MOMENTUM AND SENSIBLE HEAT FLUXES CALCULATED BY THE DISSIPATION TECHNIQUE DURING THE OCEAN STORMS PROJECT

High frequency measurements of wind velocity and temperature were made during the Ocean Storms Project in November 1987. The dissipation method was applied to the resulting time series in order to determine friction velocities, u*, and the characteristic temperature scale, t*, at 1-min intervals. These values were then compared to the 1-min mean wind speed and air-sea temperature differences to determine relationships for the drag coefficient (C(d)) and Stanton number (C(h)). The drag coefficient was comparable to other values reported in the literature, although the variation with wind speed was greater than reported by other investigators. An examination of the residual time series indicated a systematic low frequency periodicity of about 2-hr duration which was attributed to a fluctuating wind interacting with the surface gravity wave field. The temperature fluctuations did not produce meaningful estimates of C(h) for stable conditions. For unstable conditions, a value of 1.09 +/- 0.02 x 10(-3) was found.