Observation of wave-driven air–water turbulent momentum exchange in a large but fetch-limited shallow lake

Abstract

Wind-induced waves play a key role in air–sea momentum and heat exchange. Fetch-limited shallow lakes differ significantly from open ocean circumstances since the wave field is characterized by young and growing waves that (i) are steeper and can collapse by white-capping at lower wind speeds, and (ii) travel with lower phase velocity. Consequently, momentum (and heat) flux estimation methods arising from oceanographic observations cannot be directly applied; however, few attempts have been made to describe air–water turbulent exchange in case of large, but still fetch-limited shallow lakes. Within a Croatian-Hungarian measurement campaign, turbulent flux measurements were performed in Lake Balaton. Momentum and heat fluxes were measured with eddy-covariance technique at an offshore station, while waves were simultaneously recorded with underwater acoustic surface tracking. Momentum fluxes were also recorded at two further stations closer to the shore. In this study, we analyze the measured wind stress and surface waves to reveal surface drag in case of highly fetch-limited conditions. We compare our results with relevant model formulations that attempt to estimate momentum flux using different wave state parameterizations (i.e. wave age and wave slope modified Charnock formulations) and show that derived drag and roughness length parameterizations differ significantly from oceanographic formulas.