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Stokes Drift and Wind Drift in a Rotating Equilibrium Sea.

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Title: Stokes Drift and Wind Drift in a Rotating Equilibrium Sea.
Authors: Samelson, R. M.1 (AUTHOR) roger.samelson@oregonstate.edu, Zippel, S. F.1 (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of Physical Oceanography. Apr2026, Vol. 56 Issue 4, p801-821. 21p.
Subjects: Gravity waves, Coriolis force, Water waves, Ocean waves, Ocean currents, Theory of wave motion, Momentum transfer
Abstract: Stokes drift in a surface gravity wave field may be defined as the kinematic, mean wave-correlated component of fluid motion or as the dynamic, forced response to a mean wave-correlated pressure gradient. For linear, sinusoidal, nonrotating waves, the kinematic wave drift can be computed using Lagrangian, fixed-z Eulerian, or surface-conforming Eulerian means, where z is depth relative to the mean sea surface. The dynamic wave drift in a rotating, equilibrium wind sea depends on the forced-damped momentum balance for the drift. The forcing is taken as the wave-correlated pressure force on the free surface, which imparts momentum but no vorticity to the wave field. The damping presumably derives primarily from wave breaking, for which a mean rate of momentum loss is introduced through a damping time scale inferred from equilibrium wind-wave theory. The resulting forced-damped wave and mean wave-drift momentum balances are examined for both Eulerian means. It is concluded that in a rotating equilibrium sea with the Coriolis parameter computed at 40°N, the mean dynamic Stokes drift will be directed up to 10°–45° to the right of downwind, depending on depth, wavelength, and wind-wave amplitude or wind speed. The parameterized wave-breaking force and the wave drift for a rotating equilibrium sea spectral wave field are combined with a recently proposed, semiempirical, rotating equilibrium sea wind-drift model to obtain predictions of the combined wind and dynamic wave drift. This combined drift differs modestly but systematically from wind-drift-only predictions from the wind-drift model. The approach suggests a modified, dynamic-drift form of wave-averaged equations for wave–turbulence interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Physical Oceanography is the property of American Meteorological Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Stokes Drift and Wind Drift in a Rotating Equilibrium Sea.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Samelson%2C+R%2E+M%2E%22">Samelson, R. M.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> roger.samelson@oregonstate.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Zippel%2C+S%2E+F%2E%22">Zippel, S. F.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Physical+Oceanography%22">Journal of Physical Oceanography</searchLink>. Apr2026, Vol. 56 Issue 4, p801-821. 21p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gravity+waves%22">Gravity waves</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Coriolis+force%22">Coriolis force</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Water+waves%22">Water waves</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ocean+waves%22">Ocean waves</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ocean+currents%22">Ocean currents</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Theory+of+wave+motion%22">Theory of wave motion</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Momentum+transfer%22">Momentum transfer</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Stokes drift in a surface gravity wave field may be defined as the kinematic, mean wave-correlated component of fluid motion or as the dynamic, forced response to a mean wave-correlated pressure gradient. For linear, sinusoidal, nonrotating waves, the kinematic wave drift can be computed using Lagrangian, fixed-z Eulerian, or surface-conforming Eulerian means, where z is depth relative to the mean sea surface. The dynamic wave drift in a rotating, equilibrium wind sea depends on the forced-damped momentum balance for the drift. The forcing is taken as the wave-correlated pressure force on the free surface, which imparts momentum but no vorticity to the wave field. The damping presumably derives primarily from wave breaking, for which a mean rate of momentum loss is introduced through a damping time scale inferred from equilibrium wind-wave theory. The resulting forced-damped wave and mean wave-drift momentum balances are examined for both Eulerian means. It is concluded that in a rotating equilibrium sea with the Coriolis parameter computed at 40°N, the mean dynamic Stokes drift will be directed up to 10°–45° to the right of downwind, depending on depth, wavelength, and wind-wave amplitude or wind speed. The parameterized wave-breaking force and the wave drift for a rotating equilibrium sea spectral wave field are combined with a recently proposed, semiempirical, rotating equilibrium sea wind-drift model to obtain predictions of the combined wind and dynamic wave drift. This combined drift differs modestly but systematically from wind-drift-only predictions from the wind-drift model. The approach suggests a modified, dynamic-drift form of wave-averaged equations for wave–turbulence interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Physical Oceanography is the property of American Meteorological Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1175/JPO-D-25-0198.1
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        Text: English
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        PageCount: 21
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      – SubjectFull: Gravity waves
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Coriolis force
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Water waves
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      – SubjectFull: Ocean waves
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Ocean currents
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      – SubjectFull: Theory of wave motion
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Momentum transfer
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Stokes Drift and Wind Drift in a Rotating Equilibrium Sea.
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            NameFull: Samelson, R. M.
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            NameFull: Zippel, S. F.
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              M: 04
              Text: Apr2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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