Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 April 2006
The calculation of the pattern of waves produced by a point disturbance in a steady field which may be non-uniform can be performed straightforwardly by a single process of integration along the characteristic rays. For illustration, the method is applied to gravity waves produced by a source moving either in a straight line or in a circular path, to the symmetrical waves produced by a source in an expanding sheet and to the waves resulting from an instantaneous disturbance in :I stratified fluid.