The generalized Phillips' spectra and new dissipation function for wind-driven seas

Abstract

A generalization of the kinetic equation is proposed for explaining observed shapes of wind wave spectra. The approach allows to fix a critical uncertainty in modeling wind wave spectra using a condition of equilibrium of nonlinear transfer and wave dissipation due to breaking. We demonstrate transition from the Kolmogorov-Zakharov spectrum $E(\omega)\sim \omega^{-4}$ to the Phillips spectrum $E(\omega)\sim \omega^{-4}$. This transition is routinely observed in field experiments. The first results of the generalized kinetic equation simulations are presented.