Turbulent windprint on a liquid surface

When a turbulent wind blows on a liquid surface it generates surface waves that are amplified above a critical speed. Below the threshold, the wind is still turbulent and generate little surface perturbation called wrinkles. These deformations can be seen as a base state of the liquid surface response, on top of which surface waves may grow. We will present an unified theory of the wrinkle regime as the viscous response of a liquid to a turbulent wind. We will combine analytical computations, DNS model of a turbulent boundary layer and comparison with existing experimental data to provide a quantitative description of such a turbulent windprint on a liquid surface.