THE ROLE OF SURFACE-WAVE BREAKING IN AIR-SEA INTERACTION

Breaking serves to limit the height of surface waves, mix the surface waters, generate ocean currents, and enhance air-sea fluxes of heat, m ass, and momentum through the generation of turbulence and the entrain ment of air. Breaking may result from intrinsic instabilities of deep- water waves or through wave-wave, wave-current, and wind-wave interact ions. Observations in the field are made difficult by the fact that br eaking is a strongly nonlinear intermittent process occurring over a w ide range of scales. Controlled laboratory studies of breaking have pr oven useful in measuring the scaling relationships between the surface wave field and the kinematics and dynamics of breaking. Our inability to predict the occurrence and dynamics of breaking is a major impedim ent to the development of better wind-wave and mixed-layer models. Mod ern acoustic and electromagnetic oceanographic instrumentation should lead to significantly improved measurements of breaking in the near fu ture.