Sensitivity of predicted hydrodynamic modulations to the form of the wave energy dissipation function

Although two-scale models for radar imaging of the ocean surface often perform well, they have been observed to underestimate radar modulations for certain environmental and observation conditions. In recent years, three-scale theories that incorporate interactions between intermediate (meter-scale) and short (centimeter-scale) waves have been developed to account for these discrepancies. Both the two- and three-scale models rely upon the balance of wave action with external sources such as the wind and wave breaking. The results of such models can be unreliable, however, due to uncertainty about the wave action dependency of these external source functions. The authors investigate the sensitivity of the action balance solution to the form of the external source function, both for direct wave/current interactions as well as for short/intermediate wave interactions