Observations of Landfalling Wave Spectra during Hurricane Ike
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VIEW THE ORIGINAL ARTICLEPublication: Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 137, Issue 3
Abstract
Observations of wave properties during Hurricane Ike are presented for eight temporary gauges in mean depths of 8.7–15.8 m over a 360-km section of coastline. These gauges cover both the strong (left) and weak (right) sides of the tropical cyclone, with one gauge immediately adjacent to landfall. Maximum significant wave heights are large over the entire section of the coast and reached 5.8 m near landfall but were at some locations significantly limited by the finite depths with significant wave height-to-depth ratios nearing 0.5 at landfall. Nondirectional spectral shapes changed sharply over the course of the storm, from strongly peaked profiles before landfall to much flatter, sometimes multipeaked, spectra as the hurricane came ashore. After landfall, the spectra on Ike’s strong side reverted to the sharply peaked form, whereas the weak side spectra were broader and often had multiple peaks. No waves during the storm appeared to be in equilibrium with local winds and water depths, although heights on the strong side of the storm were close.
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Acknowledgments
Funding supporting this work was provided by Florida Sea Grant (under grant UNSPECIFIEDR/C-S-46), NSF (under grant NSF0902264), the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the USGS, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the University of Florida, and the University of Notre Dame. Thanks to Joannes Westerink and Mark Hope for providing computed currents during Ike for the Doppler shift corrections.
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Published In
Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 137 • Issue 3 • May 2011
Pages: 142 - 145
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 23, 2010
Accepted: Nov 5, 2010
Published online: Nov 11, 2010
Published in print: May 1, 2011
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