SPATIAL WAVE BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS IN TODOS-SANTOS BAY, BAJA-CALIFORNIA, BY MEANS OF IMAGES OF THE SEA-SURFACE

The relationship between the directional spectrum of sea surface waves and the optical or digital diffraction pattern is well established. B arber (1954) proved that the wave direction can be estimated from the diffraction pattern of a photographic image. This work presents the an alysis of aerial sea surface images. The diffraction pattern or power spectrum of each image was obtained to determine the directional spect rum. The technique applied to the sea surface images obtained 12 May, 1993 showed that the waves presented a predominant direction to 65 deg rees N and an origin in the 250 degrees SW range. The 200 to 12 m wave lengths were the most frequently found. The implementation and design of the photographic system is described in this paper. We discuss its applicability and limitations, as well as the potential this method ha s in oceanography.