We report experimental evidence of an Eulerian-mean flow, u (z), created by the interaction of surface waves and tailored ambient sub-surface turbulence, which partly cancels the Stokes drift, uₛ (z), and present supporting theory. Water-side turbulent velocity fields and Eulerian-mean flows were measured with particle image velocimetry before vs after the passage of a wave group, and with vs without the presence of regular waves. We compare different wavelengths, steepnesses and turbulent intensities. In all cases, a significant change in the Eulerian-mean current is observed, strongly focused near the surface, where it opposes the Stokes drift. The observations support the picture that, when waves encounter ambient sub-surface turbulence, the flow undergoes a transition during which Eulerian-mean momentum is redistributed vertically (without changing the depth-integrated mass transport) until a new equilibrium state is reached, wherein the near-surface ratio between | d u/ dz| and | duₛ/ d z| approximately equals the ratio between the streamwise and vertical Reynolds normal stresses. This accords with a simple statistical theory derived here and holds regardless of the absolute turbulence level, whereas stronger turbulence means faster growth of the Eulerian-mean current. We present a model based on Rapid distortion theory which describes the generation of the Eulerian-mean flow as a consequence of the action of the Stokes drift on the background turbulence. Predictions are in qualitative, and reasonable quantitative, agreement with experiments on wave groups, where equilibrium has not yet been reached. Our results could have substantial consequences for predicting the transport of water-borne material in the oceans.
Ellingsen et al. (2026) studied this question.