Spatial Variation in the Structure of Kelp Forest Communities Along a Wave Exposure Gradient

Abstract. Four sites were sampled in kelp (Macrocysiis pyrifera) forests occupying rocky bottom habitats along a wave exposure gradient in central California. Consistent betwecn-site differences were found in the three major structural elements - the surface canopy, the undcrstory assemblage, and the ground cover/turf assemblage - of kelp forest communities. Macrocysiis pyrifera was found at all four sites. Nereucyslis tuelkeana only at the most exposed site. The understory kelps Laminaria setchellii and Pterygopltora californica were also characteristic of exposed sites. Articulated coralline algae were more abundant at exposed sites than protected, while fleshy red algae showed the opposite pattern. All four study sites were located along 8.5 km of coastline, and thus were assumed to have available to them the same species pool for colonization. The substrate composition was the same and the amount of unconsolidated substrate was similar at all four sites. We suggest that exposure to wave-generated water motion, through its influence on the surface canopy and therefore on the amount of light reaching the bottom, is responsible for these between-site differences.     

Observations and Estimations of Directional Spectrum of Sea Waves

The directional spectrum is one of the basic characteristics of sea waves. The observations of directional spectrum of sea waves were successfully conducted at platform Bohai 8 during 1991 and 1992 using a wave gage array for the first time in China. Based on the field data, the directional spectrum which depends on the wave growth is given in this paper. Before observations, the effects of the type of gage array, the distance between the gages and the platform itself on the measured results and the precision of some methods for estimating the directional spectrum were investigated and compared with the methods of numerical simulations and model tests of multi-direcitonal irregular waves. This ensures the quality of the observations and estimations of the directional spectrum.     

Stability Design System of Submarine Pipelines

This paper introduces a stability design system of submarine pipelines. The system can provide a reasonable design procedure for users with reference to domestic and foreign methods and in the light of home engineering experience.     

Long-Period Distribution of Wave Heights and Its Application

This paper reveals that the long-period statistic distribution of the characteristic heights of deep-water waves assumes the lognormal distribution. Thereafter, the largest wave-height which may occur in the service life of coastal structures is derived in this paper.     

A Nonlinear Model of Surf Beat

A nonlinear short-wave-averaged (surf beat) model is presented. The model is based on that of Roelvink (1993), but the numerical techniques used in the solution are based on the so-called weighted-averaged flux (WAF) method (eg Watson et al., 1992), with time-operator splitting used for the treatment of some of the source terms. This method allows a small number of computational points to be used, and is particularly efficient in modelling breaking long waves. The short-wave (or primary-wave) energy equation is solved using a more traditional Lax-Wendroff technique. Results of validation indicate that the model performs satisfactorily in most respects.     

海岸工程中海浪数值模拟和环境参数选取的进展

主要介绍了我国近的来在海岸工程设计，建设中有关海浪数值模拟及环境参数选取方面的研究进展。     

用贝叶斯方法推算设计波高

采用长期概率预报提供波浪要素设计值是海洋工程中不可缺少的内容之一，文中介绍了一种基於贝叶斯原理的新计算方法，它较传统统计方法有明显的优越性，不仅可以通过补充新信息不断修正原有的估算结果，而且可以避免传统方法带来诸多不确定性，文中以北海中部百年一遇设计波高为例进行了计算。     

Control strategies for the Clam Wave Energy Device

A promising wave energy device being currently investigated is the ‘clam’. The clam extracts energy by pumping air through a specially designed (Wells) turbine. Although operation of the Wells turbine does not require a rectified air flow, some additional control will be necessary to optimize the phase of the clam motion for good efficiencies. An examination of the equation of motion in the time domain suggests the possibility of phase control by mechanical, power take-off, or pneumatic latching. Latching can be shown to increase the efficiency of the device in the longer wavelengths of the wave spectrum, i.e. those of high incident wave power. Equivalently latching could be used to keep the device efficiency high while reducing its size, possibly resulting in cheaper power extraction.     

Effect of wave-directionality on second-order loads induced by the set-down

At first-order of approximation a sea-state may be considered as an infinite sum of Airy components with angular frequencies ω_i and wave-number vectors k_i. A second-order analysis shows the co-existence of long waves appearing at the difference frequencies ω_i—ω_j with wave-number vectors k_i—k_j. In shallow water they become appreciable in amplitudes and may induce slow-drift motion of moored structures.For small values of ω_i—ω_j,k_i—k_j may take all kinds of directions for an angular-spread wave system. Then it may be questioned how the in-line and transverse second-order accelerations compare to those obtained for a mono-directional wave-system.This analysis is carried out here by relating the spectra of the second-order horizontal accelerations to the directional wave-spectrum. Numerical applications are first performed for deep water. They show that at low frequencies, even for very narrowly spread wave systems, the transverse component is larger than the in-line component. In shallow water both components are dratically reduced as compared to the mono-directional case. As a consequence one may question the validity of model-testings or numerical models which take no account of the directionality of the wave-system.