A Wave and Current Investigation in the Nearshore Zone.
Abstract:
The report is the final report on wave and current investigations in the nearshore zone. A spatial resolution method has been developed for determining wave lengths in the surf. This system prevents the error introduced due to rapidly transforming waves which arises in conventional calculated wave length determinations. Subsurface photographic studies on particle velocities in breaking waves has indicated both horizontally dominant and vertically dominant flow paths beneath the crests of breaking waves. Breaker height decay analysis has shown that turbulence due to breaking dominates bottom friction in the nearshore zone. Likewise a prediction equation is generated which will predict the expotential decay of wave height as a function of distance shoreward from the break point. A complete wave shape classification system has been developed for evaluating stability and energetics of the surf zone. This system is used in conjunction with a two-dimensional time projection of the free surface to evaluate nearshore surface wave behavior. Author