Field investigations of the drift of artificial thin films on the sea surface

The results of field investigations of the drift of surface films are presented. The experiments were performed at the southern coast of the Crimea in the area of an oceanographic platform. It is shown that the drift of a thin film is described well by a linear combination of the vectors of the coastal current and wind, and the coefficient of the current velocity is close to unity. The total velocity of wind and wave drifts is 0.013 of the wind velocity magnitude or 0.38 of the air friction velocity. Analysis of experimental data demonstrates an increase in the film spreading rate with increasing wind velocity.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]