TESTING DRAG COEFFICIENT APPROACHES BY USING THE BUOY DATA COLLECTED IN MODERATE TO HIGH WIND UNDER FOLLOWING, CROSSING AND OPPOSING SWELL CONDITIONS

Hurricane intensity and track are strongly affected by air-sea interactions. Classified as following swells, crossing swells, and opposing swells, the observed wave height was parameterized by using the 10-m wind speed collected on 5 buoys by the National Buoy Data Center during 13 hurricane events. The path information of these 13 hurricanes was obtained from the National Hurricane Center Best Track (NHC-BT). Results show that the wave height increases exponentially with the 10-m wind speed, and the wave height reaches the maximum value, 11.2 m (8.1 m), when 10-m wind speed is 40 m s-1 under the following and crossing (opposing) swell conditions. We find that the wave steepness (the ratio of wave height to wave length) is proportional to the -2/3 power of the wave age (the ratio of wave phase velocity to 10-m wind speed). The parameterizations of friction velocity and drag coefficient are tested using the buoy data collected in moderate to high wind under following, crossing and opposing swell conditions. A wave age dependent equation for drag coefficient is found more accurate and recommended for future usage in numerical models. Furthermore, these algorithms also suggest that wind-swell orientation needs to be considered to retrieve accurate surface drag under high winds and strong swells.