HR: 0800h
AN: OS11A-0477    [Abstracts]
TI: Refraction of Surface Gravity Waves by Shear Waves
AU: * Henderson, S M
EM: shenders@coast.ucsd.edu
AF: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093-0209 United States
AU: Guza, R T
EM: rtg@coast.ucsd.edu
AF: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093-0209 United States
AU: Herbers, T H
EM: thherber@nps.navy.mil
AF: Naval Postgraduate School, Department of Oceanography, Monterey, CA 93943 United States
AU: Elgar, S
EM: selgar@whoi.edu
AF: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering, Woods Hole, MA 02543 United States
AB: Previous observations indicate that the directional spread of swell-frequency (0.05--0.15~Hz) surface gravity waves increases during shoreward propagation across the surf zone. This directional broadening contrasts with the narrowing observed seaward of the surf zone and predicted by Snell's Law for bathymetric refraction. We derived a model for the fluctuating refraction of swell by low frequency (0.001-0.05~Hz) infragravity and shear waves. Comparison of this model with field observations suggests that refraction by the low frequency cross-shore currents of shear waves caused much of the observed directional broadening, whereas infragravity waves contributed little to broadening.
UR: http://www-ccs.ucsd.edu/~shenders/res.html
DE: 4546 Nearshore processes
DE: 4560 Surface waves and tides (1255)
DE: 4568 Turbulence, diffusion, and mixing processes
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting