In this section
@article{Cao:2026:10.1029/2025JC023904,
author = {Cao, R and Padilla, E and Chen, X and Callaghan, A},
doi = {10.1029/2025JC023904},
journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research (JGR): Oceans},
title = {A representative underlying scale for spectrally-resolved energy dissipation in surface breaking waves},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2025JC023904},
year = {2026}
}
TY - JOUR
AB - In the Duncan-Phillips framework for breaking wave energy dissipation, the underlying scale at which dissipation occurs is commonly inferred from a measure of the breaking-wave phase speed, most often taken as the spectrally-informed phase speed(Cs), the local phasespeed at incipient breaking (Cb), and the white cap advancing speed(Cw). However, energy loss occurs across a finite spectral band, and the link between these single-speed measures and the representative dissipation scale requires further investigation. Using unidirectional laboratory wavegroups, we identify the spectral range over which energy dissipation occurs in breaking waves (≈0.95fp-1.8fp, with fp the peak frequency). From this, we define an energy-dissipation-weighted frequency fΥ and a corresponding phase speed CΥ(via the linear dispersion relation), which characterise the effective scale at which energy is lost from the wave group. We show that for the waves studied here this dissipative scale is systematically smaller than local and spectral speed measures, with CΥO(0.95Cb) 27O(0.87Cs). When inferred from whitecap-based measures (most commonly implemented in the field from optical remote sensing),CΥcorresponds to approximately O(0.91-0.96) of the time-averaged white cap advancing speed, depending on how the whitecap speed is defined. Taken together, these correlations indicate that the commonly used measures Cs,Cb, and white cap-based speeds are broadly connected, with our quantitative analysis further demonstrating that their relationships are modulated by the strength of breaking. Overall, our study provides a clearer physical basis for identifying dissipation scales in broadband breaking waves and helps reconcile existing laboratory, numerical, and field-based approaches.
AU - Cao,R
AU - Padilla,E
AU - Chen,X
AU - Callaghan,A
DO - 10.1029/2025JC023904
PY - 2026///
SN - 2169-9275
TI - A representative underlying scale for spectrally-resolved energy dissipation in surface breaking waves
T2 - Journal of Geophysical Research (JGR): Oceans
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2025JC023904
ER -
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