WKBJ Framework Quantifies Momentum Transfer From Fast Waves to Air via Stokes Layer Phase Shift
The study supplies a closed-form analytical description of wave-coherent airflow over fast waves, validated against DNS and LES. It replaces the missing critical-layer mechanism with a viscous Stokes-layer phase shift whose leading-order stress scales with wave Reynolds number. The result offers a practical route to improve momentum-flux parametrizations in atmospheric models.
Future work should test the LW-WKBJ coefficients against field measurements of wave-coherent pressure at heights below 1 m and against LES with two-way wave-current coupling. If the predicted 1/sqrt(Re) dependence holds, existing parametrizations that treat fast-wave stress as negligible will require revision, affecting forecasts of near-surface wind and wave growth rates.
Aiyer et al.: LW-WKBJ form-stress predictions will lie inside 8 % of new phase-resolved LES at wave Reynolds numbers 500-5000 within 18 months of publication.
Sources (3)
- [1]Primary Source(https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.40933)
- [2]Supporting Source(https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2023.1021)
- [3]Supporting Source(https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-20-0153.1)