Research in Nonlinear Water Waves
Abstract
Work continued on the effect of a thin wind drift layer on the structure of capillary gravity waves of permanent form. Results are obtained for waves that are not too steep. The structure of the wind drift layer for steep waves is studied. This involves construction of an integral equation approach, as the Fourier series method employed for the gentle waves become indadequate when the waves are steep. The instability of the thin wind drift layer is studied with the realization that the instability may be related to the generation of waves by wind in some physical circumstances. Satisfactory progress has been made with this work for the instability in the absence of waves or swell. The predictions are being used to study the development of an initially small wave spectrum.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA213320
Entities
People
- P. G. Saffman
Organizations
- California Institute of Technology