In strong winds, air flow detaches from the ocean surface in the lee of wave crests and creates a low‐pressure zone on the wave’s leeward face. The pressure difference between the wave’s rear and front face modulates the momentum input from wind to waves. Numerical wave models parameterize this effect using a so‐called sheltering coefficient. However, its value and dependence on wind speed are not well understood, particularly with background swell waves. To bridge this gap, we conducted laboratory experiments with winds up to Category 4 hurricane force blown over various mechanically generated wave conditions (pure wind sea, mixed waves with directional spreading, and monochromatic unidirectional waves) and measured the wind, waves, and stress at a sufficient frequency to resolve wind‐wave variability over the long‐wave phase. We analyze the results in the context of Jeffreys’s sheltering theory and find two regimes: (a) from low‐to‐moderate wind forcing (10 m s−1 <
- PAR ID:
- 10450614
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Geophysical Union
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
- Volume:
- 128
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 2169-9275
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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