RELATING FRICTION VELOCITY TO SPECTRAL WAVE PARAMETERS

Field experiments, in the years since the JONSWAP results, have establ ished fetch- and duration-limited relations for wave parameters such a s total energy E(o), peak frequency f(p), and the Phillips a coefficie nt. The Canadian Atlantic Storms Program (CASP) Experiment of 1986 als o found that the wind speed profile appropriate for the fetch-limited wave relations is a function of fetch, due to the change in surface ro ughness at the shoreline. Moreover, the fetch-limited wave relations m ay be altered by assuming differing wind speed variations with fetch. Inverting accepted fetch-limited wave relations, the authors infer a f etch-limited relation for wind speed (or friction velocity) in terms o f spectral wave parameters such as wave age. These relations are verif ied from measurements collected during CASP.