Observations of swell influence on ocean surface roughness

Field measurements of the ocean surface wave spectrum focusing on the slope‐contributing components are used to construct a spectral model of the ocean surface roughness. The spectral parameterization is established with the observed empirical power law relation between the dimensionless wave spectral density and wind speed. The power law parameters (proportionality coefficient and exponent) are shown to be modified by swell. Discussions are presented on the swell effects of spectral properties, including their wind speed dependence and swell modification of roughness components characterizing Bragg resonance and surface tilting in radar application. Several notable results include the following: (1) With increasing swell intensity, the spectral density increases in the long‐wave portion and decreases in the short‐wave portion of the intermediate‐scale waves. (2) There is a nodal point with respect to swell impact in the wave number dependence of the coefficient and exponent of the spectral parameterization function in the vicinity of wave number near 3 rad/m, suggesting that waves about a couple of meters long are insensitive to swell influence. (3) Spectral density in the decimeter length scale becomes less sensitive to wind speed variation as swell intensity increases. (4) Increasing swell influence shifts wave breaking toward shorter and broader scales.