Diffusion of gravity waves by random space inhomogeneities in pancake-ice fields. Theory and validation with wave buoys and synthetic aperture radar

We study the diffusion of ocean waves by floating bodies such as pancakes and ice floes much smaller than a wavelength. We argue that the combined effect of hydrodynamic interaction of the ice bodies and inhomogeneities in the ice cover at scales comparable to that of the wavelength significantly increases diffusion, producing a contribution to wave attenuation comparable to what is observed in the field and usually explained by invoking viscous effects. The resulting attenuation spectrum is characterized by a peak at the scale of the inhomogeneities in the ice cover, thereby providing a new possible explanation of the rollover of the attenuation profile at small wavelengths experimentally observed over the years. The proposed attenuation mechanism has the same effect as a viscous wave model with effective viscosity linearly dependent on the ice thickness, which may explain recent findings that viscous wave models require a thickness-dependent viscosity to fit experimental attenuation data. Experimental validation is carried out using wave buoy attenuation data and synthetic aperture radar image analysis.