Sea surface drag coefficients in the Risø air sea experiment

This study examines the dependence of the computed drag coefficient on wind speed, stability, fetch, flux sampling problems, and method of calculation of the drag coefficient. The analysis is applied to data collected at a tower 2 km off the coast of Denmark during the Risø Air Sea Experiment (RASEX). Various flux sampling problems are evaluated to eliminate unreliable fluxes. Large drag coefficients are observed with weak large-scale flow. However, the value of the computed drag coefficient at weak wind speeds is sensitive to flux sampling problems and the method of calculation of the drag coefficient which might be a general characteristic of weak winds. The drag coefficient is significantly larger for short fetch conditions, particularly at strong wind speeds.