Indirect Water Waves from Large-Yield Bursts
Abstract
Long-period surface water waves produced by megaton-range shots at Bikini Atoll during Operations Castle and Redwing were recorded at Ailinginae, Eniwetok, Wake, Guam, and Johnston Islands. Analysis of the results indicate that the waves originated close to Bikini, and propagated outward as a train of solitary waves of slowly decreasing amplitude and period, as measured at a single station. In each case, the train was slightly dispersive for roughly the first 500 naut mi, with wave height decaying inversely with range. It remained essentially unchanged in form thereafter, with height diminishing as the inverse square root of the range. The character of the dispersion and the subsequent behavior of the trains are not predicted by current theory. As measured at any station, the observed wave height varied directly with the shot yield, instead of the square root, as expected from theory. This relation can be explained by shadowing effect of the atoll. Curves for predicting deep-water wave heights at any range, as a function of yield and source geometry for surface shots over an atoll, are provided. The extension to other geometries is discussed.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 09, 1959
- Accession Number
- AD0357970
Entities
People
- W. G. Van Dorn
Organizations
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography