This provides strong quantitative evidence that there is a significant flux of momentum to the atmosphere from decaying waves, and a transfer of atmospheric momentum to developing waves.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Wetzel, Suzanne W."],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1996,"date_issued":"1996-09","date_published":"1996-09","updated_at":"2026-07-27T22:05:08Z","subjects":["Wave mechanics","Atmospheric waves","Surface waves"],"languages":["en_US"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["10.1575/1912/5687"],"render_values":[{"text":"10.1575/1912/5687","href":"https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/5687","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5687","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Wetzel, Suzanne W."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2013-01-03T20:08:29Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-01-03T20:08:29Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["1996-09"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Wave mechanics","Atmospheric waves","Surface waves"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_US"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["10.1575/1912/5687"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5687"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution September 1996"]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis presents an investigation of the influence of the dominant, wind-driven, surface waves on the vertical flux of horizontal momentum in the marine surface layer over open ocean conditions. Through a procedure which involves phase averaging the wind fields at the period of the dominant waves, the wave-induced component of the atmospheric fluctuations is isolated and vertical profiles of mean wave-induced momentum flux are computed. Previous investigators have used phase averaging to remove the turbulence from an oscillatory signal, but the absence of a monochromatic wave field in open ocean conditions complicates this approach. This difficulty is overcome by choosing only the time periods characterized by the most monochromatic-like waves present and filtering those sections of wind data with a narrow band-pass filter centered around the dominant wave frequency before beginning the phase averaging process. The analysis is carried a step further by investigating the dependence of wave-induced momentum flux on sea state through bin averaging according to wave age. This results in a set of profiles which express the ratio of wave-induced momentum flux to the total flux as a function of the wave age parameter c/U10. These profiles all tend to zero with height, and remain negligible at all heights over fully developed seas. Over younger seas, this ratio becomes increasingly more positive (corresponding to a positive value for - uw) with decreasing wave age; while over older seas, this ratio becomes increasingly more negative with increasing wave age. This provides strong quantitative evidence that there is a significant flux of momentum to the atmosphere from decaying waves, and a transfer of atmospheric momentum to developing waves."]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An investigation of wave-induced momentum flux through phase averaging of open ocean wind and wave fields"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Wetzel, Suzanne W."],"dc:date.accessioned":["2013-01-03T20:08:29Z"],"dc:date.available":["2013-01-03T20:08:29Z"],"dc:date.issued":["1996-09"],"dc:description":["Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution September 1996"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis presents an investigation of the influence of the dominant, wind-driven, surface waves on the vertical flux of horizontal momentum in the marine surface layer over open ocean conditions. Through a procedure which involves phase averaging the wind fields at the period of the dominant waves, the wave-induced component of the atmospheric fluctuations is isolated and vertical profiles of mean wave-induced momentum flux are computed. Previous investigators have used phase averaging to remove the turbulence from an oscillatory signal, but the absence of a monochromatic wave field in open ocean conditions complicates this approach. This difficulty is overcome by choosing only the time periods characterized by the most monochromatic-like waves present and filtering those sections of wind data with a narrow band-pass filter centered around the dominant wave frequency before beginning the phase averaging process. The analysis is carried a step further by investigating the dependence of wave-induced momentum flux on sea state through bin averaging according to wave age. This results in a set of profiles which express the ratio of wave-induced momentum flux to the total flux as a function of the wave age parameter c/U10. These profiles all tend to zero with height, and remain negligible at all heights over fully developed seas. Over younger seas, this ratio becomes increasingly more positive (corresponding to a positive value for - uw) with decreasing wave age; while over older seas, this ratio becomes increasingly more negative with increasing wave age. This provides strong quantitative evidence that there is a significant flux of momentum to the atmosphere from decaying waves, and a transfer of atmospheric momentum to developing waves."],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.doi":["10.1575/1912/5687"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5687"],"dc:language.iso":["en_US"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution"],"dc:subject":["Wave mechanics","Atmospheric waves","Surface waves"],"dc:title":["An investigation of wave-induced momentum flux through phase averaging of open ocean wind and wave fields"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T22:05:08Z"}