In fluid dynamics, the wave height of a surface wave is the difference between the elevations of a crest and a neighboring trough. Wave height is a term used by mariners, as well as in coastal, ocean and naval engineering.
At sea, the term significant wave height is used as a means to introduce a well-defined and standardized statistic to denote the characteristic height of the random waves in a sea state, including wind sea and swell. It is defined in such a way that it more or less corresponds to what a mariner observes when estimating visually the average wave height.
Depending on context, wave height may be defined in different ways:
For a sine wave, the wave height H is twice the amplitude (i.e., the peak-to-peak amplitude):
For a periodic wave, it is simply the difference between the maximum and minimum of the surface elevation z = η(x – cp t): with cp the phase speed (or propagation speed) of the wave. The sine wave is a specific case of a periodic wave.
In random waves at sea, when the surface elevations are measured with a wave buoy, the individual wave height Hm of each individual wave—with an integer label m, running from 1 to N, to denote its position in a sequence of N waves—is the difference in elevation between a wave crest and trough in that wave. For this to be possible, it is necessary to first split the measured time series of the surface elevation into individual waves. Commonly, an individual wave is denoted as the time interval between two successive downward-crossings through the average surface elevation (upward crossings might also be used). Then the individual wave height of each wave is again the difference between maximum and minimum elevation in the time interval of the wave under consideration.
Another wave-height statistic in common usage is the root-mean-square (or RMS) wave height Hrms, defined as: with Hm again denoting the individual wave heights in a certain time series.
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
In physical oceanography, the significant wave height (SWH, HTSGW or Hs) is defined traditionally as the mean wave height (trough to crest) of the highest third of the waves (H1/3). It is usually defined as four times the standard deviation of the surface elevation – or equivalently as four times the square root of the zeroth-order moment (area) of the wave spectrum. The symbol Hm0 is usually used for that latter definition. The significant wave height (Hs) may thus refer to Hm0 or H1/3; the difference in magnitude between the two definitions is only a few percent.
A swell, also sometimes referred to as ground swell, in the context of an ocean, sea or lake, is a series of mechanical waves that propagate along the interface between water and air under the predominating influence of gravity, and thus are often referred to as surface gravity waves. These surface gravity waves have their origin as wind waves, but are the consequence of dispersion of wind waves from distant weather systems, where wind blows for a duration of time over a fetch of water, and these waves move out from the source area at speeds that are a function of wave period and length.
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. Wind waves on Earth range in size from small ripples to waves over high, being limited by wind speed, duration, fetch, and water depth.
Explores Maxwell equations, electromagnetic wave propagation, energy conservation, and wave characteristics.
Explores the Poisson process approach in extreme value analysis, emphasizing component-wise transformations and likelihood functions for extreme events.
Explores tidal and wave power mechanisms, gravitational forces, exploitation methods, and innovative devices inspired by sea creatures.
Wave breaking is a complex physical process about which open questions remain. For some applications, it is critical to include breaking effects in phase-resolved envelope-based wave models such as the non-linear Schr & ouml;dinger. A promising approach is ...
Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2024
, ,
For the prediction of landslide-generated waves, previous studies have developed numerous empirical equations to express the maximums of wave characteristics as functions of slide parameters upon impact. In this study, we built the temporal relationship be ...
2023
, ,
For the prediction of landslide-generated waves, previous studies have developed numerous empirical equations to express the maximums of wave characteristics as functions of slide parameters upon impact. In this study, we built the temporal relationship be ...