THE GROWTH OF FETCH LIMITED WAVES IN WATER OF FINITE DEPTH .1. TOTAL-ENERGY AND PEAK FREQUENCY

The results of a fetch limited wind wave growth experiment in water of finite depth are presented. The experiment involved measurements of w ind wave spectra, wind speed and direction at eight stations along the fetch. The site for the experiment was a lake with an almost constant water depth of 2 m. The results clearly show the evolution of both th e non-dimensional total energy and peak frequency as a function of non -dimensional fetch, At short fetch, the waves are in deep water and th e results are comparable to previous deep water measurements. As the f etch increases, the results diverge from the deep water case. Both the growth of total energy and the migration of the peak frequency to low er values are reduced in comparison to results from deep water conditi ons, At large fetch, evolution of both total energy and peak frequency ceases, both parameters becoming depth limited. Rather than there bei ng a single growth law formula, as in deep water, a family of curves a re developed, one for each Value of non-dimensional depth.