- •Preface
- •1 A Voyage of Discovery
- •1.2 Goals
- •1.3 Organization
- •1.4 The Big Picture
- •1.5 Further Reading
- •2 The Historical Setting
- •2.2 Eras of Oceanographic Exploration
- •2.3 Milestones in the Understanding of the Ocean
- •2.4 Evolution of some Theoretical Ideas
- •2.5 The Role of Observations in Oceanography
- •2.6 Important Concepts
- •3 The Physical Setting
- •3.1 Ocean and Seas
- •3.2 Dimensions of the ocean
- •3.3 Sea-Floor Features
- •3.4 Measuring the Depth of the Ocean
- •3.5 Sea Floor Charts and Data Sets
- •3.6 Sound in the Ocean
- •3.7 Important Concepts
- •4.1 The Earth in Space
- •4.2 Atmospheric Wind Systems
- •4.3 The Planetary Boundary Layer
- •4.4 Measurement of Wind
- •4.5 Calculations of Wind
- •4.6 Wind Stress
- •4.7 Important Concepts
- •5 The Oceanic Heat Budget
- •5.1 The Oceanic Heat Budget
- •5.2 Heat-Budget Terms
- •5.3 Direct Calculation of Fluxes
- •5.4 Indirect Calculation of Fluxes: Bulk Formulas
- •5.5 Global Data Sets for Fluxes
- •5.6 Geographic Distribution of Terms
- •5.7 Meridional Heat Transport
- •5.8 Variations in Solar Constant
- •5.9 Important Concepts
- •6.2 Definition of Temperature
- •6.4 The Oceanic Mixed Layer and Thermocline
- •6.5 Density
- •6.6 Measurement of Temperature
- •6.7 Measurement of Conductivity or Salinity
- •6.8 Measurement of Pressure
- •6.10 Light in the Ocean and Absorption of Light
- •6.11 Important Concepts
- •7.1 Dominant Forces for Ocean Dynamics
- •7.2 Coordinate System
- •7.3 Types of Flow in the ocean
- •7.4 Conservation of Mass and Salt
- •7.5 The Total Derivative (D/Dt)
- •7.6 Momentum Equation
- •7.7 Conservation of Mass: The Continuity Equation
- •7.8 Solutions to the Equations of Motion
- •7.9 Important Concepts
- •8.2 Turbulence
- •8.3 Calculation of Reynolds Stress:
- •8.4 Mixing in the Ocean
- •8.5 Stability
- •8.6 Important Concepts
- •9 Response of the Upper Ocean to Winds
- •9.1 Inertial Motion
- •9.2 Ekman Layer at the Sea Surface
- •9.3 Ekman Mass Transport
- •9.4 Application of Ekman Theory
- •9.5 Langmuir Circulation
- •9.6 Important Concepts
- •10 Geostrophic Currents
- •10.1 Hydrostatic Equilibrium
- •10.2 Geostrophic Equations
- •10.3 Surface Geostrophic Currents From Altimetry
- •10.4 Geostrophic Currents From Hydrography
- •10.5 An Example Using Hydrographic Data
- •10.6 Comments on Geostrophic Currents
- •10.7 Currents From Hydrographic Sections
- •10.8 Lagrangian Measurements of Currents
- •10.9 Eulerian Measurements
- •10.10 Important Concepts
- •11.2 Western Boundary Currents
- •11.4 Observed Surface Circulation in the Atlantic
- •11.5 Important Concepts
- •12 Vorticity in the Ocean
- •12.2 Conservation of Vorticity
- •12.4 Vorticity and Ekman Pumping
- •12.5 Important Concepts
- •13.2 Importance of the Deep Circulation
- •13.3 Theory for the Deep Circulation
- •13.4 Observations of the Deep Circulation
- •13.5 Antarctic Circumpolar Current
- •13.6 Important Concepts
- •14 Equatorial Processes
- •14.1 Equatorial Processes
- •14.6 Important Concepts
- •15 Numerical Models
- •15.2 Numerical Models in Oceanography
- •15.3 Global Ocean Models
- •15.4 Coastal Models
- •15.5 Assimilation Models
- •15.6 Coupled Ocean and Atmosphere Models
- •15.7 Important Concepts
- •16 Ocean Waves
- •16.1 Linear Theory of Ocean Surface Waves
- •16.2 Nonlinear waves
- •16.3 Waves and the Concept of a Wave Spectrum
- •16.5 Wave Forecasting
- •16.6 Measurement of Waves
- •16.7 Important Concepts
- •17 Coastal Processes and Tides
- •17.1 Shoaling Waves and Coastal Processes
- •17.2 Tsunamis
- •17.3 Storm Surges
- •17.4 Theory of Ocean Tides
- •17.5 Tidal Prediction
- •17.6 Important Concepts
- •References
292 |
CHAPTER 16. OCEAN WAVES |
Stewart, 1982). Because the directional information can be calculated directly from the radar data without the need to calculate an image (Hasselmann, 1991), data from radars and altimeters on ers–1 & 2 are being used to determine if the radar and altimeter observations can be used directly in wave forecast programs.
16.7Important Concepts
1.Wavelength and frequency of waves are related through the dispersion relation.
2.The velocity of a wave phase can di er from the velocity at which wave energy propagates.
3.Waves in deep water are dispersive, longer wavelengths travel faster than shorter wavelengths. Waves in shallow water are not dispersive.
4.The dispersion of ocean waves has been accurately measured, and observations of dispersed waves can be used to track distant storms.
5.The shape of the sea surface results from a linear superposition of waves of all possible wavelengths or frequencies travelling in all possible directions.
6.The spectrum gives the contributions by wavelength or frequency to the variance of surface displacement.
7.Wave energy is proportional to variance of surface displacement.
8.Digital spectra are band limited, and they contain no information about waves with frequencies higher than the Nyquist frequency.
9.Waves are generated by wind. Strong winds of long duration generate the largest waves.
10.Various idealized forms of the wave spectrum generated by steady, homogeneous winds have been proposed. Two important ones are the PiersonMoskowitz and jonswap spectra.
11.Observations by mariners on ships and by satellite altimeters have been used to make global maps of wave height. Wave gauges are used on platforms in shallow water and on the continental shelf to measure waves. Bottom-mounted pressure gauges are used to measure waves just o shore of beaches. And synthetic-aperture radars are used to obtain information about wave directions.