Quasi-linear Theory for Surface Wave-Current Interactions (Mathematics of Planet Earth)

This book introduces a mathematical theory for the interaction of oceanic surface gravity waves and oceanic currents. This theory is formulated using the quasi-linear approximation for a uniform density fluid with a free surface and it provides wave-averaged expressions for the wave amplitudes and for the dynamical evolution of the currents. The surface gravity wave–current interaction theory is a more complete theory than previous with respect to an asymptotic expansion in the small parameter V/C, where V is a current speed and C is a wave speed. This book also illustrates the formal theory with several examples, and the path for its implementation in more realistic wave and circulation models is envisioned.

This book is appealing to oceanic research scientists and mathematicians interested in geophysical fluid dynamics.

James C. McWilliams is the Louis Slichter Professor of Earth Science in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has written widely on geophysical fluid dynamics theory and computational simulations of turbulent flows. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.