HR: 0800h
AN: OS11A-0476    [Abstracts]
TI: Wave-Current Interactions at SandyDuck
AU: * Smith, J A
EM: jasmith@ucsd.edu
AF: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, mail code 0213 9500 Gilman ave., La Jolla, CA 92093-0213 United States
AB: Near shore, waves can drive significant flows. Conversely, where the water is shallow and the wave speeds slow, refraction of the waves by currents can also become noticeable. In SandyDuck (a major field experiment conducted off the shore of Duck, NC, in 1997) a pair of "Phased-Array Doppler Sonars" (PADS) were deployed, providing dense time and space coverage of the 2-component horizontal flows. These measurements resolve both the waves and underlying currents over an area some 300 to 400 m on a side. Using 3-D spectral analysis, the waves can be broken into components and examined to assess even fairly subtle refraction by currents. The two-way interaction between the waves and currents can be examined. Spatial variations of the wave-related momentum fluxes (or "Radiation Stress") can be estimated for the expected effects on the underlying flow, while the observed refraction can be compared to that expected from theory (is linear theory adequate?).
DE: 4546 Nearshore processes
DE: 4560 Surface waves and tides (1255)
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting