The influence of the time change of static stability and wind shear on baroclinic waves

The effect of the time change of static stability and wind shear on a two-level quasigeostrophic baroclinic wave is considered. First, by keeping the wind shear as a constant the effect of the increase of static stability is that the amplitude of the temperature wave reaches a maximum first while that of the stream field is still amplifying and, as that of temperature wave reaches a minimum, that of the stream field becomes a maximum, and both are in phase. Next, by keeping the static stability as a constant, a life cycle of disturbance associated with the time change of wind shear is obtained. In this case the maximum amplitude of the wave appears at about 6 days and the life cycle is about 11 days for reasonable values of the model parameters. Finally, both effects are considered. The results show that as the wind shear decreases, the static stability increases, and the percentage change of wind shear is larger than that of static stability.This paper is not an entirely convincing analysis of the finite amplitude dynamics of an unstable wave in the two-level model, but rather a pedagogically useful approximate theory in which the retention of some terms rather than others is justified in view of the plausibility of the results.     

Accurate determination of internal kinematics from numerical wave model results

The internal kinematics for surface waves propagating over a locally constant depth are expressed as convolution integrals. Given the wave kinematics at the still water level (SWL), this provides explicit and exact potential flow expressions for the internal kinematics as convolutions in space with appropriate impulse response functions. These functions are derived in closed form and they are shown to decay exponentially. This effectively reduces the limits of the convolution integral to a horizontal distance of approximately three water depths from the water column of interest. The SWL kinematics must be provided within this region. The source of SWL kinematics may, e.g. be one of the recently developed highly accurate Boussinesq-type formulations. The method is valid for multidirectional, irregular waves of arbitrary nonlinearity at any constant water depth.     

Contributions respectives des courants et de la houle dans la mobilité sédimentaire d'une plate-forme interne estuarienne. Exemple : le seuil interinsulaire,au large du pertuis d'Antioche,France

This paper investigates the relative influence of waves, wind-induced current and tidal current on the sediment mobility of a macro-tidal environment belonging to the inner shelf seaward of the ‘pertuis Charentais’ (France). This study, mainly based on three-week hydrodynamic in-situ measurements, shows that, for a water depth of 23 m, the swell (rather than wind waves) orbital velocity is large enough to initiate the motion of medium sands that are then transported by currents. Estimations show that medium sand of 0.2 mm is transported during 92% of the measurements, whereas coarse sand and gravel move sporadically, during storm, synchronously with spring tides. Further more, bedload fluxes appear strongly larger when waves are taken into account (370 times larger for 0.2-mm sands). To cite this article: D. Idier et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).     

A new formula for the sea state and structural parameters influencing the stability of homogeneous reshaping berm breakwaters

The berm recession of a reshaping berm breakwater has a very important role for the stability of this kind of structure. Based on a 2D experimental modeling method in a wave flume, the recession of the berm due to sea state and structural parameters has been studied. Irregular waves with a JONSWAP spectrum were used. A total of 215 tests have been performed to cover the impact of sea state conditions such as wave height, wave period, storm duration and water depth at the toe of the structure, and structural parameters such as berm elevation from still water level, berm width and stone diameter on berm recession. In this paper, first a new dimensionless parameter is introduced to evaluate the combined effect of wave height and wave period on berm recession using results of the experimental work. Then, a formula that includes some sea state and structural parameters is derived using the new dimensionless parameter for estimating the berm recession. A comparison is made between the estimated berm recessions by this new formula and formulae given by other researchers to show the preference of using the new dimensionless parameter. The comparison shows that the recession estimated by the new formula has not only a better correlation with the present experimental data, but also has an improved correlation with other experimental results within the range of parameters tested. Outside the range of parameters tested the Lykke Andersen (2006) formula performed best.     

Bailard's sediment transport formulation in shelf sea conditions: comparison with observations using a clustering technique

A previously published wave-averaged version of Bailard's sediment transport formulation, intended for use in a numerical model of shelf sand transport, is compared against available field observations from literature. The objective was to test the performance of the transport relation over the wide range of hydrodynamical conditions that can occur at sea. A modified data analysis method was used to assess the reliability of the field observations. The modification consists of a method to cluster the data into classes to enable statistical analysis. The sediment transport formulation is part of the classification method. The method is in principle also suitable to reduce the size of data sets of non-cohesive sediment transport obtained with modern electronic equipment. The results show that the quality of the published field observations is fair, and that the wave-averaged Bailard formulation performs well for low and medium transport regimes in both currents and waves. For those conditions, it yields a slight overprediction of the transports, and a nearly uniform behaviour as a function of the conditions. The formulation underestimates transport rates for very high flow velocities in absence of waves, which is in agreement with earlier findings. The present version of Bailard's wave averaged sediment transport formulation is suitable for computing the local transport rates of fine to coarse sand on continental shelves in conditions ranging from small currents to moderate currents combined with non-breaking waves.     

Modeling of tropical cyclone winds and waves for emergency management

This paper compares three commonly used parametric models of tropical cyclone winds and evaluates their application in the wave model WAM. The parametric models provide surface wind fields based on best tracks of tropical cyclones and WAM simulates wave growth based on the wind energy input. The model package is applied to hindcast the wind and wave conditions of Hurricane Iniki, which directly hit the Hawaiian Island of Kauai in 1992. The parametric wind fields are evaluated against buoy and aircraft measurements made during the storm. A sensitivity analysis determines the spatial and spectral resolution needed to model the wave field of Hurricane Iniki. Comparisons of the modeled waves with buoy measurements indicate good agreement within the core of the storm and demonstrate the capability of the model package as a forecasting tool for emergency management.     

Nearshore sticky waters

Wind- and current-driven flotsam, oil spills, pollutants, and nutrients, approaching the nearshore will frequently appear to slow down/park just beyond the break zone, where waves break. Moreover, the portion of these tracers that beach will do so only after a long time. Explaining why these tracers park and at what rate they reach the shore has important implications on a variety of different nearshore environmental issues, including the determination of what subscale processes are essential in computer models for the simulation of pollutant transport in the nearshore. Using a simple model we provide an explanation for the underlying mechanism responsible for the parking of tracers, not subject to inertial effects, the role played by the bottom topography, and the non-uniform dispersion which leads, in some circumstances, to the eventual landing of all or a portion of the tracers. We refer to the parking phenomenon in this environment as nearshore sticky waters.     

Hydrodynamic interactions between two ships advancing in waves

In this paper the hydrodynamic problems between two moving ships in waves are analyzed using a three-dimensional potential-flow theory based on the source distribution technique. The potential is presented by a distribution of source over the ship hull. The corresponding Green functions and their derivatives can be easily solved numerically by using the series expansions of Telste and Noblesse's algorithm for the Cauchy principal value integral of unsteady flow. The numerical solution is evaluated by applying the present method to two pairs of models and compared with experimental data and strip theory. From the comparisons, it shows that the hydrodynamic interactions are generally important. In the resonance region, the hydrodynamic interaction calculated by the 3D method is more reasonable, which is not so significant as that by the 2D method. The technique developed here may serve as a more rigorous tool to analyze the related problems of two ships doing underway replenishment in waves.     

Numerical simulation of waves generated by landslides using a multiple-fluid Navier–Stokes model

This work reports on the application and experimental validation, for idealized geometries, of a multiple-fluid Navier–Stokes model of waves generated by rigid and deforming slides, with the purpose of improving predictive simulations of landslide tsunamis. In such simulations, the computational domain is divided into water, air, and slide regions, all treated as Newtonian fluids. For rigid slides, a penalty method allows for parts of the fluid domain to behave as a solid. With the latter method, the coupling between a rigid slide and water is implicitly computed (rather than specifying a known slide kinematics). Two different Volume of Fluid algorithms are tested for tracking interfaces between actual fluid regions. The simulated kinematics of a semi-elliptical block, moving down a water covered plane slope, is first compared to an earlier analytical solution. Results for the vertical fall of a rectangular block in water are then compared to earlier experimental results. Finally, more realistic simulations of two- and three-dimensional wedges sliding down an incline are compared to earlier experiments. Overall, in all cases, solid block velocities and free surface deformations are accurately reproduced in the model, provided that a sufficiently resolved discretization is used. The potential of the model is then illustrated on more complex scenarios involving waves caused by multi-block or deformable slides.