Influence of Currents on Equilibrium Range Spectra of Wind Waves
Publication: Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 126, Issue 2
Abstract
It is well known that water waves tend to be higher or lower as they propagate onto an opposing or following current, respectively. This is also true for wind waves generated on currents. In the equilibrium range of wind waves, however, the spectral densities for the waves generated on a following or opposing current are larger and smaller, respectively, than those for the waves generated on quiescent water. To see this, a series of laboratory experiments was carried out in a wind-wave and current flume for various conditions of water depth, current, and wind. The experimental results qualitatively confirm the theoretical equations proposed by Gadzhiyev et al. in 1978 and Suh et al. in 1994, with the former performing marginally better for following currents and the latter doing better for opposing currents. It is also shown that the partially developed laboratory waves fall under gravity waves so that the laboratory regime represents the open ocean situation.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Aranuvachapun, S. (1987). “Parameters of JONSWAP spectral model for surface gravity waves—I. Monte Carlo simulation study.” Oc. Engrg., 14(2), 89–100.
2.
Booij, N., Holthuijsen, L. H., and Ris, R. C. (1996). “The SWAN wave model for shallow water.” Proc., 25th Coast. Engrg. Conf., ASCE, New York, 668–676.
3.
Coleman, N. L. (1981). “Velocity profiles with suspended sediment.”J. Hydr. Res., Delft, The Netherlands, 19(3), 211–229.
4.
Francis, J. R. D., and Dudgeon, C. R. (1967). “An experimental study of wind-generated waves on a water current.” Quarterly J. Royal Meteorological Soc., Bracknell, U.K., 93, 247–253.
5.
Gadzhiyev, Y. Z., Kitaygorodskiy, S. A., and Krasitskiy, V. P. (1978). “High-frequency portion of wind-wave spectra in the presence of currents in a shallow sea.” Oceanology, 18(3), 267–270.
6.
Günther, H. ( 1981). “A parametric surface wave model and the statistics of the prediction parameters.” Hamburger geophysikalische einzelschriften. GKL Wittonborn Sohne, Hamburg, Germany.
7.
Hasselmann, S., et al. (1988). “The WAM model—A third generation ocean wave prediction model.” J. Phys. Oceanography, 18, 1775–1810.
8.
Hedges, T. S. (1981). “Some effects of currents on wave spectra.” Proc., 1st Indian Conf. on Oc. Engrg., Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, 1, 30–35.
9.
Hedges, T. S., Anastasiou, K., and Gabriel, D. (1985). “Interaction of random waves and currents.”J. Wtrwy., Port, Coast., and Oc. Engrg., ASCE, 111(2), 275–288.
10.
Hedges, T. S., and Lee, B. W. (1992). “The equivalent uniform current in wave-current computations.” Coast. Engrg., 16, 301–311.
11.
Huang, N. E., Chen, D. T., Tung, C.-C., and Smith, J. R. (1972). “Interactions between steady non-uniform currents and gravity waves with applications for current measurements.” J. Phys. Oceanography, 2, 420–431.
12.
Kato, H., and Tsuruya, H. (1978). “Experimental study of wind waves generated on currents.” Proc., 16th Coast. Engrg. Conf., ASCE, New York, 742–755.
13.
Kitaigordskii, S. A., Krasitskii, V. P., and Zaslavskii, M. M. (1975). “On Phillips' theory of equilibrium range in the spectra of wind-generated gravity waves.” J. Phys. Oceanography, 5, 410–420.
14.
Massel, S. R. (1996). Ocean surface waves: Their physics and prediction. Wold Scientific, Singapore.
15.
Otnes, R. K., and Enochson, L. (1978). Applied time series analysis. Volume 1: Basic techniques. Wiley, New York.
16.
Suh, K. D., Kim, Y.-Y., and Lee, D. Y. (1994). “Equilibrium-range spectrum of waves propagating on currents.”J. Wtrwy., Port, Coast., and Oc. Engrg., ASCE, 120(5), 434–450.
17.
Young, I. R., and Eldeberky, Y. (1998). “Observations of triad coupling of finite depth wind waves.” Coast. Engrg., 33, 137–154.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
History
Received: Apr 1, 1999
Published online: Mar 1, 2000
Published in print: Mar 2000
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.