Directional Phase-Resolved Broadband Observations of Breaking Waves

波浪的破碎调节着穿过海气界面的能量、动量和质量的通量，所有这些对天气和气候都很重要。断裂是多尺度和高度非线性的，因此不能分析跟踪。我们的理解大多是统计上的，建立在理论约束和实验室、数值和现场实验的基础上。尽管最近取得了进展，但我们预测断裂的能力仍然有限，而且波浪谱的定向传播是一个尚未得到很好研究的重要因素。近年来的研究表明，破波耗散时间尺度在所有方向上都不是均匀的，通过与波的非线性共振相互作用，破波耗散有助于比主导波长短的波的定向传播。这个项目将从一个固定的塔上测量波浪和波浪破碎，包括它们在波长和方向上的传播，以便更好地理解这些共振相互作用。生成的数据和代码将在网上开放获取。此计画的成果将纳入物理海洋学及海气相互作用课程。该项目将支持一名研究生和至少一名本科生参加本科研究项目。该项目将支持一名西班牙裔调查员的研究，他是康涅狄格大学一个试点项目的导师，该项目为传统上代表性不足的社区的学生提供服务。这项研究的结果将用于为当地社区的推广活动和事件制作教育材料，包括每年在当地小学为二年级学生举办的海洋周活动，以及为格罗顿/新伦敦地区代表性不足的社区的高中生提供研究和科学机会的青年探险家科学计划。本建议的总体目标是提高对定向破波运动学及其对动力学的影响的理解，以约束和改进谱破波耗散参数化，并最终改进谱模型。将使用玛莎葡萄园岛海岸天文台海气相互作用塔的立体红外和可见图像对定向能谱和定向断裂运动学进行同步测量。观测将在广泛的条件下进行，包括强风（10米/秒），不对齐的风和主导波，允许在广泛的尺度上详细描述二维破裂运动学和动力学。此外，该项目将描述破裂概率的各向异性；量化运动破波起始判据；短引力波的定向能量平衡分析约束和改进了破波耗散参数化。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Wave breaking regulates fluxes of energy, momentum, and mass across the air-sea interface, all of which are important for weather and climate. Breaking is multiscale and highly nonlinear and therefore is not analytically trackable. Much of our understanding is statistical, built on theoretical constraints and laboratory, numerical, and field experiments. Despite recent advances, our ability to predict breaking remains limited, and the directional spread of the wave spectrum is an important factor that has not been well studied. Recent studies show that wave-breaking dissipation timescales are not uniform in all directions, and through non-linear resonant interactions with waves, it contributes to the directional spread of waves shorter than the dominant wavelength. This project will measure waves and wave-breaking, including their spread in both wavelengths and directions, from a fixed tower, in order to better understand these resonant interactions. The data and code generated will be available online with open access. Results from this project will be incorporated into courses in Physical Oceanography and Air-Sea Interaction. The project will support a graduate student and at least one undergraduate student will participate in an undergraduate research project. The project will support the research of a Hispanic investigator, who is a mentor in a pilot program at UConn serving students of traditionally underrepresented communities. The results from this study will be used to generate educational material for outreach activities and events within the local community, including the yearly event Ocean Week at local elementary schools for 2nd-year students, and the Young Explorer Science program which provides research and science exposure to high school students within underrepresented communities of the Groton/New London area.The overarching goal of this proposal is to improve the understanding of directional wave-breaking kinematics and their impact on the dynamics to constrain and improve spectral breaking dissipation parameterizations and ultimately improve wave spectral models. Coincident measurements will be made of the directional energy spectrum and directional breaking kinematics using stereo infrared and visible imagery from Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Observatory Air-Sea Interaction Tower. Observations will be made under a wide range of conditions including high winds (10 m/s), misaligned winds, and dominant waves allowing for a detailed characterization of the two-dimensional breaking kinematics and dynamics over a wide range of scales. Additionally, the project will characterize the breaking probability anisotropically; quantify kinematic wave-breaking onset criterion; analyze the directional energy balance of short gravity waves; and constrain and improve wave-breaking dissipation parameterizations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.