Dm. Farmer et Jr. Gemmrich, MEASUREMENTS OF TEMPERATURE-FLUCTUATIONS IN BREAKING SURFACE-WAVES, Journal of physical oceanography, 26(5), 1996, pp. 816-825
Measurements of temperature fluctuations and air entrainment within th
e upper 1 m of the surface caused by breaking surface waves have been
acquired with a novel surface-following sensor array. Brief temperatur
e fluctuations of order 20 mK-100 mK lasting up to 1.5 s and coinciden
t with wave breaking are observed. Although a few of the temperature f
luctuations represent direct measurements of the temperature of entrai
ned air in large bubbles, it appears that in many cases the disruption
of the ocean thermal boundary layer and its vertical mixing is observ
ed. The observations suggest that wave breaking may play a role in the
vertical mixing of warm or cool water stored in the top few centimete
rs near the ocean surface to depths at which more persistent structure
s continue the process. Only about 30% of whitecaps exhibit this tempe
rature fluctuation. The authors hypothesize that measurable thermal in
jections tend to be concentrated in Langmuir convergence zones, which
accentuate the thickness of the ocean thermal boundary layer.