Open AccessWHAT IS THE SLOPE OF EQUILIBRIUM RANGE IN THE FREQUENCY SPECTRUM OF WIND WAVES?
Author(s) -
Paul C. Liu
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
proceedings of conference on coastal engineering/proceedings of ... conference on coastal engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2156-1028
pISSN - 0589-087X
DOI - 10.9753/icce.v21.78
Subject(s) - range (aeronautics) , exponent , momentum (technical analysis) , statistical physics , spectrum (functional analysis) , physics , geology , mathematics , economics , quantum mechanics , engineering , philosophy , linguistics , finance , aerospace engineering
An effort to empirically assess the slope of the equilibrium range in a wind-wave frequency spectrum with a large number of data recorded in the Great Lakes did not serve to clarify the uncertainty between a -4 or a -5 frequency exponent representation. The uncertainty is further compounded by indications that the slope is not necessarily unique, it tends to vary with wave momentum. For sufficiently well-developed wind waves the exponent appears to cluster between -3 and -4. For practical applications the f"* equilibrium range is perhaps an effective approximation. What the correct slope is for the equilibrium range, or even whether or not a unique slope exists, remains elusive and has yet to be satisfactorily substantiated.