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More generally, a swell consists of wind-generated waves that are not greatly affected by the local wind at that time. Swell waves often have a relatively long wavelength, as short wavelength waves carry less energy and dissipate faster, but this varies due to the size, strength, and duration of the weather system responsible for the swell and ...
In fluid dynamics, a wind wave, or wind-generated water wave, is a surface wave that occurs on the free surface of bodies of water as a result of the wind blowing over the water's surface. The contact distance in the direction of the wind is known as the fetch. Waves in the oceans can travel thousands of kilometers before reaching land.
Swell period is an important factor in surf forecasting. It is a measurement of time between successive waves in seconds. If you multiply the swell period by 1.5 you will calculate the speed in knots of the wave group for deep water. Waves travel in groups, with the individual wave traveling twice as fast the group.
Significant wave height H m0, defined in the frequency domain, is used both for measured and forecasted wave variance spectra.Most easily, it is defined in terms of the variance m 0 or standard deviation σ η of the surface elevation: [6] = =, where m 0, the zeroth-moment of the variance spectrum, is obtained by integration of the variance spectrum.
Dangerous surf conditions with waves reaching dozens of feet high are forecast across Hawaii's northern beaches just as winter-weary travelers may be searching out sun and warm beach weather for ...
The energy transferred from the wind to the sea produces wind waves. The waves that are created when the energy travels down away from the source area (like ripples) are known as swell. When the winds are strong at the source area, the swell is larger. The longer the wind blows, the longer the swell lasts.
In oceanography, sea state is the general condition of the free surface on a large body of water—with respect to wind waves and swell—at a certain location and moment. A sea state is characterized by statistics, including the wave height, period, and spectrum. The sea state varies with time, as the wind and swell conditions change.
Infragravity waves are surface gravity waves with frequencies lower than the wind waves – consisting of both wind sea and swell – thus corresponding with the part of the wave spectrum lower than the frequencies directly generated by forcing through the wind. Infragravity waves are ocean surface gravity waves generated by ocean waves of ...