Observations of Steep Wave Statistics in Open Ocean Waters
Abstract
Breaking waves are a ubiquitous phenomenon of the world's oceans. They disrupt the aqueous boundary layer causing surface renewal, thereby enhancing the diffusion of gases and heat across the air-sea interface. Breaking waves are also responsible for the dissipation of wave energy and thus directly affect the evolution of the wind-wave spectrum. With advances in technology, new direct observations of the two-dimensional spatial surface wave topography have been made. These data allow for the opportunity to go beyond linear analysis and study the nonlinearity of the surface wave field, in particular the statistics of steep and breaking waves.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA442938
Entities
People
- Edward J. Walsh
- Nicholas V. Scott
- Paul Hwang
- Tetsu Hara
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory