Observations of the von Karman constant over open-ocean waves

Forty-six open-ocean observations of the von Karman constant k , estimated from the momentum flux, wind velocity, and air temperature differences observed at the Argus Island tower, yielded an average value of 0.40±0.18 for |Ri|⩽0.014, where Ri is the gradient Richardson number. This average value agrees with the determinations of k over land by U. Hogstrom (1988) and S.F. Zhang et al. (1988). Scatter in these oceanic data sets may be due in part to ocean-wave influence as well as to instrumental and statistical variability