Laboratory and theoretical modeling of air-sea momentum transfer under severe wind conditions

The laboratory experiments on investigation of aerodynamic resistance of the waved water surface under severe wind conditions (up to U10 ≈ 40 m s−1) were carried out, complemented by measurements of the wind‐wave spectra. The tendency to saturation of the surface drag was observed for wind speeds exceeding 25 m s−1, accompanied by the saturation of wind‐wave slopes. The effect of surface drag saturation can be explained quantitatively within the quasi‐linear model of the air boundary layer above the waved water surface, when the contribution of the short‐wave part of the wind‐wave spectrum to aerodynamic resistance of the water surface is taken into account. Key Points Laboratory modeling of the air‐sea momentum transfer for hurricane wind Saturation of the aerodynamic drag coefficient Correlation of aerodynamic roughness with mean square slope of the wave field