An Observational Study to Quantify the Impact of Nearshore Processes on Air-Sea Momentum Transfer

Texas A&M University, College Station TX

Investigators

Abstract

The overarching goal of this project is to identify and systematically quantify coastal processes and features that alter nearshore air-sea momentum exchange. This will be achieved through analysis of an existing data set collected by the PI at the Army Field Research Facility (FRF) in Duck, NC. Data were recorded between August 2021 and January 2023 by five high frequency 3-D anemometers mounted on the pierhead and beach tower. The extensive observational network at FRF will be leveraged to characterize the nearshore environment and quantify its impact on the drag coefficient. In continued support of underrepresented students in STEM, this project will fund undergraduate students with disabilities from Texas A&M University. Students recruited outside STEM disciplines will have the opportunity to participate in high impact learning experiences that may otherwise be unavailable. Those from within the College of Arts and Sciences will be encouraged to produce an undergraduate thesis based on their research. Participants will present their results at Texas A&M Student Research Week. A graduate student will also be supported through this research. The PI will work with the NSF funded Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program (LSAMP) to help recruit a student from a group underrepresented in STEM from Texas A&M or another LSAMP university. The PI and graduate student will work with On the Ocean, a radio show from Texas A&M University and broadcast on the local National Public Radio Affiliate, KAMU, to produce eight radio segments resulting from this research. The segments will be broadcast in two series of four episodes each on the subjects of air-sea interaction and the physics of the coastal environment. This work is motivated by the need to improve parameterization of the air-to-sea momentum flux for nearshore use. This remains a significant challenge because parameterizations don’t adequately account for the impacts of surface currents and their feedback, wave shoaling or breaking, the effects of onshore topography, or weather systems that alter atmospheric stability. This further limits the ability to predict the true impact of wind forcing on the ocean or any wind-driven coastal process. The result of this research will be an in-depth understanding of the influence of coastal processes on momentum transfer and the surface layer flux profile, thereby leading to more accurate parameterization. The results are expected to lead to a more robust understanding of nearshore wave growth and breaking, which are important for whitecap creation, cloud formation, subsurface turbulence, acoustics, wave run-up and coastal erosion, sea ice breakup, and heat and gas exchange at the air-sea interface. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.