A Laboratory Study of Wind-Wave-Current Interactions. Part I
Abstract
Two series of experiments were performed to study the interactions between both the wind-induced drift layer and the surface wave spectrum and a spatially varying subsurface current field. In the first, measurements were made of the response of the drift layer and surface wave spectrum to an appreciable, but unknown, current gradient. This was accomplished by forcing the current from a 90 cm-deep diffuser section onto a 68.7 cm-deep flat beach. The flow, thereby, experienced a current gradient which diminished to, and remained essentially at, zero a short distance downstream of the beach leading edge. Relaxation times inferred from the data are on the order of 1 to 3 minutes. For the second test series, the beach was set at an angle of 2.65 deg to produce strain rates. Here again, the results indicate that the response of the drift layer lags behind that of the current, as strained by the beach. The measurements of surface wave spectra taken for each of the conditions tested are presently being analyzed in detail; however, some preliminary results are presented.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1975
- Accession Number
- ADA024002
Entities
People
- Richard S. Scotti