Laboratory Studies of Evaporation and Energy Transfer Through a Wavy Air-Water Interface

Abstract

Interfacial evaporation and energy flux are presented for a series of experiments in a laboratory wind wave flume (neutral stratification) with varying free stream velocity and with and without mechanically generated waves. Integral conservation or budget techniques are the means of flux determination. Fluxes normalized to a 6-cm height are independent of fetch, increase with wind speed, and decrease if mechanically generated waves are introduced. Excellent correspondence between normalized energy and mass transfer exists except for the case involving spray which causes a reduction in the thermal field.