A Procedure for Rapidly Forecasting Ocean Swell

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

A Procedure for Rapidly Forecasting Ocean Swell A Procedure for Rapidly Forecasting Ocean Swell CHARLES C. BATES Associate Oceanographer, U. S. Hydrographic Office, Washington, D. C. ABSTRACT A procedure, based on the work of Sverdrup and Munk, is described by which swell characteristics may be forecast rapidly. Specific wave generating areas defined by the fixed parameters, wind duration and fetch, and the variable parameter, wind velocity, are established. The change in swell characteristics as the swell moves away from these generating areas is illustrated by graphs which may be re-drafted as transparent overlays at the scale of the synoptic weather chart from which swell forecasts are to be made. INTRODUCTION CONSTRUCTION OF WAVE DECAY DIAGRAMS At the request of the Army Air Forces, The decay of waves as they move away Drs. Sverdrup and Munk of the Scripps from their area of generation may be illus- Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, Cali- trated diagrammatically. If wave-generat- fornia began work in 1942 on the problem ing areas are described as regions of fixed of discovering a method by which sea and minimum fetch and fixed wind duration but swell could be forecast quantitatively. This variable wind velocity, a series of diagrams work, transferred in early 1943 to the gen- are required to describe the various possible eral direction of the Hydrographic Office, values of minimum duration and fetch.i jn U. S. Navy, made such rapid progress that practice, however, rather rough values of by July of that year the basic concepts had these parameters must be used because of been determined by which such forecasting the difficulty in determining exact values could be accomplished. In late 1943, the from synoptic charts. Moreover, if the gaps Hydrographic Office published 11 Wind Waves between the selected duration times are kept and Swell—Principles in Forecasting'1 [1] sufficiently small, errors in wave height due as the basic forecasting manual, and in to these gaps may be ignored. These two 1944 published a sister volume entitled facts permit a series of six diagrams to "Breakers and Surf—Principles in Fore- satisfactorily describe the wave-generating casting" [2]. These publications, classified areas that normally occur in Nature. at the time, served as the "Bible'' of the FIGURES 1 to 3 have been constructed Army and Navy meteorologists who were from values extracted from graphs given charged with preparing quantitative sea, in "Wind Waves and Swell—Principles in swell, and surf forecasts throughout the Forecasting'' [1]. The range of the maxi- various military theatres. mum error in height between values given The Swell Forecast Section, located at by these diagrams and values by the basic the British Admiralty in London and reference is roughly: — staffed by Royal Navy and U. S. Army Air Force meteorologists during 1944, was the first to test and apply this newly de- Significant Maximum veloped aspect of oceanographic forecasting Wave Height 2 Error on a large scale. During this work, it 2 to 4 feet 50% became apparent that determinations of 4 to 16 feet swell height, by requiring reference to three 30% 1 or more diagrams and a short computation 16 to 8 feet 25% for each value, were unduly protracted in 18 to 22 feet 20% the event a knowledge of swell conditions 22 feet or greater 15% was desired over an area as large as the North Atlantic Ocean. To remedy this 1 Fetch is the length of the water surface over situation, the writer devised the method de- which the wind is blowing in a given direction, while duration is the length of time the wind has been scribed below which permits the meteorolo- blowing in that direction. 2 Significant wave height, as defined by Sverdrup gist to prepare swell forecasts very quickly, and Munk [3], is approximately the average height although several minor refinements in the of the one-third higher waves, i.e., the height of the higher waves which an observer tends to record standard technique must be sacrificed. in an observation lasting 5 minutes or more. Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/01/21 03:39 AM UTC WAVE-DECAY DIAGRAM:— (A) Generating area with duration of 6 hours and minimum fetch of at least 40 miles. (B) Generating area with duration of 12 hours and minimum fetch of at least 100 miles. Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/01/21 03:39 AM UTC to oOJ to a s H H > W o> !2J K W H N O gw o Q Q >tr* M •3 FIGURE 2. WAVE-DECAY DIAGRAM:— (A) Generating area with duration of 18 hours and minimum fetch of at least 200 miles. (B) Generating area with duration of 24 hours and minimum fetch of at least 300 miles. Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/01/21 03:39 AM UTC FIGURE 3. WAVE-DECAY DIAGRAM:— (A) Generating area with duration of 36 hours and minimum fetch of at least 550 miles. (B) Generating area with duration of 36 hours and minimum fetch of at least 750 miles. Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/01/21 03:39 AM UTC Errors greater than + 2 feet occur only EXAMPLES for wind velocities greater than 25 knots For an example of the method, assume and a duration of less than 12 hours. How- the following situation:— ever, it appears that if the wind velocity is 25 knots or more in a given area, its dura- Wind fetch 400 nautical miles tion is almost certain to be 12 hours, or Wind Speed 28 knots greater, making the above case uncommon. Wind Duration ... 22 hours In the FIGURES, the solid curved lines Decay distance . 1,400 nautical miles illustrate the significant height of the waves in feet, the slanting dashed lines the time Solution:— in hours required by a wave to travel away from the forepart of a generating area, (1) Select the wave-decay diagram with and the dotted lines the wave period in a duration of 24 hours, since the existing seconds. In practice, the diagrams should fetch is greater than the minimum fetch be re-drawn on transparent material to the required (300 nautical miles). scale of the meteorological chart being used; (2) At the intersection of the 28-knot this makes horizontal distances on the dia- wind velocity and the decay distance of grams equivalent to those on the synoptic 1,400 nautical miles, interpolation indicates chart and permits the diagrams to be used that the swell takes 85 hours to arrive, has as overlays. a height of 3.5 feet, and a period of 13 seconds at that point. DIRECTIONS FOR USE OF DECAY DIAGRAMS Computation, using the graphs of "Wind Given a synoptic situation producing Waves and Swell—Principles in Forecast- swell which will affect the locality for which ing'? [1], gives a travel time of 88 hours, the forecast is desired, the forecaster pro- height of 2.8 feet, and period of 13 seconds. ceeds as follows: In the above situation, if the fetch is (1) Determines the wind duration, veloc- only 225 nautical miles, the wave decay ity, and fetch in the generating area. diagram previously used does not apply, (2) Selects the transparent overlay of the since that diagram required a minimum decay diagram best satisfying the wind du- fetch of 300 nautical miles. One should ration and fetch in the generating area. use the decay diagram constructed for 18 It should be remembered that wave-genera- hours duration, in which the minimum fetch tion can be limited by either the fetch or required is 200 nautical miles. This gives the duration parameter. 92 hours of travel time, a wave height of (3) Places the transparent overlay upon 2.2 feet, and period of 12.8 seconds. Com- the synoptic chart so that the line of the putation, using the basic graphs, gives a chosen direction of wave motion extends travel time of 90 hours, height of 2.5 feet, from the front of the generating area to and period of 12.4 seconds. the locality forecast for, e.g., a ship. (4) At the intersection of the line of REFERENCES wave motion and the locality forecast for, [I] United States Navy, Hydrographic Office, Wind read the height and period of the swell Waves and Swell—Principles in Forecasting, H. and the time taken to travel that distance. O. Misc. 11,275, 61 pp. 1943. [21 United States Navy, Hydrographic Office, Break- No allowance is made for the case of follow- ers and Surf—Principles in Forecasting, H. O. ing or opposing winds, as experience has Pub. 234, 51 pp. 1944. [3] Sverdrup, H. U., and Munk, W. H.: Empirical shown that it is very difficult to apply such and theoretical relations between wind, sea, and swell. Trans. Amer. Geophys. Union, v. 27, a correction. pp. 823-827, 1946. Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/01/21 03:39 AM UTC.
Recommended publications
  • Intracratonic Asthenosphere Upwelling and Lithosphere Rejuvenation
    Earth and Planetary Science Letters 260 (2007) 482–494 www.elsevier.com/locate/epsl Intracratonic asthenosphere upwelling and lithosphere rejuvenation beneath the Hoggar swell (Algeria): Evidence from HIMU metasomatised lherzolite mantle xenoliths ⁎ L. Beccaluva a, , A. Azzouni-Sekkal b, A. Benhallou c, G. Bianchini a, R.M. Ellam d, M. Marzola a, F. Siena a, F.M. Stuart d a Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Ferrara, Italy b Faculté des Sciences de la Terre, Géographie et Aménagement du Territoire, Université des Sciences et Technologie Houari Boumédienne, Alger, Algeria c CRAAG (Centre de Recherche en Astronomie, Astrophysique et Géophysique), Alger, Algeria d Isotope Geoscience Unit, Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, East Kilbride, UK Received 7 March 2007; received in revised form 23 May 2007; accepted 24 May 2007 Available online 2 June 2007 Editor: R.W. Carlson Abstract The mantle xenoliths included in Quaternary alkaline volcanics from the Manzaz-district (Central Hoggar) are proto-granular, anhydrous spinel lherzolites. Major and trace element analyses on bulk rocks and constituent mineral phases show that the primary compositions are widely overprinted by metasomatic processes. Trace element modelling of the metasomatised clinopyroxenes allows the inference that the metasomatic agents that enriched the lithospheric mantle were highly alkaline carbonate-rich melts such as nephelinites/melilitites (or as extreme silico-carbonatites). These metasomatic agents were characterized by a clear HIMU Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic signature, whereas there is no evidence of EM1 components recorded by the Hoggar Oligocene tholeiitic basalts. This can be interpreted as being due to replacement of the older cratonic lithospheric mantle, from which tholeiites generated, by asthenospheric upwelling dominated by the presence of an HIMU signature.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Ship Accidents and Ocean Swell-Related Sea States
    Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., doi:10.5194/nhess-2017-142, 2017 Manuscript under review for journal Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discussion started: 26 April 2017 c Author(s) 2017. CC-BY 3.0 License. Global ship accidents and ocean swell-related sea states Zhiwei Zhang1, 2, Xiao-Ming Li2, 3 1 College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China 2 Key Laboratory of Digital Earth Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 5 Beijing, China 3 Hainan Key Laboratory of Earth Observation, Sanya, China Correspondence to: X.-M. Li (E-mail: [email protected]) Abstract. With the increased frequency of shipping activities, navigation safety has become a major concern, especially when economic losses, human casualties and environmental issues are considered. As a contributing factor, sea state conditions play 10 a significant role in shipping safety. However, the types of dangerous sea states that trigger serious shipping accidents are not well understood. To address this issue, we analyzed the sea state characteristics during ship accidents that occurred in poor weather or heavy seas based on a ten-year ship accident dataset. The sea state parameters, including the significant wave height, the mean wave period and the mean wave direction, obtained from numerical wave model data were analyzed for selected ship accidents. The results indicated that complex sea states with the co-occurrence of wind sea and swell conditions represent 15 threats to sailing vessels, especially when these conditions include close wave periods and oblique wave directions. 1 Introduction The shipping industry delivers 90% of all world trade (IMO, 2011).
    [Show full text]
  • Waves and Weather
    Waves and Weather 1. Where do waves come from? 2. What storms produce good surfing waves? 3. Where do these storms frequently form? 4. Where are the good areas for receiving swells? Where do waves come from? ==> Wind! Any two fluids (with different density) moving at different speeds can produce waves. In our case, air is one fluid and the water is the other. • Start with perfectly glassy conditions (no waves) and no wind. • As wind starts, will first get very small capillary waves (ripples). • Once ripples form, now wind can push against the surface and waves can grow faster. Within Wave Source Region: - all wavelengths and heights mixed together - looks like washing machine ("Victory at Sea") But this is what we want our surfing waves to look like: How do we get from this To this ???? DISPERSION !! In deep water, wave speed (celerity) c= gT/2π Long period waves travel faster. Short period waves travel slower Waves begin to separate as they move away from generation area ===> This is Dispersion How Big Will the Waves Get? Height and Period of waves depends primarily on: - Wind speed - Duration (how long the wind blows over the waves) - Fetch (distance that wind blows over the waves) "SMB" Tables How Big Will the Waves Get? Assume Duration = 24 hours Fetch Length = 500 miles Significant Significant Wind Speed Wave Height Wave Period 10 mph 2 ft 3.5 sec 20 mph 6 ft 5.5 sec 30 mph 12 ft 7.5 sec 40 mph 19 ft 10.0 sec 50 mph 27 ft 11.5 sec 60 mph 35 ft 13.0 sec Wave height will decay as waves move away from source region!!! Map of Mean Wind
    [Show full text]
  • Proceedings: Twentieth Annual Gulf of Mexico Information Transfer Meeting
    OCS Study MMS 2001-082 Proceedings: Twentieth Annual Gulf of Mexico Information Transfer Meeting December 2000 U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Region OCS Study MMS 2001-082 Proceedings: Twentieth Annual Gulf of Mexico Information Transfer Meeting December 2000 Editors Melanie McKay Copy Editor Judith Nides Production Editor Debra Vigil Editor Prepared under MMS Contract 1435-00-01-CA-31060 by University of New Orleans Office of Conference Services New Orleans, Louisiana 70814 Published by New Orleans U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service October 2001 Gulf of Mexico OCS Region iii DISCLAIMER This report was prepared under contract between the Minerals Management Service (MMS) and the University of New Orleans, Office of Conference Services. This report has been technically reviewed by the MMS and approved for publication. Approval does not signify that contents necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Service, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. It is, however, exempt from review and compliance with MMS editorial standards. REPORT AVAILABILITY Extra copies of this report may be obtained from the Public Information Office (Mail Stop 5034) at the following address: U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Public Information Office (MS 5034) 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394 Telephone Numbers: (504) 736-2519 1-800-200-GULF CITATION This study should be cited as: McKay, M., J. Nides, and D. Vigil, eds. 2001. Proceedings: Twentieth annual Gulf of Mexico information transfer meeting, December 2000.
    [Show full text]
  • I. Wind-Driven Coastal Dynamics II. Estuarine Processes
    I. Wind-driven Coastal Dynamics Emily Shroyer, Oregon State University II. Estuarine Processes Andrew Lucas, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Variability in the Ocean Sea Surface Temperature from NASA’s Aqua Satellite (AMSR-E) 10000 km 100 km 1000 km 100 km www.visibleearth.nasa.Gov Variability in the Ocean Sea Surface Temperature (MODIS) <10 km 50 km 500 km Variability in the Ocean Sea Surface Temperature (Field Infrared Imagery) 150 m 150 m ~30 m Relevant spatial scales range many orders of magnitude from ~10000 km to submeter and smaller Plant DischarGe, Ocean ImaginG LanGmuir and Internal Waves, NRL > 1000 yrs ©Dudley Chelton < 1 sec < 1 mm > 10000 km What does a physical oceanographer want to know in order to understand ocean processes? From Merriam-Webster Fluid (noun) : a substance (as a liquid or gas) tending to flow or conform to the outline of its container need to describe both the mass and volume when dealing with fluids Enterà density (ρ) = mass per unit volume = M/V Salinity, Temperature, & Pressure Surface Salinity: Precipitation & Evaporation JPL/NASA Where precipitation exceeds evaporation and river input is low, salinity is increased and vice versa. Note: coastal variations are not evident on this coarse scale map. Surface Temperature- Net warming at low latitudes and cooling at high latitudes. à Need Transport Sea Surface Temperature from NASA’s Aqua Satellite (AMSR-E) www.visibleearth.nasa.Gov Perpetual Ocean hWp://svs.Gsfc.nasa.Gov/cGi-bin/details.cGi?aid=3827 Es_manG the Circulaon and Climate of the Ocean- Dimitris Menemenlis What happens when the wind blows on Coastal Circulaon the surface of the ocean??? 1.
    [Show full text]
  • The Contribution of Wind-Generated Waves to Coastal Sea-Level Changes
    1 Surveys in Geophysics Archimer November 2011, Volume 40, Issue 6, Pages 1563-1601 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-019-09557-5 https://archimer.ifremer.fr https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00509/62046/ The Contribution of Wind-Generated Waves to Coastal Sea-Level Changes Dodet Guillaume 1, *, Melet Angélique 2, Ardhuin Fabrice 6, Bertin Xavier 3, Idier Déborah 4, Almar Rafael 5 1 UMR 6253 LOPSCNRS-Ifremer-IRD-Univiversity of Brest BrestPlouzané, France 2 Mercator OceanRamonville Saint Agne, France 3 UMR 7266 LIENSs, CNRS - La Rochelle UniversityLa Rochelle, France 4 BRGMOrléans Cédex, France 5 UMR 5566 LEGOSToulouse Cédex 9, France *Corresponding author : Guillaume Dodet, email address : [email protected] Abstract : Surface gravity waves generated by winds are ubiquitous on our oceans and play a primordial role in the dynamics of the ocean–land–atmosphere interfaces. In particular, wind-generated waves cause fluctuations of the sea level at the coast over timescales from a few seconds (individual wave runup) to a few hours (wave-induced setup). These wave-induced processes are of major importance for coastal management as they add up to tides and atmospheric surges during storm events and enhance coastal flooding and erosion. Changes in the atmospheric circulation associated with natural climate cycles or caused by increasing greenhouse gas emissions affect the wave conditions worldwide, which may drive significant changes in the wave-induced coastal hydrodynamics. Since sea-level rise represents a major challenge for sustainable coastal management, particularly in low-lying coastal areas and/or along densely urbanized coastlines, understanding the contribution of wind-generated waves to the long-term budget of coastal sea-level changes is therefore of major importance.
    [Show full text]
  • Where the Swell Begins Walter Munk with Cher Pendarvis
    Where the Swell Begins Walter Munk with Cher Pendarvis Swells to the horizon 2 Surfing is a gift, a total involvement that takes us away from other thoughts and the cares of the world . 3 The interaction with the wave is a creative dance with the moving water . its the joy of riding a wave . During our early surfing, some of us tried rough prediction from weather maps. we!d listen to the weather and then try to predict when to take off from school or work to catch the swell. For instance, when we had high pressure on the west coast and isobar lines up by Alaska, we knew we may get a winter swell. In college, we!d plan our school schedules around the tides, and also study ahead so that we had time to surf when the waves were good. Now we have forecasts and other services available from Surfline, Wetsand and others. You can also sign up to have surf reports sent to your email address. In this Surfline screen we can check out the direction and size of the current swells and the wind and weather conditions. This screen shows the direction and size of the current swells. A fun day at Windansea 9 A fun day at Ralphs, San Diego harbor 10 South Swell Shorebreak painting 11 We did not always have such great tools for forecasting the waves. Dr. Walter Munk was the first to discover how to forecast swells. Walter first came to Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1939, and after completing his Bachelor!s and Master!s degrees at CalTech, he took a job at Scripps and worked alongside Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • This Template Becomes Part of My 'C' Drive and Does Not Become A
    SAFETY MANAGEMENT MANUAL ATL 7.9 DSV ALVIN OPERATIONS Originator: Approved By: Christopher Morgan Al Suchy 1. PURPOSE The safe operation of the Deep Submergence Vehicle DSV Alvin requires careful planning and a high level of competence on the part of all persons involved in the operations. The purpose of this section is to define the safe launching and recovering procedures of the DSV Alvin on board the R/V ATLANTIS in normal and emergency situations. 2. SCOPE This procedure applies to the operations involved during the launching and recovering of the DSV Alvin on board the R/V ATLANTIS. 3. RESPONSIBILITY The Master of the R/V ATLANTIS is, by maritime custom and law, responsible for the safety of the vessel and all persons on board. The Masters’ authority thus extends to all aspects of the vessel’s operations. Operation of ALVIN from R/V ATLANTIS requires close cooperation among all parties involved. It is essential that the Master be able to rely on technical advice and assistance made readily available by the Alvin Group. The Expedition Leader is responsible for all decisions regarding the safe operation of the DSV up to the time of launch, at which point responsibility for the safety of the DSV is divided into three separate spheres of influence governed by the Pilot-in-Command, the Launch Coordinator, and the Surface Controller. The overall responsibility returns to the Expedition Leader when the DSV is recovered. The Expedition Leader is also responsible for the assignment of Pilot-in-Command, Launch Coordinator, and Surface Controller for each dive.
    [Show full text]
  • Deep Ocean Wind Waves Ch
    Deep Ocean Wind Waves Ch. 1 Waves, Tides and Shallow-Water Processes: J. Wright, A. Colling, & D. Park: Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford UK, 1999, 2nd Edition, 227 pp. AdOc 4060/5060 Spring 2013 Types of Waves Classifiers •Disturbing force •Restoring force •Type of wave •Wavelength •Period •Frequency Waves transmit energy, not mass, across ocean surfaces. Wave behavior depends on a wave’s size and water depth. Wind waves: energy is transferred from wind to water. Waves can change direction by refraction and diffraction, can interfere with one another, & reflect from solid objects. Orbital waves are a type of progressive wave: i.e. waves of moving energy traveling in one direction along a surface, where particles of water move in closed circles as the wave passes. Free waves move independently of the generating force: wind waves. In forced waves the disturbing force is applied continuously: tides Parts of an ocean wave •Crest •Trough •Wave height (H) •Wavelength (L) •Wave speed (c) •Still water level •Orbital motion •Frequency f = 1/T •Period T=L/c Water molecules in the crest of the wave •Depth of wave base = move in the same direction as the wave, ½L, from still water but molecules in the trough move in the •Wave steepness =H/L opposite direction. 1 • If wave steepness > /7, the wave breaks Group Velocity against Phase Velocity = Cg<<Cp Factors Affecting Wind Wave Development •Waves originate in a “sea”area •A fully developed sea is the maximum height of waves produced by conditions of wind speed, duration, and fetch •Swell are waves
    [Show full text]
  • Wind-Induced Waves and Currents in a Nearshore Zone
    CHAPTER 260 Wind-Induced Waves and Currents in a Nearshore Zone Nobuhiro Matsunaga1, Misao Hashida2 and Hiroshi Kawakami3 Abstract Characteristics of waves and currents induced when a strong wind blows shoreward in a nearshore zone have been investigated experimentally. The drag coefficient of wavy surface has been related to the ratio u*a/cP, where u*a is the air friction velocity on the water surface and cP the phase velocity of the predominant wind waves. Though the relation between the frequencies of the predominant waves and fetch is very similar to that for deep water, the fetch-relation of the wave energy is a little complicated because of the wave shoaling and the wave breaking. The dependence of the energy spectra on the frequency /changes from /-5 to/"3 in the high frequency region with increase of the wind velocity. A strong onshore drift current forms along a thin layer near the water surface and the compensating offshore current is induced under this layer. As the wind velocity increases, the offshore current velocity increases and becomes much larger than the wave-induced mass transport velocity which is calculated from Longuet- Higgins' theoretical solution. 1. Introduction When a nearshore zone is under swell weather conditions, the 1 Associate Professor, Department of Earth System Science and Technology, Kyushu University, Kasuga 816, Japan. 2 Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Nippon Bunri University, Oita 870-03, Japan. 3 Graduate student, Department of Earth System Science and Technology, Kyushu University, Kasuga 816, Japan. 3363 3364 COASTAL ENGINEERING 1996 wind Fig.l Sketch of sediment transport process in a nearshore zone under a storm.
    [Show full text]
  • Method of Studying Modulation Effects of Wind and Swell Waves on Tidal and Seiche Oscillations
    Journal of Marine Science and Engineering Article Method of Studying Modulation Effects of Wind and Swell Waves on Tidal and Seiche Oscillations Grigory Ivanovich Dolgikh 1,2,* and Sergey Sergeevich Budrin 1,2,* 1 V.I. Il’ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute, Far Eastern Branch Russian Academy of Sciences, 690041 Vladivostok, Russia 2 Institute for Scientific Research of Aerospace Monitoring “AEROCOSMOS”, 105064 Moscow, Russia * Correspondence: [email protected] (G.I.D.); [email protected] (S.S.B.) Abstract: This paper describes a method for identifying modulation effects caused by the interaction of waves with different frequencies based on regression analysis. We present examples of its applica- tion on experimental data obtained using high-precision laser interference instruments. Using this method, we illustrate and describe the nonlinearity of the change in the period of wind waves that are associated with wave processes of lower frequencies—12- and 24-h tides and seiches. Based on data analysis, we present several basic types of modulation that are characteristic of the interaction of wind and swell waves on seiche oscillations, with the help of which we can explain some peculiarities of change in the process spectrum of these waves. Keywords: wind waves; swell; tides; seiches; remote probing; space monitoring; nonlinearity; modulation 1. Introduction Citation: Dolgikh, G.I.; Budrin, S.S. The phenomenon of modulation of short-period waves on long waves is currently Method of Studying Modulation widely used in the field of non-contact methods for sea surface monitoring. These processes Effects of Wind and Swell Waves on are mainly investigated during space monitoring by means of analyzing optical [1,2] and Tidal and Seiche Oscillations.
    [Show full text]
  • Under High Pressure: Spherical Glass Flotation and Instrument Housings in Deep Ocean Research
    PAPER Under High Pressure: Spherical Glass Flotation and Instrument Housings in Deep Ocean Research AUTHORS ABSTRACT Steffen Pausch All stationary and autonomous instrumentation for observational activities in Nautilus Marine Service GmbH ocean research have two things in common, they need pressure-resistant housings Detlef Below and buoyancy to bring instruments safely back to the surface. The use of glass DURAN Group GmbH spheres is attractive in many ways. Glass qualities such as the immense strength– weight ratio, corrosion resistance, and low cost make glass spheres ideal for both Kevin Hardy flotation and instrument housings. On the other hand, glass is brittle and hence DeepSea Power & Light subject to damage from impact. The production of glass spheres therefore requires high-quality raw material, advanced manufacturing technology and expertise in Introduction processing. VITROVEX® spheres made of DURAN® borosilicate glass 3.3 are the hen Jacques Piccard and Don only commercially available 17-inch glass spheres with operational ratings to full Walsh reached the Marianas Trench ocean trench depth. They provide a low-cost option for specialized flotation and W instrument housings. in1960andreportedshrimpand flounder-like fish, it was proven that Keywords: Buoyancy, Flotation, Instrument housings, Pressure, Spheres, Trench, there is life even in the very deepest VITROVEX® parts of the ocean. What started as a simple search for life has become over (1) they need to have pressure- the years a search for answers to basic Advantages and resistant housings to accommodate questions such as the number of spe- Disadvantages sensitive electronics, and (2) they need cies, their distribution ranges, and the of Glass Spheres either positive buoyancy to bring the composition of the fauna.
    [Show full text]