Attenuation of wind waves by artificial surface films of different chemical structure

Experiments in a wind wave tunnel have shown that spectra of wind generated waves are modified by monomolecular surface films. Apart from the well known decrease of energy density two additional effects have been observed: a shift of the energy peak maximum and a dip in the short wavelength region of the gravity wave spectrum. Two mechanisms which would cause the shift of the peak maximum and one mechanism possibly contributing to the spectrum dip in the short gravity wave range are discussed.