Wave behaviour outside the surf zone

Title: Wave behaviour outside the surf zone
Creator: Bryan, Karin R.; Power, Hannah E.
Relation: Sandy Beach Morphodynamics p. 61-86
Publisher Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-102927-5.00004-7
Publisher: Elsevier
Resource Type: book chapter
Date: 2020
Description: Once generated, waves propagate away from the generation region with the speed of propagation (the phase speed) which is dependant on water depth and wave period. In deep water, phase speed is proportional to period, whereas water depth controls propagation speed in shallow water. Wave energy is proportional to the wave height squared and propagates at the group speed. When friction is small, wave energy per unit wavelength is conserved, so in shallow water, wave height increases locally as waves shoal. Energy dissipation due to friction, which causes the wave height to decrease, becomes important in shallow water where waves can become unstable and break. Complex topographies in shallow water can cause wave crests to bend (refract) as waves slow down in shallow regions, and cause energy to transfer along wave crests to behind obstacles (diffraction). Such spatial variations make it difficult to monitor and model waves in coastal environments.
Subject: shoaling; refraction; energy dissipation; white-capping; bottom-friction; diffraction
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1462406
Identifier: uon:46460
Identifier: ISBN:9780081029275
Language: eng

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