Directionality and crest length statistics of steep waves in open ocean waters
Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
3-1-2005
Abstract
A new wavelet analysis methodology is applied to open ocean wave height data from the Southern Ocean Waves Experiment (1992) and from a field experiment conducted at Duck, North Carolina, in 1997 with the aim of estimating the directionality and crest lengths of steep waves. The crest directionality statistic shows that most of the steep wave crests are normal to the direction of the mean wind. This is inconsistent with the Fourier wavenumber spectrum that shows a broad bimodal directional spreading at high wavenumbers. The crest length statistics demonstrate that the wave field is dominated by short-crested waves with small crest length/wavelength ratios. The one-dimensional steep wave statistic obtained from the integration of the directional (two dimensional) steep wave statistic is consistent with the one-dimensional steep wave statistic obtained from the one-dimensional analysis at high wave slope threshold. © 2005 American Meteorological Society.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology
Volume
22
Issue
3
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Scott, Nicholas, Tetsu Hara, Paul A. Hwang, and Edward J. Walsh. "Directionality and crest length statistics of steep waves in open ocean waters." Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology 22, 3 (2005). doi: 10.1175/JTECH1703.1.