Wind-Driven Waves on the Air-Water Interface

An ocean swell refers to a train of periodic or nearly periodic waves. The wave train can propagate on the free surface of a body of water over very long distances. A great deal of the current study in the dynamics of water waves is focused on ocean swells. These swells are typically created initially in the neighborhood of an ocean storm, and then the swell propagates away from the storm in all directions. We consider a different kind of wave, called seas, which are created by and driven entirely by wind. These waves typically have no periodicity, and can rise and fall with changes in the wind. Specifically, this is a two-fluid problem, with air above a moveable interface, and water below it. We focus on the local dynamics at the air-water interface. Various properties at this locality have implications on the waves as a whole, such as pressure differentials and velocity profiles. The following analysis provides insight into the dynamics of seas, and some of the features of these intriguing waves, including a process known as white-capping.