A series of measurements of winds and wind-waves were carried out in wind-wave flumes. A data analysis based on the hypothesis of local equilibrium yielded a new empirical formula on the controversial quantity of roughness height zo over the water surface: z
0: 4=1.02×10
-2 u, where the nondimensional roughness heightis defined by gzo/u
2 and the wave-wind parameter z
0 by wpu/g, g being the gravitational acceleration, u the friction velocity of air, the peak frequency of wind-wave spectra. The obtained formula is compared with Charnock's (1955) and Toba's (1979) proposals;o is constant in the former and inversely proportional to u in the latter. As in Toba's, this formula immediately leads to a practically important conclusion that the drag coefficient Cd depends not merely on the usual variable U
10 (wind velocity at 10m height over the water surface), but also on the surface state represented by wind-waves. An explicit expression is provided for the drag coefficient incorporating the wave-wind parameter; it covers the range of Cd calculated from most of the previous drag formulas, by varying the wave-wind parameter.
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