Bernd Jahne
Physical Oceanography Research Division, Scripps Inst. of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92093-0230, USA & External Member, Interdisciplinary Ctr. for Sci. Comp. (IWR), Univ. of Heidelberg, Germany
Jochen Klinke
Institute for Environmental Physics, Univ. of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, D-6900 Heidelberg, Germany
Peter Geissler
Institute for Environmental Physics, Univ. of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, D-6900 Heidelberg, Germany
Frank Hering
Institute for Environmental Physics and Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR), Univ. of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, D-6900 Heidelberg, Germany
Almost no measurements of the small-scale spatial structure of the ocean surface are presently available. New optical techniques, which take image sequences of the slope of the short wind-waves, have been used recently in wind-wave facilities and will soon be available for oceanic field measurements. Here, we discuss various image processing techniques for wave slope image sequences which allow for a deeper insight into the kinematics and dynamics of the wind-driven ocean surface, specifically, energy input by wind, non-linear wave-wave interaction, phase speed, interaction with the turbulent shear flow, and wave dissipation. These techniques are demonstrated using images recently taken in the large wind-wave facility of Delft Hydraulics, the Netherlands.