An unsteady wave driver for narrowbanded waves: modeling nearshore circulation driven by wave groups

In this paper, we derive an unsteady refraction–diffraction model for narrowbanded water waves for use in computing coupled wave–current motion in the nearshore. The end result is a variable coefficient, nonlinear Schrödinger-type wave driver (describing the envelope of narrow-banded incident waves) coupled to forced nonlinear shallow water equations (describing steady or unsteady mean flows driven by the short-wave field). Comparisons with experimental data show that good accuracy can be obtained for cases of nonbreaking wave transformation. Numerical simulations show that the interaction of wave groups with longshore topographic nonuniformities generates strong edge wave resonances, providing a generating mechanism for low-order edge waves.     

近岸波浪引起的水流及长波研究进展

从现场观测、理论分析和数值计算、试验室研究三个方面回顾了近岸波浪引起水流以及长波的研究进展，并对今后着重研究的几个方向提出看法。     

Directional spreading of waves in the nearshore zone

The directionality of waves inside a groin field near the German coastal zone of the island of Norderney is studied in the frequency domain. The maximum entropy method is adopted to estimate the directional spreading function. The various characteristics of the directional distribution of waves have been presented for the locations both inside and outside the groin field. The variation of directional spreading with depth and the importance of study of directional waves in coastal regions are discussed.     

Directional spreading of waves in the nearshore zone

The directionality of waves inside a groin field near the German coastal zone of the island of Norderney is studied in the frequency domain. The maximum entropy method is adopted to estimate the directional spreading function. The various characteristics of the directional distribution of waves have been presented for the locations both inside and outside the groin field. The variation of directional spreading with depth and the importance of study of directional waves in coastal regions are discussed.     

基于间断有限元方法的三维近岸波生流数值模型建立

在三维水动力模型中引入三维辐射应力,水滚影响以及波浪附加紊动效应,并基于间断有限元方法建立了非结构化网格三维波生流数值模型。采用实验室内斜坡地形条件下正向入射波在破波带附近产生的近底回流和斜向入射波产生的沿岸流对模型进行了验证。结果表明,计算值与实测值吻合程度较好,该模型可以较好地描述三维近岸波生流。     

Effects of cross-shore boundary condition errors in nearshore circulation modeling

The paper analyzes the effect which prescribed errors in the cross-shore boundary conditions for a computational domain along a beach have on the flow field predicted inside the domain. This problem is relevant because errors in boundary conditions are unavoidable when modeling limited domains of a nearshore region. For simplicity, we consider a longshore uniform plane beach with monochromatic, obliquely incident waves, and assume depth uniform currents. It is then studied analytically and numerically how small perturbations of the boundary conditions along both upstream and downstream cross-shore boundaries spread inside the computational domain. It is found that the errors at the upstream cross-shore boundary tend to spread over a long distance downstream of the boundary, while the influence of the errors in the downstream boundary condition is limited to the adjacent upstream area of the computational domain. Both the numerical and analytical solutions show that the errors introduced at the upstream boundary decay exponentially in the surf zone at a rate proportional to the bottom friction. A simple formula is developed to estimate the influence distance of the upstream errors. If we consider the mismatch in the volume flux at the upstream boundary, the error merely redistributes in the cross-shore direction to conserve volume. In the case of excessive flux or velocity specified at the cross-shore boundaries, a circulation cell tends to appear in the offshore region where the errors caused by the boundary mismatch increase with the cross-shore width of the model domain.     

A numerical experiment on the calculation of the tropical Atlantic circulation in 1982–1983, with the real wind considered

This paper discusses the results obtained through numerical modelling of the annual course of circulation and thermohaline field evolution in the tropical Atlantic under the impact of real wind forcing (from March 1982 to March 1983) and compares them with the calculation of seasonal variability induced by the climatic wind. Changes in the pattern of the equatorial currents and related temperature fields induced by the specific peculiarities in the wind field are analysed.Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

天津近岸台风暴潮漫滩数值模式研究

基于对POM(Princeton Ocean Model)模式的改进,采用Flather-Heaps干湿网格法和两重网格嵌套的数值计算格式,针对天津近岸海域的地形和易受风暴潮漫滩灾害侵袭的特点,建立了天津近岸海域三维动边界风暴潮漫滩模型,对天津近岸区域台风影响下的风暴潮漫滩进行了数值模拟研究。选取7203,8509,9216,9711号典型台风过程,计算了风暴潮漫滩水位变化,通过与塘沽站点实测数据的比较,计算的增水曲线过程与实测结果吻合较好,基本能够真实反映天津近岸的风暴潮水位变化情况及漫滩范围。研究结果验证了改进POM模式为动边界数值模型并应用于浅海区域是可行性的。     

Numerical simulation of nearshore circulation on field topography under random wave environment

In order to investigate surf zone hydrodynamics through two-dimensional numerical simulations of nearshore circulation under random wave environment, a nearshore circulation model, SHORECIRC, and a random wave model, SWAN, were combined and utilized. Using this combined model, a numerical simulation of the October 2, 1997 SandyDuck field experiment was performed. For this simulation, field topography and an input offshore spectrum were constructed using observed data sets synchronized with the experiment. The wave-breaking model in SWAN was modified by using breaker parameters varied according to bottom slope. The simulation results were compared with the experimental data, which revealed a well-developed longshore current, as well as with results using other combinations which were SHORECIRC and its original monochromatic wave-driver, and SHORECIRC and the default of SWAN. The results from the novel combined model agreed well with the experimental data. The results of the present simulation also indicate that alongshore field topography influences shear fluctuation of longshore currents.     

曲折海湾中潮汐和环流的数值研究

The Shacheng Bay(SCB) is one of the most complex coastal bays in southeast China and due to the fact of complicated geometry and dynamic coastal processes, it is considered as a challenging area for the numerical simulation of its hydrodynamic characteristics. The most advanced finite volume ocean model, finite-volume coastal ocean model(FVCOM), has adopted to simulate this hydrodynamic system, where tidal currents, tidal residual current and dye diffusion processes were studied and analyzed quantitatively. The validation of this numerical model matches well with various observation data, including elevation and current data. The misfit of a tidal elevation has a relative standard error of 3.66% and 4.67% for M2 and S2 tide components. The current validation shows a good match with an average error of 10 cm/s and 8° in the speed major axis and its direction respectively between the simulation and the measurement. This proves the robustness and reliability of this model. It is also found that the cape effect is significant and important in this system. The dye diffusion simulations show a 53 d flushing period for the whole inner bay waterbody. The results are of its first kind for understanding the hydrodynamic system in the SCB and they can provide helpful and trustful scientific information for others.     

基于数值模拟的厦门湾波浪特征研究

本研究使用成熟的SWAN模型对厦门湾的波浪场进行了1a的数值模拟,通过与同期的珍珠湾波浪观测数据进行对比验证了模型的可靠性.根据模型的计算结果,分析了厦门湾年平均和夏、冬两季平均波高和波向的分布特征,厦门湾的风浪和涌浪组成,珍珠湾波浪观测海域主要的波浪能量生成和能量耗散过程.结果表明,厦门湾年平均有效波高较小,且有较明显的季节变化特征,夏季厦门湾平均有效波高较小,且湾内波向多为偏南向;冬季厦门湾平均有效波高相对较大,厦门岛北侧和东侧海域波向均为NE向.厦门湾湾内以风浪为主,涌浪较小,风浪、涌浪比较大,均在3以上;从湾外向湾内,风浪、涌浪比逐渐增加,至厦门湾南岸和泉州石井镇附近海域,风浪、涌浪比增加到5~6;在厦门湾东部和北部海域,风浪、涌浪比均在10以上.珍珠湾海域波浪最主要的能量耗散过程是由底摩擦引起的能量耗散,虽然冬季风速较大,但夏季风能输入的能量和白帽破碎耗散的能量均大于冬季;因冬季波浪相对较大,夏季底摩擦耗散的能量要小于冬季.     

双涡互旋的数值模拟试验

本文应用准地转正压无辐散模式对双涡的相互作用进行了数值模拟试验。试验结果表明：（1）只考虑相对涡度平流的情况下双涡以互旋为主，而且随着初始间距的缩小，互旋越来越明显。双涡的相互作用与它们的初始间距以及它们的强度和结构有密切的关系。（2）双涡的移动加速和减速都是出现在它们移动方向改变的时刻，当移动方向向逆时针方向变化时移速减慢，否则加快。     

Interpretation of edge waves observations on Shikotan Island

The observations of short-period edge waves and accompanying morphological features of the coast line in the Dimitrov Bay on Shikotan Island on August 11, 2005, are presented. The wave field characteristics and form of the coastline are interpreted within the frameworks of the exact solutions of three-dimensional nonlinear equations for the waves propagating over a flat sloping bottom.     

Detection of breaking waves using X-band pulse radar in the nearshore region

An X-band pulsed Doppler microwave radar has been used to determine the characteristics of breaking waves. Field experiments were conducted at the Shuang-Si estuary in the north of Taiwan in the winter of 2005. Analyses on maxima radar cross section and Doppler frequency shift are done to characterize wave breaking zones. Based on observations of breaking waves, the wave breaking zones are shown to be located at water depths of 1.8 to 2.2 m in the experimental site. In general, the results indicate that a radar system has the potential to delineate the spatial variation of breaking waves clearly and that this is sufficient to achieve a measurement operation for near-shore air-sea interaction events.     

Note on sediment sorting in a sandy bed under standing water waves

We present new quantitative data on the sorting of sediments on a sandy seabed under standing waves. Starting from a flat bed composed of a homogeneous mixture of a coarse and a fine sand with mean diameters 0.11 and 0.21 mm, we observed simultaneous ripple and sand bar formation and sand sorting on the seabed. Over days of wave action, sand bars formed with crests beneath the surface wave nodes and flat plateaus flanked by mounds beneath the antinodes. Bar crests were composed of sand coarser on average than 0.21 mm, while the flat plateaus were covered by sand finer on average than 0.11 mm. Comparison with two experiments involving sand beds of more homogeneous size distributions shows that the mounds are characteristic of the motion of fine suspensions.     

Numerical experiment on the circulation in the Japan Sea

By using a rectangular basin of uniform depth with inflow and outflow openings, the circulation in the Japan Sea is investigated numerically. Heat flux through the sea surface is determined from the annual mean atmospheric conditions for the Japan Sea, but no wind stress is considered.In the transient state, the warm water supplied through an inflow opening travels cyclonically along the coast as a density-driven boundary current in a rotating system. In the quasi-steady state, the warm water flows northward as a western boundary current which corresponds to the East Korean Warm Current and gradually separates from the coast as it flows northward. No strong boundary current corresponding to the nearshore branch of the Tsushima Current exists.Under annual mean atmospheric conditions, formation of the deep water characteristic of the Japan Sea and of the thermal front corresponding to the Polar Front do not take place.     

Numerical experiment on the circulation in the Japan Sea

By using a two-dimensional barotropic model on a-plane, the effect of the bottom topography on the path of the Tsushima Current is investigated. The rectangular model ocean with continental slopes has two openings: one is located at the southern boundary and the other at the eastern boundary. In a steady state, most of the water supplied into the model ocean through the inflow opening, flows along the continental slope with the coast to the right. Continental shelf waves play an important role in the process of adjustment to a steady state. It is suggested that the nearshore branch of the Tsushima Current might be largely topographically controlled.     

A numerical modeling study of low-frequency circulation on the West Florida shelf

A numerical model using the linearized, diagnostic, primitive equations was applied to the West Florida shelf to provide estimates of low-frequency (<0.1 cpd) circulation. The model calculated the horizontal and temporal variation of the free surface and velocity fields, including vertical shear. Model testing was accomplished by hindcasting two data sets. Comparisons between modeled and observed current and surface elevation were generally good, although a thorough evaluation was impossible because of an inadequate data base. After the model was tested, it was used to investigate low-frequency circulation patterns due to wind, horizontal density gradients, vertical stratification, and the Loop Current. Difficulties were encountered in trying to include the Loop Current effects on the shelf. Several mechanisms suggested by previous investigators were tried but failed to give realistic results using reasonable model input parameters.The model results coupled with the available data suggest: (1) the inner shelf region shoreward of the 50-m isobath is primarily wind driven; (2) the deeper, southern section of the shelf is strongly influenced by shelf edge processes and intrusions from the Loop Current; (3) the deeper, northern section of the shelf is primarily wind driven; and (4) modeling of shelf edge processes must include the baroclinic component.