Career: quantifying wind-driven wave tearing and its impacts on hurricane air-sea drag

The National Science Foundation Office of Integrative Activities awarded the University of Miami's Office of Research $582,816 on July 1, 2026, under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) to quantify wind-driven wave tearing and its impacts on hurricane air-sea drag.

The research will measure the onset and rate of wave tearing under hurricane-force winds using high-speed shadow imaging in wind-wave tank experiments at the University of Miami SUSTAIN (Surge Structure Atmosphere Interaction) Laboratory in South Miami, Florida. The team will develop a parameterization of wave tearing for use in spectral wave models and test the impacts of wave tearing in fully coupled atmosphere-wave-ocean simulations of tropical cyclones. Understanding wave tearing—where high winds shear off wave tops—is intended to improve numerical hurricane forecasting models and inform coastal safety and infrastructure protection. The project will also produce an interactive textbook on fluid mechanics for atmosphere and ocean scientists.

The award runs through June 30, 2031, with performance at the University of Miami's South Miami facility.

Abstract

Hurricanes develop and are sustained over warm ocean waters by the exchange of energy between the sea and air. Intense hurricane wind speeds result in a complicated and chaotic layer near the surface with breaking waves, sea spray, and subsurface bubbles which affects the exchange of energy, and therefore the evolution of the hurricane. This project will use an advanced wind-wave tank for laboratory experiments, and the resulting data will be used to improve numerical model simulations of hurricanes. The research is likely to result in improved forecasting of hurricanes, which has direct implications for the safety of coastal communities, essential infrastructure, and the economy of the united states. A new interactive textbook on fluid mechanics for atmosphere and ocean scientists will also be developed. This project focuses on wave tearing, where high winds shear off the tops of waves. This phenomenon has been observed from airborne photography and in laboratory settings, but IT has not been measured quantitatively and is not resolved in current-generation hurricane forecast models. The overarching questions that will be addressed by this project are - what is the onset and rate of wave tearing by wind, and what is the impact of wave tearing on the air-sea drag in hurricane-force winds? To address these questions, the research team will: 1) measure the onset and rate of wave tearing in a broad range of wind and wave conditions using high-speed shadow imaging techniques in a series of wind-wave tank experiments at the university of miami surge structure atmosphere interaction (SUSTAIN) laboratory; (2) develop a parameterization of wave tearing by wind, for use in spectral wave models; and (3) test the impacts of wave tearing in fully-coupled atmosphere-wave-ocean simulations of tropical cyclones. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.