Open AccessProbability of wave breaking and whitecap coverage in a fetch‐limited sea
Author(s) -
Xu D.,
Liu X.,
Yu D.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: oceans
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2000jc900040
Subject(s) - fetch , breaking wave , meteorology , bay , moment (physics) , significant wave height , geology , joint (building) , wind wave , environmental science , physics , oceanography , wave propagation , engineering , classical mechanics , optics , architectural engineering
The analytical model of Snyder and Kennedy [1983] for the whitecap coverage W and that of Srokosz [1985] for the probability of wave breaking B are developed into practically applicable forms by closely combining theoretical analysis and data fitting. The database consists of two parts: the data collected from published literature and those recently measured in the Bohai Bay. A time‐averaging technique is used to estimate the fourth spectral moment of the mean Joint North Sea Wave Project spectrum. The resulting expressions are simple, in which W and B depend only on the nondimensional fetch for a fetch‐limited sea.