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Wind wave model

About: Wind wave model is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1892 publications have been published within this topic receiving 55488 citations.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a third-generation numerical wave model to compute random, short-crested waves in coastal regions with shallow water and ambient currents (Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN)) has been developed, implemented, and validated.
Abstract: A third-generation numerical wave model to compute random, short-crested waves in coastal regions with shallow water and ambient currents (Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN)) has been developed, implemented, and validated. The model is based on a Eulerian formulation of the discrete spectral balance of action density that accounts for refractive propagation over arbitrary bathymetry and current fields. It is driven by boundary conditions and local winds. As in other third-generation wave models, the processes of wind generation, whitecapping, quadruplet wave-wave interactions, and bottom dissipation are represented explicitly. In SWAN, triad wave-wave interactions and depth-induced wave breaking are added. In contrast to other third-generation wave models, the numerical propagation scheme is implicit, which implies that the computations are more economic in shallow water. The model results agree well with analytical solutions, laboratory observations, and (generalized) field observations.

3,625 citations

01 Jan 1973
TL;DR: In this article, wave spectra were measured along a profile extending 160 kilometers into the North Sea westward from Sylt for a period of two weeks in 1968 and 1969, with particular emphasis on wave growth under stationary offshore wind conditions and the attenuation of swell in water of finite depth.
Abstract: "Wave spectra were measured along a profile extending 160 kilometers into the North Sea westward from Sylt for a period often weeks in 1968 and 1969. During the main experiment in July 1969, thirteen wave stations were in operation, of which six stations continued measurements into the first two weeks of August. A smaller pilot experiment was carried out in September 1968. Currents, tides, air-sea temperature differences and turbulence in the atmospheric boundary layer were also measured. The goal of the experiment (described in Part 1) was to determine the structure of the source function governing the energy balance of the wave spectrum, with particular emphasis on wave growth under stationary offshore wind conditions (Part 2) and the attenuation of swell in water of finite depth (Part 3). The source functions of wave spectra generated by offshore winds exhibit a characteristic plus-minus signature associated with the shift of the sharp spectral peak towards lower frequencies. The two-lobed distribution of the source function can be explained quantitatively by the nonlinear transfer due to resonant wave-wave interactions (second order Bragg scattering). The evolution of a pronounced peak and its shift towards lower frequencies can also be understood as a selfstabilizing feature of this process. For small fetches, the principal energy balance is between the input by wind in the central region of the spectrum and the nonlinear transfer of energy away from this region to short waves, where it is dissipated, and to longer waves. Most of the wave growth on the forward face of the spectrum can be attributed to the nonlinear transfer to longer waves. For short fetches, approximately (80 ± 20) % of the momentum transferred across the air/sea interface enters the wave field, in agreement with Dobson's direct measurements of the work done on the waves by surface pressures. About 80-90 % of the wave-induced momentum flux passes into currents via the nonlinear transfer to short waves and subsequent dissipation; the rest remains in the wave field and is advected away. At larger fetches the interpretation of the energy balance becomes more ambiguous on account of the unknown dissipation in the low-frequency part of the spectrum. Zero dissipation in this frequency range yields a minimal atmospheric momentum flux into the wave field of the order of (10 to 40) % of the total momentum transfer across the air-sea interface -- but ratios up to 100 % are conceivable if dissipation is important. In general, the ratios (as inferred from the nonlinear energy transfer) lie within these limits over a wide (five-decade) range of fetches encompassing both wave-tank and the present field data, suggesting that the scales of the spectrum continually adjust such that the wave-wave interactions just balance the energy input from the wind. This may explain, among other features, the observed decrease of Phillips' "constant" with fetch. The decay rates determined for incoming swell varied considerably, but energy attenuation factors of two along the length of the profile were typical. This is in order of magnitude agreement with expected damping rates due to bottom friction. However, the strong tidal modulation predicted by theory for the case of a quadratic bottom friction law was not observed. Adverse winds did not affect the decay rate. Computations also rule out wave-wave interactions or dissipation due to turbulence outside the bottom boundary layer as effective mechanisms of swell attenuation. We conclude that either the generally accepted friction law needs to be significantly modified or that some other mechanism, such as scattering by bottom irregularities, is the cause of the attenuation. The dispersion characteristics of the swells indicated rather nearby origins, for which the classical (i event model was generally inapplicable. A strong Doppler modulation by tidal currents was also observed.

3,264 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the data for the spectra of fully developed seas obtained for wind speeds from 20 to 40 knots as measured by anemometers on two weather ships.
Abstract: : The data for the spectra of fully developed seas obtained for wind speeds from 20 to 40 knots as measured by anemometers on two weather ships are used to test the similarity hypothesis and the idea that, when plotted in a certain dimensionless way, the power spectra for all fully developed seas should be of the same shape as proposed by Kitaigorodskii (1961). Over the important range of frequencies that define the total variance of the spectrum within a few percent, the transformed plots yield a non-dimensional spectral form that is nearly the same over this entire range of wind speeds within the present accuracies of the data. However, since slight variations of the wind speed have large effects on the location of this non-dimensional spectral form, inaccuracies in the determination of the wind speed at sea allow for some latitude in the final choice of the form of the spectrum. Also since the winds used to obtain the non-dimensional form were measured at a height greater than ten meters, the problem of relating the spectral form to a standard anemometer height arises. The variability introduced by this factor needs to be considered. The results, when errors in the wind speed, the sampling variability of the data, and the anemometer heights are considered, suggest a spectral form that is a compromise between the various proposed spectra and that has features similar to many of them.

2,190 citations

Book
25 Nov 1994
TL;DR: The Wave Modelling Group (WAM) model as mentioned in this paper is based on a detailed physical description of air/sea interactions and is widely used for wave forecasting for meteorological and oceanographic purposes.
Abstract: Addresses both fundamental and applied aspects of ocean waves including the use of wave observations made from satellites. More specifically it describes the WAM model, its scientific basis, its actual implementation, and its many applications. This model has been developed by an international group (the Wave Modelling group), and is based on a detailed physical description of air/sea interactions. It is widely used for wave forecasting for meteorological and oceanographic purposes. The three sections of the volume describe the basic statistical theory and the relevant physical processes; the numerical model and its global and regional applications; and satellite observations, their interpretation and use in data assimilation. Written by leading experts, it is a comprehensive guide and reference for researchers and advanced students in physical oceanography, meteorology, fluid dynamics, coastal engineering and physics.

1,411 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a third-generation spectral wave model for small-scale, coastal regions with shallow water, (barrier) islands, tidal flats, local wind, and ambient currents is verified in stationary mode with measurements in five real field cases.
Abstract: A third-generation spectral wave model (Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN)) for small-scale, coastal regions with shallow water, (barrier) islands, tidal flats, local wind, and ambient currents is verified in stationary mode with measurements in five real field cases. These verification cases represent an increasing complexity in two- dimensional bathymetry and added presence of currents. In the most complex of these cases, the waves propagate through a tidal gap between two barrier islands into a bathymetry of channels and shoals with tidal currents where the waves are regenerated by a local wind. The wave fields were highly variable with up to 3 orders of magnitude difference in energy scale in individual cases. The model accounts for shoaling, refraction, generation by wind, whitecapping, triad and quadruplet wave-wave interactions, and bottom and depth-induced wave breaking. The effect of alternative formulations of these processes is shown. In all cases a relatively large number of wave observations is available, including observations of wave directions. The average rms error in the computed significant wave height and mean wave period is 0.30 m and 0.7 s, respectively, which is 10% of the incident values for both.

1,082 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202332
202277
20216
20207
20199
201813