Measurements of Wind-Driven Flow Profiles in the Top Millimeter of Water

Abstract

Shapes of mean water velocity profiles measured with microscopic bubble tracers in developing, laminar flows are recognizably different from those in a turbulent flow. A previously deduced viscous sublayer occurs at the surface, although it is thinner than an analogous sublayer computed for a solid boundary. The differing thickness leads in part to decreased surface temperatures at slicks.