Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-19T18:40:40.633Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Laboratory measurements of modulation of short-wave slopes by long surface waves

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2006

Sarah J. Miller ,
Omar H. Shemdin  and
Michael S. Longuet-Higgins
Sarah J. Miller
Affiliation:
Ocean Research and Engineering, 255 South Marengo Avenue, Pasadena. CA 91101, USA
Omar H. Shemdin
Affiliation:
Ocean Research and Engineering, 255 South Marengo Avenue, Pasadena. CA 91101, USA
Michael S. Longuet-Higgins
Affiliation:
Institute for Nonlinear Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0402, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Hydrodynamic modulation of wind waves by long surface waves in a wave tank is investigated, at wind speeds ranging from 1.5 to 10 m s−1. The results are compared with the linear, non-dissipative, theory of Longuet-Higgins & Stewart (1960), which describes the modulation of a group of short gravity waves due to straining of the surface by currents produced by the orbital motions of the long wave, and work done against the radiation stresses of the short waves. In most cases the theory is in good agreement with the experimental results when the short waves are not too steep, and the rate of growth due to the wind is relatively small. At the higher wind speeds, the effects of wind-wave growth, dissipation and wave-wave interactions are dominant.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 233 , December 1991 , pp. 389 - 404
Copyright
© 1991 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cox, C. S. 1958 Measurements of slopes of high frequency wind waves. J. Mar. Res. 16, 199–225.Google Scholar
Donelan, M. A. 1987 The effect of swell on the growth of wind waves. Johns Hopkins Univ. APL Tech. Dig. 8, 18–23.Google Scholar
Gastel, K. Van, Janssen, P. A. E. M. & Komen, G. J. 1985 On phase velocity and growth rate of wind induced gravity-capillary waves. J. Fluid Mech. 161, 199–216.Google Scholar
Gottifredi, J. C. & Jameson, G. J. 1970 The growth of short waves on liquid surfaces under the action of wind.. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 319, 373–397.Google Scholar
Hasselmann, K. 1962 On the non-linear energy transfer in a gravity wave spectrum. J. Fluid Mech. 12, 481–500.Google Scholar
Hughes, B. A. & Grant, H. L. 1978 The effect of internal waves on surface wind waves 1. Experimental measurements. J. Geophys. Res. 83, 443–454.Google Scholar
Kwoh, D. S. W., Lake, B. M. & Rungaldier, H. 1988 Microwave scattering from internal wave modulated surface waves: A shipboard real aperture coherent radar study in the Georgia Strait experiment. J. Geophys. Res. 93, 12235–12248.Google Scholar
Lewis, J. E., Lake, B. M. & Ko, D. R. S. 1974 On the interaction of internal waves and surface gravity waves. J. Fluid Mech. 63, 773–800.Google Scholar
Long, R. B. & Huang, N. E. 1976 On the variation and growth of wave-slope spectra in the capillary-gravity range with increasing wind. J. Fluid Mech. 77, 209–228.Google Scholar
Longuet-Higgins, M. S. 1987 The propagation of short surface waves on longer gravity waves. J. Fluid Mech. 177, 293–306.Google Scholar
Longuet-Higgins, M. S. 1991 A stochastic model of sea-surface roughness II., Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. A, in press.Google Scholar
Longuet-Higgins, M. S. & Stewart, R. W. 1960 Changes in form of short gravity waves on long waves and tidal currents, J. Fluid Mech. 8, 565–583.Google Scholar
Miles, J. W. 1962 On the generation of surface waves by shear flows. J. Fluid Mech. 13, 433–448.Google Scholar
Miller, S. J. & Shemdin, O. H. 1991 Measurement of the hydrodynamic modulation of centimetre waves. J. Geophys. Res. 96, 2749–2759.Google Scholar
Mitsuyasu, H. 1966 Interactions between water waves and wind, 1. Rep. Res. Inst. Appl. Mech. Kyushu Univ. 14, 67–88.Google Scholar
Palm, C. S., Anderson, R. C. & Reece, A. M. 1977 Laser probe for measuring 2D wave slope spectra of ocean capillary waves. Appl. Opt. 16, 1074–1081.Google Scholar
Phillips, O. M. & Banner, M. L. 1974 Wave breaking in the presence of wind drift and swell. J. Fluid Mech. 66, 625–640.Google Scholar
Plant, W. J. 1982 A relationship between wind stress and wave slope. J. Geophys. Res. 87, 1961–1967.Google Scholar
Plant, W. J. & Wright, J. W. 1977 Growth and equilibrium of short gravity waves in a wind-wave tank. J. Fluid Mech. 82, 767–793.Google Scholar
Reece, A. M. 1978 Modulation of short waves by long waves. Boundary-Layer Met. 13, 203–214.Google Scholar
Shemdin, O. H. & Hwang, P. A. 1988 Comparison of measured and predicted sea surface spectra of short waves. J. Geophys. Res. 93, 13883–13890.Google Scholar
Shemdin, O. H. & Miller, S. J. 1991 A model for the wave number spectrum of wind generated waves. (submitted).
Tang, S. & Shemdin, O. H. 1983 Measurement of high frequency waves using a weave follower. J. Geophys. Res. 88, 9832–9840.Google Scholar
Tober, G., Anderson, R. C. & Shemdin, O. H. 1973 Laser instruments for detecting water ripple slopes. Appl. Opt. 12, 788–794.Google Scholar
Valenzuela, G. R. & Laing, M. B. 1972 Nonlinear energy transfer in a gravity-capillary wave spectra, with applications. J. Fluid Mech. 54, 507–520.Google Scholar
Wright, J. A., Plant, W. J., Keller, W. C. & Jones, W. L. 1980 Ocean wave-radar modulation transfer functions from the west coast experiment. J. Geophys. Res. 85, 4957–4966.Google Scholar