Coastal and Ocean

J anuary11, 2013
Coastal andOceanEngineering
J ohnFenton
TU Wien, Institut fr WasserbauundIngenieurhydrologie
Karlsplatz 13/E222, A-1040Wien
fenton@kw.tuwien.ac.at
Abstract
Thiscourseintroducesmaritimeengineering, encompassingcoastal andoceanengineering. It con-
centratesonprovidinganunderstandingof themany processesat work whenthetides, stormsand
wavesinteract withthenatural andhumanenvironments. Thecoursewill beamixtureof descrip-
tionandtheory it ishopedthat by understandingthetheory that thepracticewill bemadeall the
easier. Thereisnothingquitesopractical asagoodtheory.
Tableof Contents
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.1 Physical propertiesof seawater . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2. IntroductiontoOceanography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1 Oceancurrents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2 El Nio, LaNia, andtheSouthernOscillation . . . . . . . . 10
2.3 IndianOceanDipole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.4 Continental shelf ow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3. Tides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.2 Tidegeneratingforcesandequilibriumtheory . . . . . . . . 15
3.3 Dynamicmodel of tides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.4 Harmonicanalysisandpredictionof tides . . . . . . . . . . 19
4. Surfacegravitywaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.1 Theequationsof uidmechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.2 Boundaryconditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.3 Thegeneral problemof wavemotion . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.4 Linear wavetheory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.5 Shoaling, refractionandbreaking . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.6 Diffraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.7 Nonlinear wavetheories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
5. Thecalculationof forcesonoceanstructures . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.1 Structural element muchsmaller thanwavelength dragandinertia
forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
1
Coastal andOceanEngineering J ohnFenton
5.2 Structural element comparablewithwavelength diffractionforces . . 57
6. Windgenerationof wavesandwaveprediction . . . . . . . . . . 59
6.1 Predictingwavesindeepwater . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
7. Tsunami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.2 Whentherst evidenceof atsunami isrecessionof thesea . . . . 64
7.3 Someaspectsof tsunami behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
7.4 Tsunami generatedbytheKrakataueruptionof 1883 . . . . . . 67
7.5 Aninvestigationof tsunami riskonanislandnear theSundaStrait . . 67
8. Coastal engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
8.1 Anexampleof abeachinvestigation MissionBay, Auckland . . . 69
8.2 Coastal management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
8.3 AnexamplefromSpain PuertoBanus . . . . . . . . . . 84
References
ASCE Task CommitteeonForcesonInclinedandVertical Wall Structures(1995), Wave Forces on Inclined and
Vertical Wall Structures, ASCE, NewYork.
Australia, G. (2004), Small threat, but warningsoundedfor tsunami research, AusGeo News 75(September), 4
7.
Barber, N. F. (1969), Water Waves, Wykeham.
Bascom, W. (1964), Waves and Beaches, Doubleday.
Benjamin, T. B. & Lighthill, M. J. (1954), Oncnoidal wavesandbores, Proc. Roy. Soc. London Ser. A 224, 448
460.
Bird, E. C. F. (1984), Coasts: An Introduction to Coastal Geomorphology, AustralianNational University Press,
Canberra.
Cartwright, D. E. (1999), Tides: A Scientic History, secondedn, Cambridge.
Dean, R. G. & Dalrymple, R. A. (1984), Water Wave Mechanics for Engineers and Scientists, Prentice-Hall.
Dingemans, M. W. (1997a), Water wave propagation over uneven bottoms. Part 1 Linear wave propagation,
Vol. 13of Advanced Series on Ocean Engineering, WorldScientic, Singapore.
Dingemans, M. W. (1997b), Water wave propagation over uneven bottoms. Part 2 Nonlinear wave propagation,
Vol. 13of Advanced Series on Ocean Engineering, WorldScientic, Singapore.
Fenton, J . D. (1979), A high-order cnoidal wave theory, J. Fluid Mechanics 94, 129
161. http://johndfenton.com/Papers/Fenton79-A-high-order-cnoidal-wave-theory.pdf
Fenton, J . D. (1985), A fth-order Stokes theory for steady waves, J. Waterway Port Coastal and Ocean Engng
111, 216234. http://johndfenton.com/Papers/Fenton85d-A-fth-order-Stokes-theory-for-steady-waves.pdf
Fenton, J . D. (1988), Thenumerical solutionof steadywaterwaveproblems, Computers and Geosciences 14, 357
368. http://johndfenton.com/Papers/Fenton88-The-numerical-solution-of-steady-water-wave-problems.pdf
Fenton, J . D. (1990), Nonlinearwavetheories, in B. LeMhaut&D. M. Hanes, eds, TheSea- OceanEngineering
Science, Part A, Vol. 9, Wiley, NewYork, pp. 325. http://johndfenton.com/Papers/Fenton90b-Nonlinear-
wave-theories.pdf
Fenton, J . D. (1993), Simulatingwaveshoalingwithboundaryintegral equations, in Proc. 11thAustralasianCon-
ference on Coastal and Ocean Engng, Townsville, pp. 7176. http://johndfenton.com/Papers/Fenton93-
Simulating-wave-shoaling-with-boundary-integral-equations.pdf
Fenton, J . D. (1999a), Thecnoidal theory of water waves, in J . B. Herbich, ed., Developments inOffshoreEn-
gineering, Gulf, Houston, chapter 2, pp. 55100. http://johndfenton.com/Papers/Fenton99Cnoidal-
The-cnoidal-theory-of-water-waves.pdf
2
Fenton, J . D. (1999b), Numerical Methods for Nonlinear Waves, in P. L.-F. Liu, ed., Ad-
vances in Coastal and Ocean Engineering, Vol. 5, World Scientic, Singapore, pp. 241324.
http://johndfenton.com/Papers/Fenton99Liu-Numerical-methods-for-nonlinear-waves.pdf
Fenton, J . D. & McKee, W. D. (1990), Oncalculatingthelengthsof water waves, Coastal Engineering 14, 499
513. http://johndfenton.com/Papers/Fenton90c+McKee-On-calculating-the-lengths-of-water-waves.pdf
Gourlay, M. R. (1996), History of Coastal EngineeringinAustralia, in N. C. Kraus, ed., History andHeritage
of Coastal Engineering, ASCE, NewYork.
Guo, J . (2002), Simpleandexplicit solutionof wavedispersionequation, Coastal Engineering 45, 7174.
Hamill, R., Christian, C. D. & Fenton, J . D. (1989), Investigation of beach erosion at Mis-
sion Bay, in Proc. 9th Australasian Conf. Coastal & Ocean Engng, Adelaide, pp. 219
223. http://johndfenton.com/Papers/Hamill89+Christian+Fenton-Investigation-of-beach-
erosion-at-Mission-Bay.pdf
Hedges, T. S. (1995), Regions of validity of analytical wavetheories, Proc. Inst. Civ. Engnrs, Water, Maritime
and Energy 112, 111114.
Herbich, J . B. (1999a), Developments in Offshore Engineering: Wave Phenomena and Offshore Topics, Gulf,
Houston.
Herbich, J . B. (1999b), Handbook of coastal engineering, McGraw-Hill.
Infeld, E. & Rowlands, G. (1990), Nonlinear waves, solitons and chaos, Cambridge.
Kajiura, K. & Shuto, N. (1990), Tsunamis, in B. LeMhaut& D. M. Hanes, eds, TheSea- OceanEngineering
Science, Part A, Vol. 9, Wiley, NewYork, pp. 395420.
Khandekar, M. L. (1989), Operational Analysis and Prediction of Ocean Wind Waves, Springer.
Kinsman, B. (1984), Wind Waves, Dover, NewYork.
Kowalik, Z. & Murty, T. S. (1993), Numerical Modeling of Ocean Dynamics, WorldScientic, Singapore.
LeMhaut, B. (1976), An Introduction to Hydrodynamics and Water Waves, Springer, NewYork.
LeMhaut, B. & Hanes, D. M. (1990), The Sea - Ocean Engineering Science, Wiley, NewYork.
LeBlond, P. H. & Mysak, L. A. (1978), Waves in the Ocean, Elsevier.
Lighthill, M. J . (1978), Waves in Fluids, Cambridge.
MacCamy, R. C. & Fuchs, R. A. (1954), Waveforcesonpiles: adiffractiontheory, Technical Memorandum69,
U.S. ArmyCorpsof Engineers, BeachErosionBoard.
Massel, S. R. (1989), Hydrodynamics of Coastal Zones, Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Massel, S. R. (1999), Fluid Mechanics for Marine Ecologists, Springer.
Nelson, R. C. (1994), Depthlimiteddesignwaveheightsinveryat regions, Coastal Engineering 23, 4359.
Nelson, R. C. (1997), Heightlimitsintopdownandbottomupwaveenvironments, Coastal Engineering 32, 247
254.
Nielsen, P. (1992), Coastal Bottom Boundary Layers and Sediment Transport, WorldScientic, Singapore.
Peregrine, D. H. (1972), Equationsforwaterwavesandtheapproximationbehindthem, in R. E. Meyer, ed., Waves
onBeachesandResultingSediment Transport, Academic, NewYork.
Pond, S. & Pickard, G. L. (1983), Introductory Dynamical Oceanography, secondedn, Pergamon.
Rahman, M. (1995), Water Waves : relating modern theory to advanced engineering applications, Oxford.
Sarawagi, T. (1995), Coastal Engineering Waves, Beaches, Wave-Structure Interactions, rstetcedn, Unknown.
Sarpkaya, T. & Isaacson, M. (1981), Mechanics of Wave Forces on Offshore Structures, VanNostrandReinhold,
NewYork.
Schwartz, L. W. & Fenton, J . D. (1982), Strongly-nonlinear waves, in M. Van Dyke, J . V. Wehausen
& J. L. Lumley, eds, Ann. Rev. Fluid Mech., Vol. 14, Annual Reviews, Palo Alto, pp. 39
60. http://johndfenton.com/Papers/Schwartz82-Strongly-nonlinear-waves.pdf
3
Silvester, R. (1974), Coastal Engineering, Elsevier.
Simkin, T. & Fiske, R. S. (1983), Krakatau 1883, Smithsonian, Washington.
Sleath, J . F. A. (1984), Sea Bed Mechanics, Wiley, NewYork.
Sobey, R. J ., Goodwin, P., Thieke, R. J . & Westberg, R. J . (1987), Application of Stokes, cnoidal, and Fourier
wavetheories, J. Waterway Port Coastal and Ocean Engng 113, 565587.
Sorensen, R. M. (1997), Basic Coastal Engineering, Chapman& Hall, NewYork.
Stoker, J . J . (1957), Water Waves, Academic.
Symons, G. J. (1888), TheEruption of Krakatoa, and Subsequent Phenomena, Report, KrakatoaCommitteeof
theRoyal Society, London.
Tricker, R. A. R. (1964), Bores, Breakers, Waves and Wakes, MillsandBoon.
USCERC (1975), Shore Protection Manual, U.S. Army Coastal EngineeringResearchCenter, Fort Belvoir, Vir-
ginia.
Wantanabe, A., Isobe, M. &Kraus, N. (1999), International Handbook Of Coastal Engineering And Management,
Academic.
Wehausen, J. V. & Laitone, E. V. (1960), SurfaceWaves, in S. Flgge, ed., Encyclopaediaof FluidMechanics,
Vol. 9, Springer. http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/SurfaceWaves/
Wharton, W. J . L. (1888), Ontheseismic seawaves causedby theeruptionof Krakatoa, August 26thand27th,
1883, in Symons(1888), pp. 89151.
Wiegel, R. L. (1964), Oceanographical Engineering, Prentice-Hall.
Williams, J . M. (1981), Limiting gravity waves in water of nite depth, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London Ser. A
302(1466), 139188. http://www.jstor.org/stable/36960
Yokoyama, I. (1981), A geophysical interpretationof the1883Krakataueruption, J. Volcanology and Geothermal
Res. 9, 359378.
4
List of useful references
Introductory and General Books
Barber (1969) Simpleandinteresting
Bascom(1964) Simpleandinteresting
Tricker (1964) Simpleandinteresting
Gourlay(1996) Historyof Australiancoastal engineering
Massel (1999) Readablewide-rangingtechnical book
Tides, oceanography
Cartwright (1999) Interestinghistorical andscienticbookontides
Kowalik& Murty(1993) Basiccomputational oceanography
Pond& Pickard(1983) Basicmathematical oceanography
Water waves Mathematical Aspects
Infeld& Rowlands(1990) Interestingbookfrommodernphysicspoint of view
LeBlond& Mysak(1978) Mathematical treatiseonall aspectsof wavesintheocean
Lighthill (1978) Readable, insightful, somemathematics
Peregrine(1972) Interestingchapter onlongwavetheories
Stoker (1957) Interestingmathematical treatment of wavesandhydraulics
Wehausen&Laitone(1960) Classical, mathematical encyclopaedicarticleonwaves
Water waves Engineering Aspects
Dean& Dalrymple(1984) Veryreadableandaccessible
Kinsman(1984) Readableandphysical orientation
LeMhaut(1976) Readableengineering-orientatedbook
Massel (1989) Readableintroductorymathematical
Rahman(1995) Readableapplicationof theorytopractice
Wiegel (1964) Engineeringhandbook, nowdated
Water waves Computational Aspects
Dingemans(1997a), Dingemans(1997b) Mathematical, encyclopaedic
Fenton(1999b) Reviewarticleonnumerical methods
Schwartz &Fenton(1982) Datedreviewarticle
Steadily progressing waves
Benjamin& Lighthill (1954) Interestingpaper onlongwavesandhydraulicjumps
Fenton(1985) Stokestheory
Fenton(1990) Reviewarticleonsteadywaves
Fenton& McKee(1990) Calculatingthelengthof waves
Fenton(1999a) Cnoidal theoryfor longwaves
Sobey, Goodwin, Thieke & Westberg
(1987)
Reviewof methodsfor steadywaves
Forces on structures
ASCE Task Committee on Forces on In-
clinedandVertical Wall Structures(1995)
Recent general work
Sarpkaya& Isaacson(1981) Classical book
Maritime engineering generally
Herbich(1999a) Practically-orientatedhandbook
LeMhaut& Hanes(1990) Wide-ranginghandbook
Coastal engineering and geomorphology
Bird(1984) Readablebookonerosionandcoastal processes
Herbich(1999b) Wide-rangingpractically-orientatedhandbook
Nielsen(1992) Readable, onbedprocesses
Sarawagi (1995) Higher level but practical book
USCERC(1975) Simplisticcookbookfor coastal engineering
Silvester (1974) Encyclopaedicbookoncoastal engineering
Sleath(1984) Bedprocesses
Sorensen(1997) Simplisticreadablehandbook
Wantanabe, Isobe&Kraus(1999)
5
1. Introduction
ThemostimportantliquidonEarthiswater. Itcovers71%of theEarthssurface. Of theEarthstotal water content
some97.2%iscontainedintheoceans, 2.15%isstoredinicesheetsandglaciers, 0.62%isgroundwater, andonly
0.03%is inrivers andfreshwater lakes. For major parts of theAtlantic, Pacic andIndianOceans, theaverage
depthisabout 4 km.
1.1 Physical propertiesof seawater
1.1.1 Density
Water has many uniquechemical andphysical properties. Unlikemost substances whichcontract whenfrozen,
water expands, allowingicetooat onthesurface. Thedensityof purewater j isabout 1000 kg m
3
, being770-
890timesthat of air at sealevel. Pressurehasaninsignicant effect onthedensityof water for most applications,
unless weconsider water at great depths in theocean. For example, at adepth of 1 km thedensity of water is
only 0.5%greater thanat thesurface, andat thedeepest point intheearthsoceans, theMarianasTrench, dueto
pressureeffectsalonewater isabout 6%denser thanat thesurface.
Figure1-1. Thedensityof freshandseawater asafunctionof temperatureandsalinity(after Massel, 1999)
The density is much more temperature dependent, freshwater density generally decreasing as the temperature
increases, withamaximumat about 4
C. Salinity alsoinuenceswater density. Awayfromcoaststhesalinity of

oceanwater variesfrom32 37 ppm. Thevariationsinsalinityresult fromthedifferencesintherelativeratesof
precipitationandevaporationfromtheoceansurface. Oceanwaterdoesnotshowtheanomalousthermal expansion
of freshwater. Thedensitydecreasesmonotonicallywithincreasingtemperature, right fromthefreezingpoint, as
showninFigure1-1. Whentemperatureandpressureareconstant, densityof seawater increaseswithsalinity. A
differenceof 1 ppminsalinity hasaneffect onthedensity of seawater whichisabout vetimesgreater thanthe
changecausedby1
C of temperature. Thelargescaledensitystructureof theoceanisdominatedbyvariationsin

temperature, whilesalinitydifferenceshavemoreeffect onsmaller scalemotions. Thedensest watersareformed
off GreenlandandintheNorwegianSea.
Thegeneral dependenceof theseawater density on salinity, temperatureand pressureis called theequation of
state. Theexpressionisrather complicated.
1.1.2 Viscosity
This is ameasureof therapidity withwhichmomentumis diffusedthroughauid. Thecoefcient of dynamic
molecular viscosityj appearsfundamentallyintheequationsof motionrelatingshear stressestotransverseveloc-
itygradients. Inresistingappliedforces(suchasgravityor pressure) theresponseof theuidisproportional tothe
densityj:
mass accelerationof uidparticle= Total net forceonuidparticle,
6
sothat wecanshowthat theequationof motionlookslike
j Acceleration= j ( termsinvolvingvelocitygradients) +pressureterms+bodyforceterms.
Dividing by density j shows that in thefundamental equation of motion theviscosity appears in theratio j,j.
Thisisthekinematicmolecular viscosityi:
i =
j
j
.
Typical values for air andwater aresuchthat j
air
,j
water
= 1.8 10
2
. However, j
air
,j
water
= 1.2 10
3
, and
calculatingtheratioof thekinematicviscositiesgives:
i
air
,i
water
= 15.
Hencewendthat initseffect ontheowpatterns, air is15timesmoreviscousthanwater!
Thekinematicviscosityfor seawater of salinityo = 35 ppmandtemperatureT = 20
Cis1.064 10
6
m
2
s
1
.
However, theviscositiesof bothair andwater aresmall (comparedwithhoney) andaresuchthat viscouseffects
areusually conned to thin layers adjacent to boundaries. In thebody of theowviscosity is unimportant. In
most ows of engineeringsignicance, theeffects of turbulencearemuchgreater. Insteadof singlemolecules,
nitemassesof water movethroughtheow, redistributingmomentum, andgenerallytendingtomakeowsmore
uniform.
Ingeophysical owssuchastheoceans, atmosphere, andrivers, eddiesandturbulent motionsintheowcanbe
so effectiveinmovingparticles amongthemselves that theeffects of molecular diffusionareoverwhelmed. For
suchsituations, aturbulent or eddy viscosity is used, whichcanbethousands of times larger thanthemolecular
viscosity.
Whenwecometo study wavemotion, however, theunderlyinguid motion is relatively small, andthereis no
well-developedturbulentowstructure. Inthiscaseviscositycanbeignored, whichwewill dothroughouttherest
of thiscourse.
1.1.3 Surfacetension
Thisisanimportant determinant of theexchangeprocessesbetweentheair andthesea, however for thepurposes
of thiscourseit isnot important.
2. IntroductiontoOceanography
2.1 Oceancurrents
Muchof whatweobserveintheseaiswind-generatedsurfacegravitywaves, commonlycalledwater waves, which
aremoreor lessperiodicinnature. Botheverydayobservationsandmeasurementsprovideevidenceof adifferent
typeof water motionintheoceanwhichisnot periodic namely relatively slowoceancurrents. This persistent
water motionisresponsiblefor slowlytransportinglargevolumesof water over vast distances. Thenatureof ow
associatedwithlarge-scaleoceancurrentsdependsonafewdominant drivingmechanisms: windstress, pressure
gradients, water densitygradients, andtheCorioliseffect.
Numerical modellingof oceancirculationandthecouplingof oceanicandatmosphericcirculationmodellingcan
mimicobservedoceanicfeaturesandhelpinunderstandingandpredictingtheglobal climatesystemanditsimpact
onlifeintheoceans. Present modelsdoseemtoencompassthemajor featuresobservedinoceancirculation.
Continental shelf andcoastal waters play aspecic rolefor global oceanecology, linking landmasses withthe
ocean waters. Because of interactions with decreasing depths and coasts, the water circulation and associated
chemistryandbiologyarecomplex.
2.1.1 WindpatternsonEarth
Local winds may begenerated by local atmospheric systems which may last only afewdays. However ocean
currentsinmeso- andglobal scalesaredrivenbyaverageconditions, prevailingfor monthsor years.
7
Thewindeldinthevicinityof theEarthssurfaceisdrivenbytheinteractionof pressuregradientsandtheCoriolis
effect. Infact, duetotheCorioliseffect, thesteadywindeldinthevicinityof largehighandlowpressuresystems
isnot fromthehightothelowpressure, but roughlyparallel totheisobars(towithin15
). Thisowisknownas
geostrophicow, andistypical for muchof thelarge-scaleowintheatmosphere. It blowswiththeareaof high
pressureonitsleft intheSouthernHemisphere, andthereverseintheNorthern. Hence, asahigh-pressureregion
passesfromwest toeast over southernAustralia, aheadof it thewindisfromsouthtonorth andiscooler.
Major surface wind patterns: Consider thesimplest exampleof therelationship between wind and
(a) Non-rotating
(b) Rotating
NE Trades
SE Trades
Low
Subtropical high
Subtropical high
Hadleycell
Hadleycell
Figure 2-1. (a) Convection cell rotation on a non-rotating uniformEarth, (b) Schematic representation of the
Hadleycellseither sideof theequator, andtheresultingother cells, onarotatingearth.
Figure2-2. Simpliedglobal windpatterns(fromMassel, 1999)
pressuregradients, namely theseabreezeandlandbreezephenomenaoncoasts. Duringtheday thetemperature
of thelandsurfaceriseshigher thanthat of theseasurface, resultinginahorizontal pressuregradient fromthesea
to theland, givingrisetoaseabreeze, withareverseowat higher levels. Inthenight thereverseoccurs, with
alandbreezeout to sea. J ust as seaandlandbreezes aretheresult of horizontal pressuregradients inducedby
uneventemperaturedistributionsover thelandandthesea, themajor planetarywindbeltsareinducedbyuneven
temperaturedistributionsbetweenhighandlowlatitudes, andtheEarthsrotation. If theEarthdidnot rotateand
itssurfacewereuniform, thelarger heatingnear theequator wouldresult inair risingthereandtravellingtoward
thepoles whereit wouldsink again, resultingintwo largecirculationpatterns, oneineachhemisphere. Sucha
situation is shown in Figure2-1(a). Therotation of theearth changes this. As theair ows towards thepoles
fromtheequator, initially it is unaffectedby Coriolis acceleration. This is becauseit, givenby 2 n, is of a
magnitude2
J
sin`l, where` isthelatitude(zeroat theequator),
J
istheangular speedof theEarth, andl
isthehorizontal speedacrosstheEarthssurface. HencetheCoriolisforceissmall near theequator. Further away,
theair isdeectedby thesidewaysCoriolisacceleration, withthenet result that alargespirallingcell owisset
up, givingriseto theTradeWinds. Thesecells aretheHadley Cells, onbothsides of theequator. A schematic
representationof theglobal windpatternontheEarthisgiveninFigure2-2.
2.1.2 Wind-drivensurfaceandnear-surfacecurrents
8
Forces driving ocean currents: Oceancurrents that owsteadily for longer periods of time(months or
years) aretheresult of thecombinedactionof threemainphysical mechanisms: windstress, pressuregradients,
andtheCorioliseffect. Windalsogeneratessurfacegravitywaves wewill bedealingwiththeseindepthlater.
Windstresscanberepresentedbytheexpression
t
0
= C
10
j
o
\
2
10
, whereC
10
isthedragcoefcient C
10
0.00075 + 0.000067 \
10
,
inwhich\
10
is thewindspeedat aheight of 10 m, andwherej
o
is thedensity of air. Theactual speedof the
oceancurrent isasmall fractionof thewindspeed, roughly3-5%.
The pressure-gradient force is a consequence of horizontal variations in the level of the water surface and the
resultingseasurfaceslope.
Themagnitudeof thehorizontal component of Coriolisaccelerationcanbewritten
a
c
= 2
J
sin`l = )l,
wherewehaveintroduced):
) = 2
J
sin`,
whichhasunitsof T
1
, andwhichiscalledtheCoriolisparameter. Inmanystudiesit isconsideredconstant over
theregionof interest.
Geostrophic ow: Similartothegeostrophicowintheatmosphere, geostrophiccurrentsunderthecombined
Figure2-3. Schematicrepresentationof theglobal surfacecurrent pattern(fromMassel, 1999)
actionof Coriolisandpressureforcesgenerallyformlargegyres. IntheNorthernHemispheretheWesterliesand
TradeWindscausewater toowtothecentreof theocean. Thisconvergingowpilesthewater upintheocean
centre, generatingapressuregradient. Whenwater beginstoowradiallyoutwards, theCorioliseffect bendsthe
current totheright. Thecontinentsinterrupt theowanddeect thewesterlyowat theEquator poleward, while
theeasterly owat midlatitudesisdeectedequatorward, givingclosedoceangyreswithclockwiserotation. In
theSouthernHemispheretheowisamirror image, withanti-clockwisegyres. Thisgeostrophicmodel of ocean
currentsagreeswell withtheobservedlarge-scalecirculation, andthegeostrophic gyresareshowninFigure2-3
asapart of theglobal surfacewater current pattern.
General patterns of wind-driven ocean circulation: Theowof currents is not uniformand varies
substantiallyindifferent partsof thegyres. Thestrongest currentsaretheGulf StreamandtheKuroshioCurrent.
Bothownorthwardas narrowstreams alongthewesternedges of theAtlantic andPacic Oceans respectively.
Thetypical widthof thesecurrentsis50 75 kmandatypical speedis1 3 ms
1
. Twomainfactorscontribute
9
toanintensicationof currentowalongthewesternedgeof oceanbasins. Rotationof theEarthfromwesttoeast
results inseawater laggingbehindtherotatingsolidoceanbottom, whichpushes water against thewesternside
of abasin. Additionally, anequatorial drift inducedbytheTradeWindspileslargequantitiesof water against the
easternmarginsof continents. Theresultingmoundof water producesasteeppolewardpressuregradient causing
strongcurrentsawayfromtheequator.
Thevolumeof water transported by such currents is usually measured in Sverdrup units (1 Sv = 10
6
m
3
s
1
).
ThePacic equatorial current is 10 70 Sv, theGulf Stream50 150 Sv, theAntarctic Circumpolar Current
50 150 Sv. Inadditiontosuchcurrentstheeasternarmsarerelativelyweak, beingslowbut wide.
Onbothsidesof theequator theTradeWindsgeneratetheNorthandSouthEquatorial Currents. Duetocomplex-
ities of thewindbetween theTradeWind belts, thereis another surfaceeastward-owingcurrent knownas the
Equatorial Countercurrent andasubsurfaceeastwardcurrent, theEquatorial Undercurrent or Cromwell Current in
thePacicOcean. Bothareweakandchangelocationwiththeseasons.
2.1.3 Thermohalinecirculation
The wind-induced currents are limited to the uppermost levels of the ocean. Ocean waters lying beneath are
in motion as well. Theimportant causes for this motion arethedifferences in temperatureand salinity. These
affect uiddensity. Vertical convection, circulation, andmixingprovidethemechanisms for distributionof sea
water density differencesfromtheseasurfaceintothedeeper ocean. Thehorizontal density differencesgenerate
subsurfacecurrentsknownasthermohalinecirculation. Thisisaslowprocess.
Fromtheequator toapproximately50
latitudethereisasurfacelayer of water, lessthan1 kmdeep, knownasthe

thermocline, whichhastemperaturesrangingfrom5
to28
C. Thesalinity inthethermoclinealsovaries, andis

highest inthetropics. Temperaturedecreaseswithlatitudeanddepth.
Thedeep and bottomwater in theoceans sinks and spreads away with atimescaleof years to centuries. This
allowsoceanographerstotraceitspathanddetermineitsorigin.
In general sea water is homogeneous in terms of temperature and salinity; over 75%of all ocean water has a
temperatureintherangeof 0 5
C andasalinityof 34 35 ppm.
2.2 El Nio, LaNia, andtheSouthernOscillation
Therearesomeveryinterestingandgraphical websiteswhichcanbeusedtoexplorethistopic, under theauspices
of theUSGovernment Agency, theNational OceanicandAtmosphericAdministration:
http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/people/klaus.wolter/MEI/
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/toga-tao/el-nino/nino-home.html
El Nio (EN) is characterizedby alargescaleweakeningof thetradewinds andwarmingof thesurfacelayers
in the eastern and central equatorial Pacic Ocean. El Nio events occur irregularly at intervals of 2-7 years,
althoughtheaverageis about onceevery 3-4years. They typically last 12-18months, andareaccompaniedby
swingsintheSouthernOscillation(SO), aninterannual see-sawintropical sealevel pressurebetweentheeastern
andwesternhemispheres. DuringEl Nio, unusuallyhighatmosphericsealevel pressuresdevelopinthewestern
tropical PacicandIndianOceanregions, andunusuallylowsealevel pressuresdevelopinthesoutheasterntropical
Pacic. SO tendencies for unusually lowpressures west of thedatelineandhighpressures east of thedateline
havealsobeenlinkedtoperiodsof anomalouslycoldequatorial Pacicseasurfacetemperatures(SSTs) sometimes
referredtoasLaNia.
TheSouthern Oscillation Index (SOI), dened as thenormalized differencein surfacepressurebetween Tahiti,
FrenchPolynesiaandDarwin, Australiaisameasureof thestrengthof thetradewinds, whichhaveacomponent
of owfromregionsof hightolowpressure. HighSOI (largepressuredifference) isassociatedwithstronger than
normal tradewindsandLaNiaconditions, andlowSOI (smaller pressuredifference) isassociatedwithweaker
thannormal tradewindsandEl Nioconditions. ThetermsENSOandENSOcycleareusedtodescribethefull
rangeof variabilityobservedintheSouthernOscillationIndex, includingbothEl NioandLaNiaevents.
Therehas beenaconfusingrangeof uses for theterms El Nio, LaNiaandENSOby boththescientic com-
munity and thegeneral public. Originally, thetermEl Nio (in referenceto theChrist child) denoted awarm
10
southwardowingoceancurrent that occurredevery year aroundChristmas timeoff thewest coast of Peruand
Ecuador. Thetermwaslater restrictedtounusuallystrongwarmingsthat disruptedlocal shandbirdpopulations
everyfewyears. However, asaresultof thefrequentassociationof SouthAmericancoastal temperatureanomalies
withinterannual basinscaleequatorial warmevents, El Niohasalsobecomesynonymouswithlarger scale, cli-
maticallysignicant, warmevents. Thereisnot, however, unanimityintheuseof thetermEl Nio. Thetendency
inthescientic community thoughistorefer interchangeably toEl Nio, ENSOwarmevent, or thewarmphase
of ENSOasthosetimesof warmeasternandcentral equatorial Pacic SST anomalies. Conversely, thetermsLa
Nia, ENSOcoldevent, or coldphaseof ENSOareusedinterchangeably todescribethosetimesof coldeastern
andcentral equatorial PacicSST anomalies.
Figure2-4. Three-dimensional viewof Pacic Oceanduringnormal andEl Nioconditions(fromNOAA Web-
site).
El Nioisadisruptionof theocean-atmospheresysteminthetropical Pacichavingimportant consequencesfor
weather around theglobe. Among theseconsequences areincreased rainfall across thesouthern tier of theUS
andinPeru, whichhas causeddestructiveooding, anddrought intheWest Pacic, sometimes associatedwith
devastatingbushres inAustralia. Observationsof conditionsinthetropical Pacic areconsideredessential for
thepredictionof short term(afewmonthsto1year) climatevariations.
In normal, non-El Nio conditions (top panel of Figure2-4), thetradewinds blowtowards thewest across the
tropical Pacic. Thesewinds pileupwarmsurfacewater inthewest Pacic, sothat theseasurfaceis about 1/2
meter higher at Indonesiathanat Ecuador. Theseasurfacetemperatureisabout 8
C higher inthewest, withcool

temperaturesoff SouthAmerica, duetoanupwellingof coldwater fromdeeper levels. Thiscoldwater isnutrient-
rich, supportinghighlevels of primary productivity, diversemarineecosystems, andmajor sheries. Rainfall is
foundinrisingair over thewarmest water, andtheeast Pacicisrelativelydry. Theobservationsat 110
Wshow
that thecool water (belowabout 17
C, theblackbandintheseplots) iswithin50 mof thesurface.

During El Nio (bottompanel of Figure 2-4), the trade winds relax in the central and western Pacic leading
to adepression of thethermoclinein theeastern Pacic, and an elevation of thethermoclinein thewest. The
observationsat110
Wshow, forexample, thatduring1982-1983the17
Cisothermdroppedtoabout150 mdepth.
Thisreducedtheefciencyof upwellingtocool thesurfaceandcutoff thesupplyof nutrientrichthermoclinewater
totheeuphoticzone. Theresult wasariseinseasurfacetemperatureandadrasticdeclineinprimaryproductivity,
thelatter of which adversely affected higher trophic levels of thefood chain, including commercial sheries in
this region. The weakening of easterly tradewinds during El Nio is evident in this gure as well. Rainfall
follows thewarmwater eastward, withassociatedoodinginPeruanddrought inIndonesiaandAustralia. The
eastwarddisplacement of theatmosphericheat sourceoverlayingthewarmest water resultsinlargechangesinthe
11
Figure2-5. ENSOIndexfor strongEl Nioeventssince1950brought backtoacommontimescale
global atmospheric circulation, whichinturnforcechanges inweather inregions far removedfromthetropical
Pacic.Figure2-5showsagraphof amoregeneral ENSOindexfor thesevenstrongest eventssince1950. It can
beseenthat thestrongest event was 82/83, whichbrought avery badgrainharvest andcatastrophic bushres to
Victoria. It isinterestingthat the97/98event (shownbysquares), wasalmost asbad, but lastedlonger. Figure2-6
shows agraphof theIndex without bringingback to acommonreferencepoint. Somefamous extremeyears in
Victoriaareeasilyidentied: theverywetyear of 1956, andthedroughtyear of 1982-3. Somenoteworthyfeatures
include:
theapparent inabilityof theindextolinger about themean, and
theremarkabletendencyfor conditionstobeEl Niosince1976!
Figure2-6. Timeseriesof theMultivariateENSOIndex since1950, showingEl Nioeventsabovezero, andLa
Niabelow
2.3 IndianOceanDipole
TheIndianOceanDipole(IOD) is anoceanographic phenomenonaffectingclimateintheIndianOceanregion.
TheIOD phenomenon was rst identied by climateresearchers in 1999. Yet evidencefromfossil coral reefs
demonstrates that theIOD has functioned sinceat least themiddleof theHoloceneperiod, 6500 years ago. It
involvesanaperiodicoscillationof sea-surfacetemperatures, between"positive", "neutral" and"negative" phases.
A positivephaseseesgreater-than-averagesea-surfacetemperaturesandgreater precipitationinthewesternIndian
Oceanregion, withacorrespondingcoolingof watersintheeasternIndianOceanwhichtendstocausedroughts
inadjacent landareasof IndonesiaandAustralia. Thenegativephaseof theIODbringsabout theoppositecondi-
tions, withwarmer water andgreater precipitationintheeasternIndianOcean, andcooler anddrier conditionsin
thewest.
12
Figure2-7. (a) PositiveIODevent and(b) NegativePhotographs: http://www.jamstec.go.jp/frsgc/research/d1/iod/
TheIODalsoaffectsthestrengthof monsoonsover theIndiansubcontinent. A signicant positiveIODoccurred
in1997-8, withanother in2006. TheIOD is oneaspect of thegeneral cycleof global climate, interactingwith
similar phenomenaliketheEl Nio-SouthernOscillation(ENSO) inthePacicOcean.
Anaverageof four eachpositive/negativeIOD events occur duringeach30year periodwitheachevent lasting
aroundsixmonths. However, therehavebeen12positiveIODssince1980andnonegativeeventssince1992. The
occurrenceof consecutivepositiveIODeventsareextremelyrarewithonlytwosucheventsrecorded, 19131914
andthethreeconsecutiveeventsfrom2006-2008whichprecededtheBlack Saturday bushres(very badresin
thestateof Victoria). Modellingindicates that consecutivepositiveevents occur twiceover a1,000year period.
ThepositiveIODin2007evolvedtogether withLaNiawhichisaveryrarephenomenonthat hashappenedonly
onceintheavailablehistorical records(in1967).
Effect on Australian Droughts: A 2009 study by Ummenhofer et al. at the University of New South Wales
(UNSW) Climate Change Research Centre, has demonstrated a signicant correlation between the IOD and
droughtinthesouthernhalf of Australia, inparticular thesouth-east. Everymajor southerndroughtsince1889has
coincidedwithpositive/neutral IODuctuationsincludingthe1895-1902, 1937-1945andthecurrent1995-present
droughts.
TheresearchshowsthatwhentheIODisinitsnegativephase, withcool IndianOceanwater westof Australiaand
warmTimor Seawater tothenorth, windsaregeneratedthatpickupmoisturefromtheoceanandthensweepdown
towardssouthernAustraliatodeliver higher rainfall. IntheIODpositivephase, thepatternof oceantemperatures
isreversed, weakeningthewindsandreducingtheamount of moisturepickedupandtransportedacrossAustralia.
Theconsequenceisthat rainfall inthesouth-east iswell belowaverageduringperiodsof apositiveIOD.
ThestudyalsoshowsthattheIODhasamuchmoresignicanteffectontherainfall patternsinsouth-eastAustralia
thantheEl Nio-SouthernOscillation(ENSO) inthePacicOcean.
2.4 Continental shelf ow
2.4.1 Overviewof continental shelf waters
A continental shelf isanalmost at plainor terracethat bordersacontinent andslopesgently towardstheocean
basin. Theoffshoreboundaryistheshelf break, usuallyat awater depthof 130 200 m. Widthsvaryfromafew
kilometres alongthePacic Coast of theAmericas, to morethan1000 km intheArctic Ocean. Seawardof the
breakisasteeper continental slopeof about4
, continuingtoadepthof about23 kmafter whichtheoceanoor

attenswithaslopeof 1
, thecontinental rise, whichmayextendmorethan500 kmtodepthsupto4 km.

Continental shelves areinuenced by theland and theopen ocean. Rivers transport fresh water and dissolved
chemical components, includingnutrientsandmud. Thesemaysubsequentlybemixed, dispersedbywinds, waves,
currents, andtides. Ingeneral thereis alargevariety of currents withtimescales rangingfromseconds (turbu-
lence, windwaves) tomonthsandyears(climatic variations). Duetotheintensivemixinginducedby wavesand
currents, thereisefcient recyclingof nutrientsfromdecompositionof organicmatter near theoceanoor. Thisis
essential for plant growthandtoprovideabundant organicmatter tosupport largeshstocks. Also, coldnutrient-
13
rich oceanic waters intrudeonto theshelf, promoting productivity conditions there. Although thewaters of the
continental shelvescomposeonly10%of theoceanarea, theyprovide90%of theworldsannual shcatch. It is
interestingthat Australiasriversarerelativelybarren, sothat our continental shelvesaretoo. TheAustraliansh
catchishalf that of NewZealand.
Thecontinental shelvesarealsothenal destinationforvariousanthropogenicmaterialsandall typesof pollutants,
including sewage, heavy metals, petroleumcompounds, and toxic pesticides. Theefciency of removing these
wasteproductsisdependent onthemixinganddispersionduetowaveandtidal action.
2.4.2 Westernboundarycurrents
Abovewehavedescribedthemajor westernboundarycurrents. TheEast AustralianCurrent isoneof theweakest
westernboundary currents. Itslowvolumeux isbecausepart of theSouthEquatorial Current isdirectedtothe
IndianoceanthroughtheIndonesianOutow. TheCurrent splitsbetweenlatitudesof 14
and18
. Near latitude
34
the current separates fromthe continent and tends to ow towards New Zealand. There are a number of
meanders andeddies whichremain, generally about threeper year beinggenerated. Thespeedof thecurrent is
roughly1 ms
1
. Animportantfeatureof thiscurrentistheGreatBarrierReef, whichisamatrixof 2500individual
reefs, withashallowlagoonadjacent tothecoast.
TheAgulhas Current off theSouthAfricaneast coast is oneof thestrongest intheworld, withapeak speedof
2.5 ms
1
. It hassomeuniquefeatures. Oneisthat it runsagainst theprevailingwinddirectionintheSouthwest
Monsoonseason, whichresultsinasteepeningof windwavesintheregionof thecurrent. BetweenDurbanand
Port Elizabeththesteepeningof thesewaves produces giant waves withheights of 15 18 m. Later, withwave
theory, wewill showhowthisispossible. Several shipshavebeenlost duetothesewaves.
2.4.3 Easternboundarycurrentsandcoastal upwelling
Figure2-8. Coastal upwellingalongcoast intheSouthernHemisphere(after Massel, 1999)
The easterly Trade Winds of the subtropics lose their moisture by rain over land so that along eastern ocean
coastlines theair is hot and dry in summer. Theresulting pressuredifferencebetween land and ocean induces
equatorial windsalongeastcoasts. Inaninterestingtheory, whichwehavenotconsidered, thisresultsinanEkman
transport directedoffshore, withalower seasurfacenear thecoast. Thisisreplacedbywater whichupwellsfrom
thedeeper layers. Thesedeeper watersareusuallycolder thanthesurfacewaters, richer innutrientssuchasnitrates
andleadingtoanabundanceof sh. Themost famousexampleisthecoast of Peru(whennot inanEl Nio), with
anabundant anchovyharvest. Oneof themost obviousmanifestationsof theEl Nioiswhentheupwellingstops
andtheanchovyharvest fails.
14
3. Tides
3.1 Introduction
Tides havebeenobservedfor thousands of years. Fromtheearliest times it has beenrealisedthat thereis some
connection between tides and the motion of the Moon and the Sun. However, it was only in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries, with Newton and Laplacethat theoretical explanation of thenatureof tides and tidal
predictionbecamepossible.
Themost important constituent inunderstandingtidesisthegravitational attractionbetweentheEarth, Moon, and
Sun. Thesimplestexplanationpossibleisthehypothetical examplewhenthecontinentsontheEarthareneglected
andtheEarthisassumedtobeaperfectly smoothspherecompletely coveredby water. That water isactedupon
by thesameforcesthat act onthesolidEarth. Thepredictionmodel fromthistheoryistheequilibriummodel of
tides, as thetides fromthis model result fromtheequilibriumof gravitational forces. However, theequilibrium
model cannot explainmanyaspectsof tides, especiallythevaryingamplitudesinmany locationsontheEarth. A
substantial improvement intidal predictionisachievedby consideringtidesinadynamic way, aswaves. Infact,
tidesarethelongest oceanicwaveswithperiodsof theorder of 12hours. Thiswaveapproach, revisedmanytimes
sinceLaplacesrst formulation, isthedynamicmodel of tides.
Complexityof landboundariesontheEarthandcomplicatedbathymetrycausegreatdifcultiesinthepredictionof
tidesatsomepointsontheEarth. However theycanbepredictedusingharmonic(Fourier) analysisof asufciently
longrecordof water level uctuation.
3.2 Tidegeneratingforcesandequilibriumtheory
3.2.1 Theearth-moonsystem
CM
(a) Plan
(b) Side elevation
2 1
2 C
a 1 C
a
1 G
a 2 G
a
0 C
a
0 G
a
Figure3-1. Theearth-moonsystem, showing(a) plan, withearthrevolvingabout CM, (b) sideelevationshowing
accelerationsonauidparticle
Thetides areaconsequenceof thesimultaneous actionof themoons, suns andearths gravitational forces and
the revolution of one about each other. We can ignore the earths rotation on its own axis even though this
contributes forces, they arequitesymmetric anddonothingtoexplainthetidal bulgewithsemi-diurnal tides, as
weareabout todo. Consider theearth-moonsysteminplan, asshownin(a) of Figure3-1. It canbeshownthat
thecommoncentreof massCM isactuallyinsidetheearth. Now, astheearth-moonsystemrevolvesaroundCM,
theorientationof our non-rotatingearthdoes not change, as suggestedby themeridional linenot turning. (As a
guide, holdyour handout onthedesk, andmakethetipof your thumbperformahorizontal circle all parts of
your handperformacircleof thesameradius; nowscrunchyour ngertipstogether tomakeaball andrepeat the
revolution, theprincipleisthesame.) Theradiusof thecircleinwhichall pointsmoveisequal tothedistancefrom
theearthscentretoCM. For all pointsontheearthtomoveinacircleof thissizethereisacentripetal acceleration
of thesamemagnitudeeverywhereanddirectedparallel totheearth-moonaxistowardthemoon. Thisisprovided
bythemoonsgravitational attractiononthecentreof theearth. However thisattractionisnot quiteuniformover
theearthssurface, varyinglike1,r
2
, wherer isthedistancefromanypoint tothecentreof themoon. It islarger
15
onthenear sidetothemoonandsmaller onthesideawayfromthemoon.
Nowwecomparetheaccelerations(forcesper unitmass) atdifferentlocations. For auidparticleinthesupposed
hemispherical shell surroundingtheearth, facingthemoonthereisaslightlylarger gravitational pull bythemoon
towards themooncomparedwiththeapparent centrifugal forcedueto theearths revolutionabout CM. At such
apoint 1, as in Figure3-1(b), thereis acentrifugal forcea
c1
and theslightly larger gravitational forcedueto
themoona
c1
isasshown, witharesultant forcewithacomponent perpendicular tothesurfaceof theearthand
a tractive component parallel to the earths surface. In fact the earths gravity itself, also perpendicular to the
surface, hugely dominates theperpendicular component of theresultant, andit is thetractiveforcewhichis the
tide-producingforce. At thepoint nearest themoonthistractiveforceiszero, asit isalsoat point 0at thetopof
theearthinthisdiagram, inthevicinity of thenorthpole(actually 23
1
2
away - but for our present argument, all

mentionof thepolesandrotationareunimportant). Betweenthenearest point andpoint 0thetractivecomponents
forcewater generally equatorward. At point 0, abovethecentreof theearth, thecentrifugal accelerationandthe
horizontal component of thegravitational accelerationverycloselycancel, sothat thereisnoeffect there.At point
2, ontheother sideof theearthfrompoint 1, wemight expect theretobeevenlesseffect andfor thewater tobe
drawnfromthisside. However, therethecentrifugal forceis thesame, a
c1
= a
c0
= a
c2
, but thegravitational
pull isnowless(a
c2
< a
c1
) andislessthanthecentrifugal force. Theapparent resultant forceisactually away
fromthemoon! Inthiscase, asshownbytheresultant, thetractiveforceisalsodirectedawayfromthetop, point
0. Asthisisslightlyfurther fromCM theeffect isslightlyless.
Figure3-2. Tidal bulges
Movement of water duetothesetractiveforcesonbothsidesof theearthwill continueuntil thepressuregradient
associatedwiththeslopingwater surfaceoffsetsandbalancesthetide-producingforce. For theearthcoveredwith
water anequilibriumstatewouldbereachedintheformof anellipsoidwithits twobulgesdirectedtowardsand
awayfromthemoon, asshowninFigure3-2. Thesetwobulgesareresponsiblefor thefact that at manypointson
theearthssurface, thetidesaresemi-diurnal, suchthat their periodisabout half aday.
Theperiodof theearthsrotationwithrespect tothemoonis24 h50.47
0
. Thisperiodiscalledalunar day, andis
thetimefor successivepassagesof themoonacrossagivenmeridian. Thehightidesat manylocationsarealmost
anhour later eachday. However, anequilibriumtidecannot occur at lowlatitudesonearth. Under theequilibrium
concept, two tidebulges can only maintain thesameposition relativeto themoon when they travel around the
earthat thesamerateastheearthrotateswithrespect tothemoon. Using40 000 kmfor theearthscircumference
at theequator, thebulges speedshouldbe
C =
40 000
24.841
= 1610 kmh
1
= 447 ms
1
.
As themovement of thetidebulges canbeconsideredto bethemovement of avery longwave, whichwewill
showtobegivenbyC =
q/, where/ isthewater depth. Usingtheabovevalue, givestherequireddepthtobe

20.4 km. Thiswater depthdoesnotoccur ontheearth, andthetidal bulgesareunabletofollowtheearthsrotation.
OnlyaroundAntarctica, at 60
S, wherecircumferenceisshorter andwater sufcientlydeep, canthesemi-diurnal

tidesbeconsideredasfreeshallowwater waves. Actual tidesbehavedifferentlyandamorecomplexapproachis
required. However, theimportant conclusionfollowsfromtheequilibriumtheory that thefundamental periodof
thetidesduetothemoonis12 h25 min.
3.2.2 Theearth-sunsystem
Thesuns mass is about 27milliontimes larger thanthemoon, but it is 387times moredistant fromtheearth.
Thenet effect isthat thetractiveforceduetothesunisabout 46%of themoon. Thesolar-inducedcomponentsof
thetidesareinuencedbythesunsdeclination, varying23.5
either sideof theequatorial plane. Tideproducing

forcesduetothesunandmoonareadditive. Whenthesunandmoonareinalignment(or anti-alignment) thehigh
16
tides arehigher andthelow, lower. Suchtides areknownas springtides (nothingtodo withtheseason). When
thesunandmoonareseparatedbyabout 90
, thetidal rangeissmaller thanaverage, andthetidesareneaptides.

Constant changes inthedeclinations of thesunandthemoonandcyclic variations inthepositionof bothwith
respecttotheearthproducestideswithelementarycomponentswithlargelyvaryingperiods. Asmanyas390tidal
componentshavebeenidentied. Themoreimportant onesareshowninTable3-1.
Species and name Symbol Period (hrs) Relative size %
Semi-diurnal
Principal lunar A
2
12.42 100
Principal solar o
2
12.00 47
Larger lunar elliptic `2 12.66 19
Luni-solar semi-diurnal 1
2
11.97 13
Diurnal
Luni-solar diurnal 11 23.93 58
Principal lunar diurnal O1 25.82 42
Principal solar diurnal 1
1
24.07 19
Larger lunar elliptic Q
1
26.87 8
Long period
Lunar fortnightly A
327.9 17
Lunar monthly A
661.3 9
Solar semi-annual o 4383 8
Table3-1. Characteristicsof someof theprincipal tide-producingforceconstituents
3.3 Dynamicmodel of tides
A comparisonof observedtideswiththeequilibriumtidetheorydevelopedbyNewtonimmediatelyshowsvarious
discrepancies. High tide often occurs at the wrong time, with the range of the tide not properly predicted by
equilibriumtheory. Accordingtoequilibriumtheory, semi-diurnal tidal rangeswouldreachtheir maximumvalue
of about 10.5 mat equatorial latitudes, whereasobservedtideshavemeanrangesof 0 1 m.
Whentidespropagateintotherelativelyshallowwatersof thecontinental shelf, their heightsincrease. Atlocations
within bays thetidal rangebecomes much higher. For example, inshelf areas of theBay of Fundy, theBristol
Channel, andtheKimberleyCoast, springtidal rangesexceed10 m.
Themost important reasonsfor discrepanciesbetweenobservationandpredictionare:
1. Theaveragedepthof theoceansismuchsmaller thanthedepthof 20 km whichisrequiredtoallowthetidal
bulgestotravel asfreelongwavesat theequator.
2. Theearth is not uniformly covered with water thepresenceof continents prevents thetidal bulges from
propagatingaroundtheearth, andcomplexoceanbathymetrycomplicatesthenatureof propagation.
3. Oceanbasins havetheir own natural modes of oscillation, withmany resonant frequencies. Theseinteract
with tidal oscillations to give a very complicated set of resonances and local amplications. The Bay of
FundyineasternCanadahasaresonant periodof about 12 hours, soit isnot surprisingthat verylarge(15 m)
semi-diurnal tidal oscillationsareset up.
4. Equilibriumtheorysuggeststhat water respondsimmediatelytothegravitational andattractiveforces. Water
hasinertia, andsatisesadifferential equation wecannotsaythatforceandamplitudeoccur simultaneously.
5. Water movement ontheearthisaffectedbytheearthsrotation, intheformof Coriolisforce.
Pierre-SimonLaplace, inthelate18thcentury, developedthedynamic theory of tidesovercomingsomeof these
problemsof theequilibriumtheory, buthestill postulatedaspherical shell of homogeneousocean. Graduallyother
peopleimprovedthetheory, developingvariousaspects. Oneof themost interestingwasthat of LordKelvin, who
solvedtheproblemof tidal propagationinarectangular bay. Inthiscaseit canbeshownthat theamplitudeof the
tidal wavedecreasesexponentiallywithincreasingdistancefromtheshore, suchthatsurfaceelevationj varieslike
17
Figure3-3. Kelvinwaves inarectangular bay intheNorthernHemisphere(fromMassel, 1999). (a) Floodtide
phase, (b) Ebbtidephase, (c) Total amphidromicsystem; arrowsindicatedirectionof deectionduetotheCoriolis
effect.
exp(:j), wherej isdistancefromtheshore, andtheattenuationcoefcient: = ),
q/, where) = 2
J
sin`
and/ is thedepth. Thesolutionfor arectangular bay inthenorthernhemisphereis showninFigure3-3. What
can beobserved is theamphidromic point, which is apoint at which thereis no tidal motion. Around this the
tidal wavecirculatesonceper tidal period. Co-tidal linesradiateoutwardsfromtheamphidromic points, joining
all pointswherethetideisat thesamephaseof thecycle. Lineswhichjoinlocationsof theequal tidal rangeare
co-rangelines, andthey tendtoformalmost concentric pathsabout theamphidromic points. Tidal waveswithin
amphidromicsystemsrotateclockwiseintheSouthernHemisphereandanticlockwiseintheNorthernHemisphere.
(a) In the North Sea
(b) In the Timor Sea
Figure3-4. Twoamphidromicsystems(after Massel, 1999)
Inareal situationontherotatingearth, theamphidromic systemsaremuchmorecomplicated. Possibly thebest-
known tides arethosein theNorth Sea(Figure3-3a), which is arather shallowseawherefrictional effects are
18
signicant. Asaresult theamphidromicpointsmoveawayfromthesourceof thetidal energy, whichapproaches
fromtheAtlantic Ocean fromthenorth and moves anti-clockwisearound thebasin. Theeast coast of Britain
has hightides becausetheamphidromic points areshiftedto theeast, andso theeasternparts of theNorthSea
experiencesmaller tides.
Figure3-3bshowsanamphidromicsystemintheTimor Sea. Further south, inthevicinityof Broome, somevery
largetidesareexperienced.
3.4 Harmonicanalysisandpredictionof tides
Form number: A practical classicationof thenatureof thetideat aparticular point canbecharacterised
by theformnumber 1 whichistheratioof thesumof theamplitudesof themajor constituents, expressinghow
relativelyimportant thediurnal contributionsare:
1 =
O
1
+1
1
'
2
+o
2
,
whereO
1
is theprincipal lunar diurnal constituent, 1
1
is thelunar-solar constituent, '
2
is theprincipal lunar
semi-diurnal constituent, ando
2
istheprincipal solar semi-diurnal constituent. Tidescanbedividedroughlyas:
1 = 0 0.25 semi-diurnal
1 = 0.25 1.5 mixed, predominantlysemi-diurnal
1 = 1.50 3 mixed, predominantlydiurnal
1 3 diurnal
For tidesaroundMackay, theamplitudesare: 1
1
= 0.390 m, O
1
= 0.196 m, '
2
= 1.668 m, ando
2
= 0.612 m,
giving1 = 0.26, thusjust about semi-diurnal. Other typesof tidesareshowninFigure3-5.
Figure3-5. Exampleof varioustypesof tideswithdifferent valuesof formnumber 1 (after Massel, 1999)
Prediction of tides: Sophisticatednumerical modelshavebeendevelopedtopredict tidesaroundtheearth,
basedontheLaplacetidal equations, augmentedbytheenergydissipationduetobottomfriction, especiallyover
shelf areas. Thesehavearoot-mean-squareerror of 3 cminthedeepocean, and10.5 cmincoastal waters. Thisis
notreallygoodenoughfor practical use. Still, muchuseismadeof observationsof tidesatthedesiredlocationsfor
verylongperiodsof time. Thetidecanbepredictedatlater timesbyharmonicanalysis, takingthedata, extracting
out theFourier componentsof themainconstituents, someof whichwesawinTable3-1. Thismeansthat thetide
19
canberepresentedbyanitetrigonometricseries:
j(t) =

X
n=1
c
n
cos(.
n
t +c
n
), (3.1)
wherethec
n
aretheFourier coefcients, .
n
aretheradianfrequencies, .
n
= 2,T
n
, whereT
n
istheperiodof
the:thcontribution, andc
n
isaphaseshift.
Thewordharmonicinthiscontext usuallymeansconstituent frequencieswhichareactuallyfractionsof themain.
Infact, theway inwhichcomponentsarecalculatedisby usingdiscreteFourier transformsof atimeseries. We
will showbelowhowthiscanbedone.
Figure3-6. Denitionsof characteristictidelevels(after Massel, 1999)
Tidal tables:A variety of tidetables, inbooks or inelectronic form, areavailablefor many locations. Oftenthe
highestandlowestvaluesfor eachdayareshown. Also, for somelocationsthemostimportantcharacteristicwater
levelsaregiven, suchasthoseshowninFigure3-6.
Predicted water levels sometimes differ fromthe observed levels, caused by strong or prolonged winds or by
unusuallyhighor lowbarometricpressure. Coastal currentsmayalsointeract withtopographyandproducelocal
gradientsontheseasurface.
Inthecoastal zone, inestuaries, salt marshes, andmangroveswamps, thedevelopment of ecosystemsisstrongly
inuencedbythechangesof tidal levelsandtherhythmstheyimposeintermsof submersionandexposuretothe
air, resultingtemperatureandsalinitychanges, sediment movements, andnutrient uxes.
20
4. Surfacegravitywaves
Figure4-1. Schematic(andfanciful) representationof theenergycontainedinthesurfacewavesof theocean i.e.
aguessat thepower spectrum(after Kinsman, 1984)
Coastal andoceanengineeringareprimarilyconcernedwiththeeffectsof surfacegravitywaves, usuallygenerated
by wind, wheretherestoringforceis that of theearths gravity. Thesewaves areof relatively short period, are
energetic, andareresponsiblefor mosteffectsof theseaonthecoastlineandonengineeringstructuresinor beside
it. Figure4-1showsarepresentationof thespectrumof gravity wavesinthesea. It canbeseenthat thespectral
peak isinthevicinityof waveswitha10 s period, typical wavesgeneratedbywindafter it hasblownover along
fetch. Table4-1showsthenamesof variousgravitywavemotions, their cause, andarangeof typical periods.
Phenomenon Cause Period
Wind wave (sea state) Wind shear < 15 s
Swell wave (swell state) Wind wave < 30 s
Surf beat Wave group 1 5 min
Seiche Wind variation 2 40 min
Harbour resonance Surf beat, tsunami 2 40 min
Tsunami Earthquake 5 60 min
Tide Gravitational attraction 12 or 24 h
Storm surge Wind stress and atmospheric pressure variation 1 30 d
Table4-1. Gravitywaves, their causesandperiods
Inthewind-generatedgravitywaverange, twotypesof wavearegenerallydistinguished:
Wind waves: whenthewavesarebeingworkedonby thewindthat raisedthem. They arerelatively short and
steepwithshort crest lengths. Onewouldexpect to havearelationshipbetweenthewindspeedandthewave
height andlength.
Swell waves: whenthewaveshaveescapedtheinuenceof thegeneratingwind, andwindwaveshaveinteracted
andcoalescedtoformhigher but longer waveswithlongcrests.
4.1 Theequationsof uidmechanics
Nowwewill consider themechanicsof surfacegravitywavesindetail. Unlikeother areasinhydraulics, wherewe
canoftenconsider thepipeor streamtobeessentiallyone-dimensional, herewehavetoconsider thefull unsteady
three-dimensional equations of uidmechanics. Themajor approximationwill bethat viscosity canbeignored,
whichis avery goodonefor most wavestudies. Wewill ndthat wecanobtainarather simpleformulation
21
that wasthebasisfor uidmechanicsinthenineteenthcentury, until ReynoldsandPrandtl openedthewayfor the
treatment of viscosityandturbulence.
4.1.1 Accelerationof auidparticleandMaterial derivatives
Consider anelemental parcel of uidwithvelocity vector u. At axedpoint inspacetheaccelerationis0u,0t.
However, eveninasteadyowelduid, particlesexperienceaccelerationbymovingtoapositionwhereu hasa
different value, aswenowshow.
r
r r
r
If auidelement at r at timet movestor +cr at timet +ct, wecanwritetheTaylor expansionfor thevelocity
at thenewpoint:
u(r +cr, t +ct) = u(r, t) +ct
0u
0t
+cr
0u
0r
+cj
0u
0j
+c.
0u
0.
+higher order terms,
whichwecanwriteinvector formas
u(r +cr, t +ct) = u(r, t) +ct
0u
0t
+ (cr ) u(r, t) +higher order terms, (4.1)
whereisthevector gradient operator, whichisavector withdirectionandmagnitudethat of thegreatest rateof
change.
Revision: Vector gradient
The gradient of a scalar function c is the vector which has as components its partial derivatives:
c =
0c
0r
i +
0c
0j
j +
0c
0.
k.
Written as above, can be interpreted as a vector differential operator:
= i
0
0r
+j
0
0j
+k
0
0.
.
It has some important properties:
- The gradient vector gives both the magnitude and direction of the maximum rate of change of the scalar
at a point.
- The gradient vector is perpendicular to the level surface passing through that point.
- The directional derivative of c with respect to a co-ordinate : in a direction given by a unit vector s is
dc
d:
= c s.
From(4.1), our expressionfor theaccelerationa of theuidparticle:
a =
lim
o|0
u(r +cr, t +ct) u(r, t)
ct
=
0u
0t
+
lim
o|0
cr
ct

u
=
0u
0t
+ (u ) u.
22
Usuallythebracketsinthelast termareomitted, andthisderivativewritten1,1t:
1u
1t
=
0u
0t
+u u, (4.2)
thematerial or total derivativewithrespecttotime, therateof changeexperiencedbyauidparticle. Therstterm
is thetemporal acceleration, whichis zero insteady ow, whilethesecondis theadvectiveacceleration, which
existsbecausetheparticlemovestoapoint wherethevelocity isdifferent. Wecanobtainsimilar expressionsfor
thematerial derivativeof anyother dynamical or physical point quantity.
Example: consider the difference in temperature gradient experienced by a car sitting in a car park (0T,0t)
and one experienced while driving to a nearby mountain range, where one is also travelling at a nite
velocity (u) through a medium where the temperature might be changing with position (0T,0r) the net
result is an apparent extra rate of change at the car of n0T,0r. Also, of course, there is the vertical rate
of rise of the car (n) through the (rather larger) vertical gradient (0T,0.), and possibly a North-South
component 0T,0j. The total apparent rate of change at the car is
1T
1t
=
0T
0t
+n
0T
0r
+
0T
0j
+n
0T
0.
.
The best way of writing this conveniently is to show it as
1T
1t
=
0T
0t
+ (n, , n)
0T
0r
,
0T
0j
,
0T
0.
=
0T
0t
+u T.
In a smilar way, replacing T by the velocity vector u, we obtain equation (4.2).
4.1.2 Forcesactingonauid
Twotypesof forcesact onauidparticle:
Body forces: Theforcepenetratestheinterior of theuid, suchasgravityor apparent forcessuchasCoriolis
or centrifugal forces. Usually they areproportional to themass of theuid element, and theforceon asmall
volumeelement c\ isGjc\ , whereGistheforceper unit mass.
Gravity force: In agravity eld, wherewewill adopt theconvention in this coursethat . is thevertical co-
ordinate, upwardspositive, weobtainG = (0, 0, 9.8).
Coriolis force: Onlargescalessuchasthosegoverningthemotionof oceancurrentsandtides, theeffectsof the
rotationof theearthmust beconsidered, however herewewill neglect suchterms.
Short-range forces: Theseoftenhaveamolecular origin, duetomomentumtransfer bymoleculesacrossan
interface. Theyareusuallyproportional tosurfacearea. Therearetwokinds, pressureforcesandshear forces, and
theyhavethesamemolecular background, but it isconvenient totreat themseparately, astheyhaveverydifferent
magnitudes.
Pressure forces: Theforceper unit areanormal tothesurfaceof auidelement.
n
p
A
Let n beaunitvector normal tothesurfaceasshown, directedoutof theuid, thentheforceontheuidelement
is
cF = j c n,
wherej is thepressure. This is asurfaceforceonly. Notethat it is aforceof magnitudejc withdirection
23
givenbyaunit vector withdirection n, that isfromtherest of theuidontothesurfaceof theelement being
considered.
Shear forces: The relative motion of real uids is accompanied by tangential stresses over a surface due to
molecular interchange. Wecannot observethe molecular motion, but the capability of theuid to sustain a
shearing stress is measurable. This phenomenon is viscosity. Wecan showthat this is small for geophysical
applications. Infact it isproportional to1,1, where1 istheReynoldsnumber of theow:
Relativeimportanceof viscosity =
1
1
=
i
LengthscaleVelocityscale
,
andsofor atypical coastal engineeringowsituation, saywithavelocityscaleof 1 ms
1
andalengthscaleof
2 mwendthisratiotobeabout 0.5 10
6
, andsowecanignoretheeffectsof viscosity.
4.1.3 Themomentumequationfor aninvisciduid
Nowweconsider themotionof asmall elementof uidof volumec\ . Equatingforceandthemassof theelement
timesitsacceleration, wehave
j
1u
1t
c\ = j c\ G
Z
.
j nd, (4.3)
wherewehaveintegratedthepressurecontributions over , theentiresurfaceareaof theelement, eventhough
it is consideredelemental. To evaluatethis latter term, wemakeuseof ageneralisedformof Gauss divergence
theorem.
Revision: Gauss divergence theorem: This fundamental relation was rst discovered by Archimedes, relat-
ing the surface integral of pressure to a volume integral! It can be stated, for a vector F:
Z
\
Fd\ =
Z
.
F n d,
which is Gauss Divergence Theorem. It is possible to generalise this result, to give, for F or a scalar c:
Z
\
F
c
G
d\ =
Z
.
n
F
c
G
d.
Thus we have three connections between volume and surface integrals, for different operations.
It makes evaluatingour integral inequation(4.3) mucheasier, for insteadof havingtointegratethecomplicated
surfaceareaintegral wecansimplyreplaceit bythevolumeintegral of thepressuregradient! Weobtain
j
1u
1t
c\ = j c\ G
Z
o\
j d\,
andasweareconsideringanelemental volumewecanconsider j tobeconstant throughout, andsoweobtain,
after dividingthroughbyjc\ ,
1u
1t
= G
1
j
j, (4.4)
whichisEulersequationfor themotionof auid. Itisessentiallyaconservationof momentumequation. Itstates
thattheaccelerationof auidparticleisequal tothebodyforceper unitmass(gravity, Coriolis) plusacontribution
fromthepressuregradient. If wewriteout thetermfor theaccelerationintermsof temporal andspacederivatives
fromequation(4.2) weobtain
1u
1t
=
0u
0t
+u u = G
1
j
j.
Thisisavector equationwhichisactually threeseparatescalar equationsinthefour dependent variablesn, , n
andj. Consider, for example,ther-component:
0n
0t
+n
0n
0r
+
0n
0j
+n
0n
0.
= G
r
1
j
0j
0r
,
whereG
r
is ther component of thebody force. Inthis expandedformtheequations start to look complicated.
24
Their underlyingnatureissimple.
Hydrostatic pressure distribution: Consider thecasewheretheuidis at rest, 1n,1t = 0. Equation
(4.4) becomes
j = jG,
and as Coriolis forceis zero (n = 0 here), and consider only gravity, G = (0, 0, q), whereq is gravitational
acceleration, thecomponentsare
0j
0r
= 0,
0j
0j
= 0,
0j
0.
= jq,
withsolutions
j +jq. = C,
thehydrostaticpressuredistribution, whereC isaconstant, andwhichshowsthatpressureisindependentof r and
j (constant onaplaneof constant elevation) anditsvariationinthevertical isasshown.
4.1.4 Massconservationequation
Wehavealreadyseenthat withthemomentumconservationequationwehavethreeequationsinfour unknowns.
Weneedanother, andweusethemassconservationequation. If weconsider anitestationarycontrol volumein
space, throughwhichuidows, thentherateof changeof massinsidethevolumemust beequal tothenet rate
of changeof masscrossingthecontrol surface, asnomassisbeingcreatedinthevolume.
Rateof changeof massinsidethecontrol volume =
d
dt
Z
\
j d\
=
Z
\
0j
0t
d\,
asthevolumeisnotchangingwithtime. Nowwecalculatethemasscrossingthecontrol surfaceo enclosing\ . If
weconsider asmall planeelementof thesurfaced, throughwhichtheuidhasavelocityn, thenthecomponent
of velocity tangential totheelement carriesnomassinor out. Theonly contributionisfromthevelocity normal
tothesurface, whichisn :, where : isaunit normal directedoutwardsfrom(leaving) thecontrol surface. So
(inthespirit of Q = l), thevolumeowrateenteringviatheelement is n :d. Multiplyingby theuid
densitytheregivesthemassrateentering, andintegratingover thewholesurfacegives
Rateat whichmassisenteringthecontrol volume=
Z
.
ju nd.
Equatingthetwocontributions, wehave
Z
\
0j
0t
d\ =
Z
.
ju nd
=
Z
\
(ju) d\, fromGauss divergencetheorem.
Bringingbothtermstotheleft andwritingasasingleintegral,
Z
\
0j
0t
+ (ju)
d\ = 0,
andasthisholds for any control volume, theonly way that this canbesatisedisif theintegrandeverywhereis
zero, that is,
0j
0t
+ (ju) = 0.
This is themass-conservationequation. It canbewritteninanother formby expandingthedivergenceoperator
25
andre-grouping(Ex. Dothis) togive:
1j
1t
+j u = 0.
Either formisuseful. Eachisapartial differential equationin4dependent variables, n andj. Eachimmediately
demonstratestheresult that if theuidisincompressible, suchthat j isconstant, thegoverningequationis
u =
0n
0r
+
0
0j
+
0n
0.
= 0. (Mass conservation equation)
It canbeshown, byconsideringanitematerial element of volume\ that inthelimit \ 0 weobtain:
u =
lim
\ 0
1
\
d\
dt
= thefractional rateof changeof volumeof amaterial element,
= 0 if theuidisincompressible.
Thatis, therateof changeof volumeof anelemental material volumeiszerofor incompressibleow, aswewould
expect.
Now, theincompressiblemass conservationequationis apartial differential equationinthreevariables (n, , n)
whileEulersequation(4.4) isthreeequationsinthesamevariablespluspressurej, sothat wenowhave4 partial
differential equationsin4 unknowns, andprovidedwehaveboundary andinitial conditionswecouldsolvethem
numerically, probablysteppingforwardsintime. However, (4.4) isanonlinear equation, whichmakestheoretical
solutionsdifcult. Wewill ndlater that thereisanastonishingstepbywhichwecanobtaintheoretical solutions,
whichisthebasisof muchcoastal andoceanengineering. (Notethat if theuidiscompressiblewehaveanother
variablej andit isnecessarytointroduceanequationof stategivingj asafunctionof pressurej.)
4.1.5 Themoment of momentumequationandvorticity
Revision: Curl of a vector
The vector or cross product gives the combined vectorial effect of two vectors a and /, written a/ and is a
vector normal to the plane containing a and /, of magnitude equal to the area of the parallelogram dened
by a and /. It can be evaluated using the 3 3 determinant
a b = (i a
1
+j a
2
+ka
3
) (i /
1
+j /
2
+k/
3
) =
i j k
a
1
a
2
a
3
/
1
/
2
/
3
.
The curl of a vector is when the rst vector is the gradient operator; if the second is velocity u, the result is
the vorticity, which is a vector which is equal to twice the angular velocity:
= u =

i
0
0r
+j
0
0j
+k
0
0.
(i n +j +kn) =
i j k
0,0r 0,0j 0,0.
n n
.
Instudyingthemotionof gravitywavesandtheforcesexertedbythemwehavetosolvetheentireeldof ow, so
that wecanextract velocitiesandpressuresat all pointsinthewater at all times. Wehavepreviouslyobtainedthe
equationof motion(4.4) for anyuidparticle:
1u
1t
=
0u
0t
+u u = G
1
j
j,
whichisEulersequation. Weusetheidentity
u u =
1
2
(u u) u ,
where = u isthevorticity(twicetheangular velocity). HenceEulersequationbecomes
0u
0t
u = G
j
j
+
1
2
|u|
2
. (4.5)
Nowwetakethecurl (. . .) of theequation. If Gisaconservativeeld(suchasgravity, whenG = (0, 0, q)),
then G is zero. Also, thecurl of thegradient operator involvingthepressureandkinetic termdisappears
26
(c = 0 for anyc), leaving
0
0t
(u ) = 0.
Bymanipulationof thevector quantitiesandusingthefact that as u = 0 so = 0:
1
1t
= u. (4.6)
Thisisthevorticityequationfor anincompressibleinvisciduidinthepresenceof conservativebodyforces. The
pressurehas been eliminated, giving oneless unknown, but increasing theorder of differentiation involved. It
shows howconservation of angular momentumis avery useful concept in uid mechanics. Notethat pressure
doesnot act tochangetheangular velocity. Viscositywouldhave, if wehadretainedit.
4.1.6 Irrotational ow
Nowweconsider auidowinwhichinitiallythevorticityiszero, = 0, (theowissaidtobeirrotational) such
aswouldbeencounteredintheseaif it wereinitiallyrelativelyquiescent. Thismeansthat theangular momentum
(velocity) of everyparticleisinitiallyzero. Substitutingintotherightsideof equation(4.6) our equationof motion
thenbecomes
1
1t
= 0,
whichsays that therateof changeof angular velocity/momentumof theuidparticleis zero, andso it is at all
timesthereafter! Hencewehave
= 0, or, u = 0, (4.7)
andwehavereducedtheequationof motiontoasimplelinear equation(actuallywiththreecomponents)!
Thereisavector identitywhichstatesthat thecurl of thegradient of anyscalar quantityiszero: c = 0 for
any c, andso theequationof motionis satisedif thereis avelocity potential c suchthat thevelocity vector at
anypoint isgivenbythegradient of c, u = c:
If an inviscid incompressible uid ow is initially irrotational, then the dynamical equation of motion is
satised if there is a velocity potential c such that u = c, or, n = 0c,0r, = 0c,0j, n = 0c,0..
Wehavereducedthecomplicatednonlinearunsteadypartial differential equationtomerelytheexistenceof ascalar
potential function!
4.1.7 Massconservationequation
Wehavealreadyseenthat if auidisincompressible, theequationof massconservationis u = 0.
4.1.8 Theeldequation
Substitutingu = c into u = 0 weobtaintheeldequationsatisfyingbothmomentumandmassconserva-
tion:
c =
2
c =
0
2
c
0r
2
+
0
2
c
0j
2
+
0
2
c
0.
2
= 0 throughout theuid. (Laplaces equation)
ThisisLaplacesequation, whichisanelliptic partial differential equation. It isat theheart of almost all gravity
wavetheory. It is thesamesort of equation which governs theequilibriumtemperaturedistribution in aheat-
conductingsolid, or thechargedistributioninanelectrically conductingmedium. It has to besolvedsubject to
boundaryconditions, whichwewill include.
4.1.9 Thepressureequationor unsteadyBernoulli equation
It ishelpful togoback tothelinear momentumequationandobtainanexpressionfor uidpressureat any point.
Consider equation(4.5), writtenfor anirrotational uid. = 0:
0u
0t
= G
j
j
+
1
2
|u|
2
.
27
Nowas u = c, andinthecaseof agravitational eldG = (0, 0, q) wecanwriteG = (q.), wherethe
gravitational potential is q.. Re-arrangingtheterms, andinterchangingtheorder of differentiationbetween
and0,0t, weobtaintheequation
0c
0t
+
j
j
+
1
2
|u|
2
+q.
= 0.
Thisstatesthat throughout theuidthespacederivativesof thequantity insidethebracketsareall zero, i.e. it is
not afunctionof spaceat all. Hencewecanwrite
0c
0t
+
j
j
+
1
2
|c|
2
+q. = C(t) throughout theuid, (Pressure equation)
whereC(t) isafunctiononly of time. Thisisthepressureequation, or theunsteady Bernoulli equation, andwe
canusethistodeterminethepressureat anypoint intheuidoncewehavesolvedtogivec(r, j, ., t). Notethat
C(t) isarbitraryandweoftensetittozero, aswecanredenec byaddingafunctionof timetoitsuchthatC = 0.
4.2 Boundaryconditions
4.2.1 Solidboundaries
Moving boundaries: Aswehaveassumedthattheowisinviscidandirrotational wecanmakenolimitation
ontheowpastasolidboundary, butwecanrequirethattherebenocomponentof uidvelocitynormal toasolid
surface. That is, if n istheuidvelocity, andl isthevelocityof anypart of asolidboundary, thenwehave
u n = U n. (4.8)
Calculatingthevelocityof amovingboundary(aship, anoscillatingstructure, theoceanbottominanearthquake,
etc.) canbedifcult. Itisofteneasier toexpressit intermsof material derivatives. Let theboundarybedenedby
1(r, t) = 0. That is, as1 isidenticallyzero, suchthat 11,1t = 0 wherethistimethismeanstheapparent rate
of changeof 1 at apoint ontheboundary:
01
0t
+U 1 = 0, ontheboundary.
Astheboundary isalevel surfaceof 1, then1 is perpendicular toit, i.e. 1 isinthedirectionof :, andwe
couldre-writeequation(4.8) as
u1 = U1,
andhencewehavethegeneral solidboundarycondition
01
0t
+u 1 = 0, or,
01
0t
+c 1 = 0, on1 = 0. (4.9)
Stationary boundaries: Themost commonsolidboundarycondition, whichwill betheoneweuseinthis
course, iswheretheboundaryisnot moving, l = 0. Substitutingintoequation(4.8) weobtain
u n = c n =
0c
0:
= 0, (4.10)
fromthepropertiesof thegradientoperator, where: isalocal co-ordinatedirectionnormal tothesurface. Thatis:
thederivativeof c normal toastationaryimpermeableboundaryiszero.
4.2.2 Thefreesurface
Whereauidhasaboundary withanother uid(suchasoil) or wheretheother uidcanbeignored(asisoften
donefor thewater-air interface), thepositionof thefreesurfacebecomes another unknowndependent variable,
. = j(r, j, t) for example, wherej, likethevelocity components n, andn is still to befound. As aresult of
thisextraunknown, wewill requiretwoboundary conditionsat thefreesurface, thekinematic anddynamic free
surfaceboundaryconditions:
Kinematic free surface boundary condition: Wecanfollowtheprocedurefor solidboundaries, because
28
uidparticlesremainonthesurface. Wewill introducethesymbol j for thefreesurfacesuchthat . = j(r, j, t).
Nowall wedoistointroduceageneral function1(r, j, ., t) throughout all spaceandtimewhichisconstant on
thefreesurface. Wewrite
1(r, j, ., t) = . j(r, j, t) = 0 onthefreesurface.
We can obtain our boundary condition there: that particles which start on the free surface remain on the free
surface, namelyat eachparticle, 1 remainsconstant, thus11,1t = 0, that is,
11
1t
=
01
0t
+n
01
0r
+
01
0j
+n
01
0.
= 0, whichfromour denitionof 1 gives
0j
0t
n
0j
0r

0j
0j
+n = 0,
whichweusuallywrite:
0j
0t
+n
0j
0r
+
0j
0j
n = 0, or intermsof c,
0j
0t
+
0c
0r
0j
0r
+
0c
0j
0j
0j

0c
0.
= 0 on. = j,
(KinematicfreesurfaceboundaryconditionKFSBC)
This is thewell-knownkinematic boundary conditionfor uidboundaries. It immediately renders any problem
nonlinear, for productsof dependent variablesappear init.
Dynamic free surface boundary condition: Usuallywecansimplyassumethatthepressureatthesurface
isaconstant, atmosphericpressure, whichwecanassumetobezerosuchthat thepressureequationbecomes
0c
0t
+
1
2
|c|
2
+qj = C(t), or,
0c
0t
+
1
2
0c
0r
2
+
0c
0j
2
+
0c
0.
2
!
+qj = C(t) on. = j.
(DynamicfreesurfaceboundaryconditionDFSBC)
Thisisalsononlinear, becauseof the|c|
2
term.
4.3 Thegeneral problemof wavemotion
Theproblemwhich wehaveto solve, inall studies of waves on irrotational and incompressibleows, whether
studies of propagating waves or standing waves or considering aspects of propagation, diffraction, reection or
refractionisthen: solveLaplacesequation
2
c =
0
2
c
0r
2
+
0
2
c
0j
2
+
0
2
c
0.
2
= 0
inthelayer of water betweenthebed. = 7(r, j) andtheunknownsurface. = j(r, j, t) subject totheboundary
conditions
0c
0:
= 0 onthebed . = 7(r, j) (nouidpassesthroughthebed),
andthenonlinear boundaryconditionsonthefreesurface
0j
0t
+
0c
0r
0j
0r
+
0c
0j
0j
0j

0c
0.
= 0 on. = j, (KFSBC)
0c
0t
+
1
2
|c|
2
+qj = 0 on. = j, (DFSBC)
wherewehaveset C(t) = 0. Oftenwewill havelateral boundary conditions, suchas onwalls or thesides of a
harbour wherewewill also havetheno-owcondition0c,0: = 0. Occasionally wemay haveopenboundary
conditions, suchasspecifyingthelateral boundaryconditionsintermsof anincident waveeld.
Thisproblemis, ingeneral, verydifcult tosolve. Laplacesequationislinear, andanumber of rather wonderful
methods exist for that, however therearetwo main complications: theboundary geometry is irregular, and the
surfaceboundary conditionsarenonlinear. Initially wewill proceedtolinearisethefreesurfaceboundary condi-
tions so that theupper boundary is not thewavy irregular surfaceof thesea, but ahorizontal planeat themean
level of thewater surface. Still this doesnt simplify theproblemsufciently, and wethen restrict ourselves in
29
thiscoursetoproblemswherethebottomislevel, andthengenerallytoproblemswherethelateral boundariesare
either non-existent (wavespropagatingfreely) or aresimplegeometriessuchasacylindrical harbour.
4.4 Linear wavetheory
Initially wewill consider small motions relativeto amean stateof no movement at all. Wewill placetheco-
ordinateorigin somewherein theplaneof themean surfacelevel. Let thevelocity potential c and thesurface
elevationj begivenby power seriesin-, whichwecanthink of asbeingproportional tothesizeof disturbance,
namelythewaveheight:
c = -c
1
+-
2
c
2
+. . .
j = -j
1
+-
2
j
2
+. . . .
Beforesubstitutingintothefull kinematicanddynamicboundaryconditionsthereisanadditional subtletythatthe
boundaryconditionsareon. = j but wewant toexpresseverythingat themeanwater level . = 0. Todothiswe
useTaylor expansionsabout thelatter point. Then, for example, 0c,0r at thesurfacecanbeexpressedas
0c
0r
:=q
=
0c
0r
:=0
+j
0
2
c
0r0.
:=0
+. . .
= -
0c
1
0r
:=0
+-
2
0c
2
0r
:=0
+. . . +
-j
1
+-
2
j
2
+. . .
-
0
2
c
1
0r0.
:=0
+. . .
= -
0c
1
0r
:=0
+O
-
2
.
Thisistheresult that wemight havewrittendowninstinctively, but wecanseethat toperformsuchoperationsto
higher ordersconsiderablecaremustbetaken. Substitutingsuchexpressionsintothenonlinear freesurfacebound-
aryconditionsweobtainthealmost-obviousresult that wewouldhaveobtainedsimplybyneglectingproductsof
quantitiesintheboundaryconditions:
-
0j
1
0t

0c
1
0.
= 0 on. = 0, themeansurfacelevel,
-
0c
1
0t
+qj
1
= 0 on. = 0.
However, aswearenotgoingtoconsider second-order termsitisnotationallysimpler justtoreplace-c
1
byc etc.,
andsoweobtainthelinear boundaryconditionsinrelativelysimpleformfor small displacementsabout astateof
nomotion:
0j
0t

0c
0.
= 0 on. = 0, themeansurfacelevel, (KLBC)
0c
0t
+qj = 0 on. = 0, themeansurfacelevel. (DLBC)
Nowit isconvenient toeliminatej asavariable, andsowedifferentiatethesecondequationwithrespect tot and
subtract thetwoequationstogivethesinglelinear freesurfaceboundarycondition
0
2
c
0t
2
+q
0c
0.
= 0 on. = 0. (4.11)
Our general problemnowistosolveLaplacesequationthroughout theregionwhereweneedasolution, withthis
astheboundaryconditiononthehorizontal at-topboundary. = 0.
4.4.1 Linear wavemotionover aat bed
Theremainingboundary conditionisthelinear no-owboundary condition0c,0: = 0 onall solidboundaries,
includingtheseabed. Ingeneral, however, suchproblems arenot soluble, andherewewill restrict ourselves to
problemswheretheseabedishorizontal, 7 = d, whered isthemeandepth. Our geometrical domainisnowthe
regionbetweenthetwoplanes. = d and. = 0.
30
4.4.2 Steadytwo-dimensional waves
Thisisthemost importantproblemincoastal andoceanengineering, whereweconsider thepropagationof atrain
of periodic waves. Consider thetwo-dimensional problemof thepropagationof waves inone(r) directionover
thehorizontal bottom:
0
2
c
0r
2
+
0
2
c
0.
2
= 0 inthewater layer d 6 . 6 0,
0c
0.
= 0 ontheseabed . = d, and
0
2
c
0t
2
+q
0c
0.
= 0 onthemeansurfacelevel . = 0.
Experiencesuggeststhat weassumeasolutionof theformcorrespondingtotravellingwaves
c = cosh/(. +d) sin/(r ct), (4.12)
where isaconstant and/ = 2,` isthewavenumber, whichismoreconvenient tousethanthewavelength`
itself. Thequantity c is avelocity of propagation. It canbeshownthat any functionof r ct corresponds to a
disturbancetravellingsteadily without change, inthiscaseasinusoidal wave. (If wehave, ingeneral, )(r ct),
thenat r at timet +t, thesolutionis)(r c(t +t)) = )((r c) ct), thesolutionwhichwasupstream
at r cat timet.)
Firstly weverify that theassumedsolution(4.12) satisesthe2-DLaplacesequationthroughout thewater layer
d 6 . 6 0:
0c
0r
= /cosh/(. +d) cos /(r ct) (= n, horizontal uidvelocity) ,
0c
0.
= /sinh/(. +d) sin/(r ct) (= , vertical uidvelocity) ,
0
2
c
0r
2
= /
2
cosh/(. +d) sin/(r ct),
0
2
c
0.
2
= /
2
andsummingthelast twoit isclear that thetwo-dimensional Laplacesequationissatised.
Nowweverify that (4.12) satisesthebottomboundary conditionontheseabed. = d. Substitutingthat into
theexpressionfor 0c,0. weobtainatermsinh0 = 0, andtheconditionissatised.
Linear dispersion relation: Thisleavesustosatisfythelinear boundaryconditionon. = 0. Weobtain
0
2
c
0t
2
= /
2
c
2
andsubstituting. = 0 weobtain
0
2
c
0t
2
:=0
+ q
0c
0.
:=0
= 0 = /
2
c
2
cosh/d sin/(r ct) +q/sinh/d sin/(r ct),
and taking out common factors which are in general not zero, the only way that this can be satised is if the
relation
c
2
qd
=
tanh/d
/d
=
tanh2d,`
2d,`
(4.13)
issatised. This, thelinear dispersionrelation, isthemost important expressionincoastal andoceanengineering,
showingus howthedimensionless wavespeed c,
qd depends on therelativewavelength `,d. It is plotted in

Figure4-2. Thereareanumber of pointswhichcanbemadeabout thisrelationship:
Wavespeeddependsonwavelength thetermdispersionimpliesthecharacteristicof anarbitrarydisturbance
todisperseintoitsdifferent wavelengthcomponents
Longer wavestravel faster thanshorter ones
31
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
0 5 10 15 20
Dimensionless
wave speed
c
jd
Dimensionless wavelength `d
Dispersion relation (4.13)
Long wave limit
Short wave limit
Figure4-2. Linear dispersionrelation, showinglongandshort wavelimits
Inthelongwave/ shallowwater limit `,d , tanh2d,` 2d,`, and
c =
p
qd,
theclassical result for thespeedof longwavesonstill water whichwecanget fromhydraulictheory. When
wavesaresufcientlylong, speedisindependent of length.
Waveslonger thanabout 15timesthewater depthcanbeconsideredlongwaves
Intheshort wave/ deepwater limit `,d 0, tanh2d,` 1, and
c =
r
q`
2
suchthat whenwater issufcientlydeep, speedisindependent of depth
Wavesshorter thantwicethewater depthcanbeconsideredshort waves, whichmight beconsideredasur-
prisingresult
Solution in terms of wave height: Nowlet us consider thesolution. Becauseour systemof equations
washomogeneous(c occurredinall terms), wehavenot beenabletodeterminetheconstant . Infact, inmost
problems, itisthecrest-troughwaveheight H whichisspecied. Wecanconnectthetwofromthedynamiclinear
boundarycondition:
j =
1
q
0c
0t
:=0
(4.14)
=
/c
q
cosh/d cos / (r ct) ,
whichshowsthat thefreesurfacevariessinusoidally, likemanywavesthat weseeonwater. Now, thewaveheight
isthedifferencebetweenthecrest, whenr ct = 0 andcos / (r ct) = 1, andthetroughwhen/ (r ct) =
andcos / (r ct) = 1, thus
H = 2
/c
q
cosh/d ,
giving
=
H
2
q
/c cosh/d
32
andthesolutionfor bothc andj is
c =
H
2
q
/c
cosh/(. +d)
cosh/d
sin/(r ct), (4.15)
j =
H
2
cos /(r ct). (4.16)
Of course, wecouldwritec interms of /d fromthedispersionrelation, but it seems simpler tokeepit likethis.
Notethat horizontal variationis sinusoidal, as weexpect. Vertical variationof c, expressingapproximately the
variationof velocitiesandthedepartureof pressurefromhydrostaticaswewill see, islike
cosh/(. +d)
cosh/d
,
whichis equal to 1onthesurface. = 0, andwhichbecomes smaller as wego deeper into thewater, i.e. as .
becomeslarger negative.
Inthecaseof deepwater, /d , bothnumerator anddenominator becomelarge, andit canbeshownthat
cosh/(. +d)
cosh/d

c
|(:+J)
c
|J
= c
|:
,
andweseethat thevariationof c with. is exponentially decaying, as . becomes increasingly negative. Inthis
deepwater casethebottomboundaryissatisedwithout requiringthecoshfunctionasthisgoesexponentiallyto
zero. It is interestingto seethevalueof this quantity whenwearehalf awavelengthdown into thewater, that
is, when/. = / `,2 = 2,` `,2 = , andweget c
t
= 0.0432. That is, only half awavelength
downintothewater theamount of disturbanceduetothewavesisonlyabout 4%of that at thesurface. Thiswas
suggestedbytheresultsonFigure4-2. It alsoshowshow, inthecaseof astorm, asubmarinedoesnot havetogo
far downintothewater torideit out withease!
Fluid velocities: It isthederivativesof c whicharerather morephysicallyof use. Differentiatingweobtain
n =
0c
0r
=
H
2
q
c
cosh/(. +d)
cosh/d
cos /(r ct),
n =
0c
0.
=
H
2
q
c
sinh/(. +d)
cosh/d
sin/(r ct).
Thesetoo areperiodic inr ct, withamaximumpositivehorizontal velocity under thecrests andamaximum
negativevalueof thesamemagnitudeunder thetroughs.
Pressure under waves: Nowwetakethepressureequationanywhereintheuidandlineariseit, hereby
simplyneglectingthetermwhichisthesquareof thevelocity:
0c
0t
+
j
j
+q. = 0 throughout theuid, (4.17)
hencewehave, substituting (4.15) for c and differentiating, giving an expression for pressureanywherein the
uid:
j
jq
= . +
H
2
cosh/ (. +d)
cosh/d
cos / (r ct) .
Wecanverify thisfor all pointsonthefreesurfaceby substituting. = j, except that inthecosh/ (j +d) term
weneglect j asthistermisalreadymultipliedbyH andinour derivationwehaveignoredall termsof magnitude
H
2
andhigher. Thensubstitutingequation(4.16) for j weobtainj = 0 on. = j, asweshould.
Flow elds under waves: Figure4-3showsthevelocityandpressureeldsunder sinusoidal waves. Ineach,
thepressureunder thecrest has beenplotted, as has thedistributions of horizontal velocity under thecrests and
troughsof thewaves. Figure(a) isfor awaveof length`,d = 1, thewavelengthequal tothedepth. Inthiscase,
/d = 2, andthevelocity eldandthedisturbancepressureeld(relativeto hydrostatic) dieoff exponentially
thedeeper wegointothewater. At adepthequal tohalf thewavelengthalmost all activityhasceased. Figure(b)
showsawaveof length`,d = 5, andit canbeseenthat nowtheeffectsof thewavearefelt onthebottom, even
thoughthereissomediminutionrelativetothesurface. Figure(c) for awaveof length`,d = 10, ontheboundary
of longwaves, showsthat thevelocitydecaysverylittlewithdepthandthepressureiscloselyhydrostatic.
33
(a) Wave of length = 1, showing exponential decay
L/d=1, H/d=0.05
Pressure
(b) Wave of length = 5, now showing less diminution with depth
L/d =5, H/d =0.05
Pressure
(c) Long wave of length = 10, with pressure distribution under crest now closely
hydrostatic and horizontal velocity proles under trough and crest showing little diminution
with depth
L/d =10, H/d =0.05
Pressure
Figure4-3. Flowelds, withpressuredistributionsunder crestandhorizontal velocity
prolesunder troughandcrest.
Thedirectionof wavepropagationinthesepicturesis fromleft toright. It is clear that under thecrests theuid
velocityisalsointhat direction. Under thetroughs, however, thevelocityisintheother direction, asgivenbythe
trigonometricfunctionsinthesolutionfor c. Inour theorywehaveassumedthat thereisnocurrent onwhichthe
wavesareriding. If thereisacurrent, thenthiscanaffect thehorizontal velocitiesquitemarkedly, andif wewant
to calculateforces onstructures thenwemust includetheeffects of current. Wewill do this later, andwill also
examinesomemoreaccuratenonlinear theories. Meanwhilewewill nowexaminesolutions for standingwaves
andharbour oscillations.
A common rst step solving for wavelength when period is known: Wehavethelinear dispersion
relation, equation(4.13):
c
2
qd
=
tanh/d
/d
.
If aerial or remotesensingmethodswereusedinanengineeringinvestigation, thewavelengthcouldbeobtained
directlybymeasurement. Inmost investigations, however, wemeasurewavesat apoint usingagaugeor buoyand
soweknowthewaveperiodt rather thanthewavelength` (andhence/). Ineither case, wewill needtoknowthe
other quantityaswell. If wesubstitutethedenitionof wavespeedc = `,t = 2,/t intothedispersionrelation
(4.13) for thecaseof nounderlyingcurrent weobtainanexpressionfor thewaveperiodwhichwecanwriteas
34
well intermsof o, theradianfrequencyof thewaves:
o =
2
t
=
p
q/ tanh/d. (4.18)
Itisusual toexpressthisalsoindimensionlessterms, sothatwewrite, rstintermsof wavenumber andfrequency
andthenintermsof themoreimmediatephysical quantitiesof periodandwavelength:
o
q
J
/d tanh/d, or
2
t
p
q,d
=
r
2d
`
tanh
2d
`
(4.19)
If period t is measured, this is a nonlinear transcendental equation for wavelength `, which can besolved by
standardnumerical meanssuchastrial anderror, bisection, or Newtonsmethod. ThesearepresentedinFenton&
McKee(1990). Alsointhatpaper aconvenientempirical explicitapproximationispresented, withlittletheoretical
justication:
/ =
o
2
q
coth((o
p
d,q)
3/2
)
2/3
. (4.20)
It isaccuratetowithin1.5%over all wavelengths, whichisprobablyaccurateenoughfor practical purposes, asin
this theory wehavelinearisedtheequations (neglectedterms proportional to thesquareof thewaveheight) and
haveneglectedall effects of current. It is exact inbothlongwave(shallowwater) andshort wave(deepwater)
limitsrespectively. Thiscouldbeusedasaninitial approximationif greater renement wererequired.
A morerecent formulabyGuo(2002) isanevenmoreaccurateapproximationtothelinear dispersionrelation:
/d =
o
2
d
q
1 c
J/
52
2/5
(4.21)
Long wave / shallow water limit: as `,d , tanh
2tJ
X

2tJ
X
, andtheright sideof theexact equation
(4.19) becomes2d,`, giving
` t
p
qd.
Theapproximation(4.20) inthislimit, whenthewaveperiodbecomeslargesuchthat thefrequencyo becomes
small, gives
/ =
o
2
q
coth((o
p
d,q)
3/2
)
2/3
o
2
q

(o
p
d,q)
3/2
2/3
=
o
qd
,
alsogivingthecorrect limitingbehaviour ` t
qd
Short wave / deep water limit: as `,d 0, tanh
2tJ
X
1, andtheright sideof theexact equation(4.19)
becomes
p
2d,`, giving
`
qt
2
2
.
Theapproximation(4.20) inthislimit, whenthewaveperiodbecomessmall suchthat thefrequencyo becomes
large, gives
/ =
o
2
q
coth((o
p
d,q)
3/2
)
2/3
o
2
q
,
alsogivingthecorrect limitingbehaviour ` qt
2
,2.
4.4.3 Standingwaves
Wewill returnto steady two-dimensional waves later, as it is oftennecessary to obtainmoreaccuratesolutions
thanwehavepresentedhere. Another important caseof linear motionover aat bedis that of standingwaves,
whichcanoftenbeseeninthevicinityof aseawall or other vertical barrier, whentheincomingwavesarereected
suchthat theresultant waveeldisoneof standingwaves, wherethewavesseemtobobupanddownat apoint,
rather thanprogressing. Most of thegoverningequationsarethesameasfor steadywaves, it isjust that thelateral
boundary conditions aredifferent. As our equations arelinear wecansuperimposethemotionof two travelling
wavetrainsprogressinginoppositedirections. Hencefromequation(4.12) wewritethesolutionas
c = cosh/(. +d) sin/(r ct) +cosh/(. +d) sin/(r +ct),
35
wherethesecondtermcontains r + ct, showingwavepropagationinthenegativer direction. Combiningthese
termswehave
c = cosh/(. +d) (sin/(r ct) + sin/(r +ct))
= cosh/(. +d) 2 sin/r cos /ct
= 2cosh/(. +d) sin/r cos ot, (4.22)
wherewehavesubstitutedo for /c (comingfromc = `,t). Nowthevelocityof propagationismeaningless, but
thewavesdohaveadenitefrequency(andperiod). If wesubstitutethisintothelinear surfaceboundarycondition
(4.11):
0
2
c
0t
2
+q
0c
0.
= 0 on . = 0,
weobtainequation(4.18):
o =
2
t
=
p
q/ tanh/d.
Nowwewant toobtainanexpressionfor thewaveheight, soweusethedynamiclinear boundaryconditioninthe
formof equation(4.14):
j =
1
q
0c
0t
:=0
=
2o
q
cosh/d sin/rsinot.
Now, when/r = 0, , 2, . . . (r = 0, `,2, `, . . .) thisgiveszero, showingthat thesurfacedoesnot movethere,
andtheyarenodes, just asinvibratingstringsor organpipes. At /r = ,2, 3,2, . . . (r = 0, `,4, 3`,4, . . .) the
surfacewill showperiodicmaximaandminimaasitbobsupanddown. Whent = t,4, ot = ,2, andthesurface
hasamaximumj = H,2. Half aperiodlater, at t = 3t,4 it hasaminimumat j = H,2. Thisgivesusenough
informationtosolvefor :
=
H
4
q
o cosh/d
,
asimilar expressiontothat obtainedpreviouslyfor propagatingwaves. Thesolutionisnow
c =
H
2
q
o
cosh/ (. +d)
cosh/d
sin/rcos ot (4.23)
j =
H
2
sin/rsinot. (4.24)
Weobtainedtheabovesolutionby simply consideringthecombinationof two travellingwaves. It shows that at
r = 0 thereisanode(j 0). It isprobablymoreconvenient tohaveananti-nodeat r = 0, correspondingtoan
impermeablewall beinglocatedthere. Wesubstitutetheshiftedco-ordinater
0
= r `,4 into equations (4.23)
and(4.24), inwhichcasetheterm
sin/r = sin/(r
0
+`,4) = sin(/r
0
+ 2,` `,4) = sin(/r
0
+,2) = cos /r
0
andthensimplyreplacer
0
byr toshowthatwecansimplyreplacesin/r bycos /r inequations(4.23) and(4.24):
c =
H
2
q
o
cosh/ (. +d)
cosh/d
cos /rcos ot (4.25)
j =
H
2
cos /rsinot. (4.26)
Wecanimmediatelyverifythat thisproblem, of aninnitetrainof standingwaves, alsocorrespondstoastanding
wavebetweentwovertical walls. Wedifferentiatetheexpressionfor c togivethehorizontal velocity:
n =
0c
0r
=
H
2
q/
o
cosh/ (. +d)
cosh/d
sin/rcos ot,
andhencewhen/r = 0, , 2, . . . = ,, for , = 1, 2, . . ., thehorizontal velocity is zero, correspondingto the
sameboundary conditionprovidedby avertical wall. If twovertical wallsareadistance1 apart, thismeans we
canhave/1 = ,. As / = 2,` this gives 21,` = ,, hence`,1 = 2,, = 2, 1, 2,3, 1,2, 2,5, . . . suchthat
anyoneof aninnitenumber of wavelengthsbetweenthemarepossible, startingwithtwicethedistancebetween
36
them. Thelonger wavesaremoreeasilyexcitedandhencearemorelikely. Theyhavelonger periodstoo, asmight
havebeenexpected. Figure4-4showsasituationwheretwowallsareadistanceof four water depthsapart, and
wheretherst mode, `,1 = 2 hasbeenexcited. Thegureshowsthewater surfaceat thetwoextremes, aswell
asthestreamlinesof theow. It canbeseenthat theowisof aseichingnature, wherethewholebody of water
seemstooscillatebackandforth. Thesurfaceis, possiblysurprisingly, notastraightline, butisacosinefunction.
Figure4-4. Standingwave, showingmaximumandminimumwater levels at thesurfaceandstreamlines inthe
water
Pressure under the waves and force on the wall: Nowwecanuselinear theorytocalculatethepressure
at any point inthewater andfromthis to computetheforceonthewalls. Wehaveequation(4.17) obtainedby
linearisingtheunsteadyBernoulli equation
0c
0t
+
j
j
+q. = 0 throughout theuid.
Hence, substitutingequation(4.25):
j
jq
= . +
H
2
cosh/ (. +d)
cosh/d
cos /rsinot. (4.27)
Notethat whenwesubstitute. = j, theelevationof thefreesurfacegivenbyequation(4.26), andignoringterms
of order H
2
, weobtainj = 0, asweshould. It canbeseenthat thevariationof pressureinthevertical isthesame
asthat for propagatingwaves, andwecanshowthat for deepwater thevariation(relativetothehydrostaticterm)
islikeexp/., showingexponential decayas. becomesnegative. Of someinterest isthetotal horizontal forceper
unit length1 ononeof thewalls, at r = 0:
1 =
q
Z
J
j(0, .) d.,
wherewehavetreatedthisinascalar sense. Substitutingtheexpressionfor pressureat r = 0:
1
jq
=
.
2
2
+
H
2/
sinot
sinh/ (. +d)
cosh/d
q
J
=
1
2
d
2
j
2
+
H
2/
sinh/ (j +d)
cosh/d
sinot
=
1
2
d
2
+
H
2/
tanh/d sinot,
wherewehave, inkeepingwiththeaccuracyof thetheory, neglectedall termsof order H
2
. Clearlytherstpartof
thesolution, d
2
,2 isthehydrostaticcomponent. Insituationswherewallsarebackedby landll, theactual force
onthewall isnotanimportantdesignconsideration, however for wallsconstructedonthesidesof piersor onrows
of piles, theforceisimportant for design, andinthissituation, typicallythereisstill water ontheother sideof the
wall, sothat thenet force1
isthat duetothewavemotiononly. Hence,

1
jqd
2
=
1
2
H
d
tanh/d
/d
sinot
Thisgivesanexpressionfor thepulsatingforce andwecanseethat it issinusoidal innature, havingapositive
maximumwhenthesurfaceishighestatthewall, sinot = 1, andnegativewhenthesurfaceislowest, sinot = 1.
This negativevaluemight be unexpected - but it means that xing devices holding planks in placehave to be
designedtoo.
37
Theexpressionfor 1
dependsonthedimensionlesswavelengthintheratiotanh/d , /d. For longwaves, when

/d is small, and the pressure does not decay down into thewater, theratio is equal to 1 and could have been
obtainedjust byconsideringtheuidtohaveconstant wave-inducedpressureagainst thewall. For shorter waves
(larger /d) theratio becomes smaller. Longwaves createthelargest forces becausethepressuredoes not decay
withdepth.
4.4.4 Short-crestedwaves
Incident train Reflected train
Wall
Figure4-5. Planviewof periodic wavetrainobliquely incident onavertical wall, showingreectedwavetrain
andresultant diamond-shapedpattern
A typeof wavemotionwhichcombinessomefeaturesof bothsteady wavesandstandingwavesisthat of short-
crestedwaves, whentwo wavetrains intersect at anangle, suchas whenawavetrainis obliquely incident ona
vertical wall andis perfectly reected. Theresultingwavetrainis diamond-shapedwhenviewedinplan, andat
anypoint thewavemotionisstill periodicintime(aswell asbeingperiodicinr andperiodicinj).Thiscanalso
Figure4-6. Water surfaceof ashort-crestedwavesystem
bestudiedusinglinear theory, andtheforcesonthewall calculated.Wewill examinethislater whenwetouchon
nonlinear theories.
4.4.5 Harbour oscillations
The potential for oscillation of harbours of idealised shapes can be studied using the method of separation of
variables, asabove, assumingthat Laplacesequationholdsthroughout thewater, satisfyingthelinear freesurface
boundary condition, and satisfying no-owboundary conditions on theat bed . = d, and on vertical walls
deningtheharbour, aclose-enoughapproximationfor practical purposes. Inall cases thevariationwith. can
berepresentedbycoshi(. +d), coshid asbefore, wherei expressestherapidityof variationwith. but ceases
to havethedirect signicanceof thewavenumber / in thesemoregeneral geometries. Thelinear freesurface
boundaryconditionleadstothesamerelationbetweenfrequencyof oscillationo andthequantityi:
o =
2
t
=
p
qi tanhid. (4.28)
38
Thevaluesof i aredeterminedbytherest of theproblem, whichdependsonitsgeometry. If welet
c = (r, j)
coshi(. +d)
coshid
,
thensubstitutingintoLaplacesequationgives
2
2
+i
2
= 0, (4.29)
where
2
2
isthetwo-dimensional Laplaceoperator.
Rectangular harbours: Hereit isconvenient tousecartesianco-ordinates, andwewill consider aharbour
of dimensions1
r
and1
. Welet
= cos
:r
1
r
cos
:j
1
, (4.30)
where: and: areintegers, equal to0or greater.Wecanverify that n, ther component of velocity intheuid,
isproportional to0,0r whichisproportional tosin:r,1
r
, whichis 0 at r = 0 andr = 1
r
, satisfyingthe
boundary conditions ontwo oppositesides of theharbour If : = 1 it has no other intermediatezeroes, andwe
havethefundamental modeof oscillation. Similar resultsholdfor j andtheother twosidesof theharbour. The
onlyother equationtosatisfyisequation(4.29), andsubstitutinggivesthecondition
:
1
r
2
+
:
1
2
= i
2
. (4.31)
Now, for anyinteger valuesof :and: avalueof i canbecalculated, andfromequation(4.28) thecorresponding
period of oscillation found. This can bedoneand compared with likely input fromexternal gravity waves and
infra-gravitywavestotest thepossibilityof resonance, andhenceunreasonableoscillations.
Circular harbours: Itcanbeshownthatincylindrical co-ordinatestheLaplaceequationcondition, equation
(4.29), becomes
0
2
0r
2
+
1
r
0
0r
+
1
r
2
0
2
00
2
+i
2
= 0.
A solutionis
= J
n
(ir) cos :0,
whereJ
n
isaBessel functionof order :. Theinteger : expressesthefrequency of variationaroundtheharbour.
If : = 0 thenthereisnovariationwith0 andall motionisaxisymmetric; if : = 1 thenthereisasingleperiodof
variationaroundtheharbour andsoon.
Thepossiblevalues of i aredeterminedby theboundary conditionontheperimeter, whichwesupposeto beat
aradiusof 1. Theconditionthat therebenouidowacrossthecircumferencecaneasily beshowntogivethe
condition
J
0
n
(i1) = 0, (4.32)
whereJ
0
n
(i1) = dJ
n
(r),dr|
r=r1
. For agivenradius of harbour, theknowledgeof theroots of this equation
thengiveusthepossiblevaluesof i.
Figure4-7showstherst twoBessel functionsplotted. Theconditiongivenbyequation(4.32) isthat theedgeof
theharbour canoccur wherethegraphishorizontal. For theJ
0
functionwecanshowthat theseareat r = 3.83
andr = 7.02, whilefor theJ
1
functiontherst valuesarer = 1.84, 5.33, and8.54. Theoscillationsareshown
moregraphically inFigures4-8and4-9. Intheformer it isclear wherepossibleboundingcylinders(theharbour
perimeters) might exist, and howthemotion is an axisymmetric one. In thecaseof the: = 1 oscillation, we
haveseenonFigure4-7howasmaller valueof i1 satisestheequationJ
0
1
(i1) = 0, andsofor agivenphysical
radius, an: = 1 oscillationwithasmaller valueof i is possible. This is thefundamental seichingmechanism,
wherethemotionis thecircular equivalent of that showninFigure4-4, withanapparent motionof water from
onesideof theharbour totheother. Inaproblemof determiningthenatural periodsof oscillation, theprocedure
is, giventherst fewrootsof thelower order Bessel functions, andtheradius1 of theharbour, thendeterminei,
theparameter whichdetermines thevariationinthe. direction, andthento determinethefrequency (andhence
39
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 2 4 6 8 10
J
(r)
r
J0(r) and possible harbour walls
J
1
(r) and possible harbour walls
Figure4-7. Bessel functionsJ
0
(r) andJ
1
(r) andpossiblepositionsof walls
Figure4-8. Circular harbour oscillationsinthe: = 0 (axisymmetric) mode; possibleperimetersarecylinderswith
radii wherethesurfaceishorizontal.
period) fromthelinear dispersionrelation:
o =
2
t
=
p
qi tanhid.
4.4.6 Waveenergy
Theenergycontent inawaveismadeupof bothpotential andkineticenergy.
Potential energy: Wewill calculatetheenergy per unit widthinonewaveby consideringanelement of
width1andlengthdr andwithelevationj. Thepotential energyduetothedeformationof thefreesurfaced\ is
Figure4-9. Circular harbour oscillationsinthe: = 1 mode; possibleperimetersarecylinderswithradii wherethe
theradial derivativeiszero, not soobvioushere.
40
givenbythemasstimesq timestheelevationof thecentreof mass,
d\ = jq 1 j dr
j
2
,
hencethepotential energyper unit widthinonewave\ :
\ =
jq
2
X
Z
0
j
2
dr
=
jq
2

H
2
X
Z
0
cos
2
/(r ct) dr
=
jq
2

H
2
X
Z
0
1
2
1 + cos 2/(r ct)

| {z }
Periodic, integral =0
dr
=
1
16
jqH
2
`.
Kinetic energy: Thisisduetoparticlemotion, andisdenotedbyT.
T =
j
2
X
Z
0
q
Z
J
n
2
+n
2
d. dr
j
2
X
Z
0
0
Z
J
n
2
+n
2
d. dr,
where, towithinour accuracy for linear wavetheorywehavereplacedtheupper limit intheintegral over . by 0,
themeansurfacelevel. Wehave
n =
H
2
q
c
cosh/(. +d)
cosh/d
cos /(r ct),
n =
H
2
q
c
sinh/(. +d)
cosh/d
sin/(r ct),
hence
n
2
+n
2
=

H
2
q
c
1
cosh/d
cosh
2
/(. +d) cos
2
/(r ct) + sinh
2
/(. +d) sin
2
/(r ct)
=

H
2
q
c
1
cosh/d
cosh
2
/ (. +d) sin
2
/ (r ct)
,
=

H
2
q
c
1
cosh/d
1
2
cosh2/(. +d) +
1
2
cos 2/(r ct)
,
giving
0
Z
|
n
2
+n
2
d. =

H
2
q
c
1
cosh/d
0
Z
J
1
2
cosh2/(. +d) +
1
2
cos 2/(r ct)
d.
=

H
2
q
c
1
cosh/d
sinh2/d
4/
+d cos 2/ (r ct)
andintegratingwithrespect tor from0 to` andmultiplyingbyj,2 gives

T =
j`
2
H
2
q
c
1
cosh/d
sinh2/d
4/
=
1
16
j`H
2
q
2
tanh/d
c
2
/
,
41
andasc
2
= q,/ tanh/d, weobtain
T =
1
16
jqH
2
`,
and surprisingly, this is the same as the expression for potential energy. What is also interesting is that both
expressionsshowthat themeanpotential andkinetic energy per unit area, T,` and\,` arebothindependent of
thewaveperiodor length.
Energy transport: Thenextstepistoinvestigatethetransmissionof energyof atrainof sinusoidal waves. Let
1 bethewavepower per unitcrestwidth. Thevalueof 1 isacombinationof theadvection(transport) of potential
andkineticenergyplustheworkdonebythepressuresper unitwidth. Wecanshow, thatif 1 = T +\ = jqH
2
,8,
thetotal energyper unit of area, then
1 = 1c
,
wherec
isthegroupvelocity,whichisthemeanspeedat whichenergyistransmitted, andit canalsobeshownto

bethespeedat whichagroupof wavestravels. Infact, wecanexpressthisintermsof thewavespeed:
c
c
=
1
2
1 +
2/d
sinh2/d
. (4.33)
Inthelimit of deepwater (short waves) as /d , this becomes c
,c = 1,2, showingthat indeepwater the

energytravelsat half thespeedof thewavesthemselves. Inshallowwater, as/d 0, c
,c = 1, andtheenergyis
transmittedat thespeedof thewaves. Thebehaviour isshowningure4-10.
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 5 10 15 20
Group
velocity
c
c
Dimensionless wavelength `d
Figure4-10. Relativegroupvelocityanditsvariationwithwavelength
4.4.7 Superpositionof wavesof different frequencies, beats
Insomeapplicationsitismoreconvenienttousethewavenumber andwavefrequency, rather thanthewavespeed.
Wenotethat aswavespeedc = `,t, substituting` = 2,/ andt = 2,o, weobtaintherelations
c =
o
/
, or o = /c,
hencewewritefor thefundamental solution
j =
H
2
cos /(r ct) =
H
2
cos (/r /ct) =
H
2
cos (/r ot) .
Nowweconsider twowavetrains. Astheequationswehavedevelopedarelinear , wecansuperposesolutions, and
herewewill consider theinterferenceof twowavetrainstravellinginthesamedirectionwithdifferent wavenum-
bers/
1
and/
2
anddifferent frequencieso
1
ando
2
. For simplicity, theamplitudeistakentobethesameinboth
42
waves. Hencewewrite.
j
1
=
H
2
cos(/
1
r o
1
t)
j
2
=
H
2
cos(/
2
r o
2
t).
Addinggives
j
1
+j
2
=
H
2
(cos(/
1
r o
1
t) + cos(/
2
r o
2
t)) .
Weconsider thetwofrequenciesandwavenumberstobeslightlydifferent fromthecarrier valuesbywriting
o
1
= o
o
2
and/
1
= /
/
2
o
2
= o +
o
2
and/
2
= / +
/
2
.
Bysuitabletrigonometricmanipulationsit ispossibletowritethecombinedsolutionas
j
1
+j
2
= H cos(/r ot) cos
1
2
(/ r ot)
,
andthisconsistsof thebasiccarrier wavebut modulatedbytheenvelopefunction
cos
1
2
(/ r ot)
= cos
1
2
/
r
o
/
t
,
sothat theapparent velocity of theenvelopewaveiso,/. Inthelimit of vanishingsmall /, (henceawave
groupof innitelength) thisbecomesdo,d/, andthisisc
, thegroupvelocity. Werecall that thewaveenergyis

proportional tothesquareof thewaveheight, andsonoenergy canpropagatepast anode, as thewaveheight is
zerothere. Thereforetheenergymust travel withthespeedof thegroupof waves.
Wave
Additional wave with half the amplitude and 6/7 of the length
Resultant
Figure4-11. Twowavetrainscombined, showingthebeat phenomenon
Figure4-11showsthephenomenonfor twowavetrains, thesecondhavingalength1/7lessthantherst, andan
amplitudeof 50%. Remember theoldsurfersrule: everyseventhwaveislarge...
Nowconsider thelinear dispersionrelationship
o
2
= q/ tanh/d.
Differentiating,
2o
do
d/
= q tanh/d +q/d sech
2
/d,
43
hence
do
d/
= c
=
o
q tanh/d +q/d sech

2
/d
2q/ tanh/d
= c
tanh/d +/d sech
2
/d
2 tanh/d
= c
sinh/d, cosh/d +/d, cosh
2
/d
2 sinh/d , cosh/d
= c
1
2
1 +
2/d
sinh2/d
, as sinh2/d = 2 sinh/d cosh/d.

whichagreeswithequation(4.33).
4.5 Shoaling, refractionandbreaking
4.5.1 Shoaling
Wecanuseour energytheorytoapplytowavesshoaling movingintograduallydecreasingwater depths. Initially
weconsiderthesituationwherearegularwavetrainmovessothatthewavecrestsareparallel tothedepthcontours.
Thisimpliesthat heretheenergycontainedwithinacertainwidthindeepwater remainswithinthesamewidthin
shallowwater. Althoughtheprevioustheoryisnotstrictlyapplicabletothiscasesincethebottomisnothorizontal,
therestrictionof small bottomslopepermitstheassumptionthat locally thewavebehavesasif it wereinlocally
constant depth. Hence, thepower crossinganysectionat onepoint isthesameasanywhereelse, andso
1 = 1c
= 1
0
c
0
,
wherethe0 subscriptsdenotethedeepwater values. Thuswehave
1
8
jqH
2
c
=
1
8
jqH
2
0
c
0
,
or,
H
H
0
=
r
c
0
c
= 1
s
,
theShoalingCoefcient, showingthat asthelocal groupvelocity c
decreaseswithwater depth, thewaveheight

increases. Wecansubstituteour expressionstogive
1
s
=
s
c
0
c

1
1 +
2|J
sinh 2|J
, (4.34)
wherec
0
is thewavespeedindeepwater andc that at depthd. Wecanrelatethesetwo by writingc
0
= o,/
0
andc = o,/, whereo isthefrequencyof thewaves, whichisthesamewhether theyareindeepor shallowwater,
giving
c
0
c
=
/
/
0
andinfact wecanusethelinear dispersionrelationfor thefrequencyat bothpoints:
o =
p
q/ tanh/d =
p
q/
0
, (4.35)
asindeepwater, whend , tanh/d 1. Thisgives
/
/
0
=
1
tanh/d
,
andsubstitutinginto(4.34) gives
1
s
=

tanh/d
1 +
2/d
sinh2/d
1/2
(4.36)
=

tanh/d +/d
1 tanh
2
/d
1/2
. (4.37)
44
Thesignicanceof thisisthatitenablesustocalculatethewaveheightatanydepth, importantfordesignpurposes.
Multiplyingthelinear dispersionrelationship(4.35) by
p
d,q gives
o
p
d,q =
/d tanh/d. (4.38)
Thetwo equations, (4.38) and(4.37) (thelatter has been developedfor theselecturenotes (4.36) is theusual
form) enable a shoaling calculation to be done. For a given wave frequency o and water depth d, (4.38) is a
transcendental equationwhichcanbesolvedfor /, andthiscanthenbesubstitutedinto(4.37) togivetheratioof
thewaveheight at that point tothat ininnitedepth.
Thepractical procedureisthen
1. For agivenwaveperiod, calculatethefrequencyo = 2,t.
2. Theproblemisthen, for agivendepthd, tosolvethetranscendental equationo =
q/ tanh/d for / at that

depth. Four methodscanbementioned:
a. Calculateatableor graphof o
p
d,q for variousvaluesof /d andtheninterpolateinthetableor readoff
thegraphtheappropriatevalueof / for thegivenvalueof o.
b. Usethetablesandgraphprovidedinmanytextbooks, notablyUSCERC (1975, AppendixC, Volume3).
c. Useanumerical methodtosolvetheequation, suchasbisection, trial-and-error etc.
d. Thesimplest istousetheapproximateexpressionof Fenton& McKee(1990):
/d =
o
2
d
q
coth((o
p
d,q)
3/2
)
2/3
. (4.39)
3. Useequation(4.36) or (4.37) tocalculate1
s
. Thelatter equationseemsabit simpler.
Inpractice, rather thanspecifyingavalueof frequencyo, usuallythedeep-water wavelength`
0
(usually1
0
) is
presented. Indeepwater wehaveo =
q/
0
, giving
`
0
=
qt
2
2
,
andtheratioof d,`
0
hasmoreobviousphysical signicancethano
p
d,q.
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
1
s
d,`
0
Exact (linear theory)
Explicit approximation (4.39)
Figure4-12. Variationof relativewaveheight (shoalingcoefcient 1
s
) withdimensionlessdepthd,`
0
Nowwepresent agraphshowingthevariationof 1
s
= H,H
0
withdimensionlessdepthd,`
0
obtainedas sug-
gestedabove, inonecasesolvingthetranscendental equationateachdepth, andintheother usingtheapproximate
explicit expressionof (4.39). It canbeseenthat thetwosetsof resultsalmost coincide. It maycomeasasurprise
that, suchis thedependenceof thegroupvelocity on/d, that as thewaveshoals theamplitudeactually starts to
decreaseinitially (only after d 0.5, inagreement withour earlier experiencethat wavesdonot feel thebottom
until thisdepth). Then, at about d,`
0
0.16 thefunctionhasaminimum, andafter that thewaveheight grows
quicklyastheshoreisapproached.
45
4.5.2 Refractionof waves
Figure4-13. Geometric construction after Huygens, showing waves approaching shoreand theclosest inshore
havingasmaller speed, leadingtobendingof thewavecrest.
Manysurfacewavecharacteristicscanbeshowntohaveanalogousbehaviour withother wavephenomena. Inthe
caseof therefractionof gravitywavesagoodanalogyisfoundingeometricoptics, whereSnellslawof refraction
plays an important role. During theabovediscussion on waveshoaling attention was drawn to thefact that as
wavesenteredshallower water fromdeepwater, thephasevelocity, wavelengthandwaveheight all changed, but
thewaveperiod did not. Thereit was assumed that wavecrests werealways parallel to thegradually-varying
straight depthcontours. Nowweconsider amoregeneral case, asdepictedinFigure4-13. Whenthelong-crested
waves approach theshorelineobliquely, that part of awavewhich is closest to theshoreis in water of smaller
depth, and as thewavespeed increases with depth, this part of thewavehas asmaller velocity. Weconstruct
circles of radius ct, wheret is an interval of time, showing whereapoint on awavecrest can beat atime
t later. Bydrawinganenvelopetoall suchcircleswehaveanapproximationtothewavecrest at thelater time,
andit isclear that it hasapparentlyturnedtowardsshallower water. Thewaveissubject toacontinuousrefraction
whichtends to alignthewavefront to thedepthcontours. Figure4-14shows moredetails of awaveeld. The
orthogonalsor waveraysonthediagramrepresent thedirectionsthat thewavefrontsaretaking.
Figure4-14. Moredetaileddrawing(after Graze) showingrefractionof thewaveeldandthepositionof breaking
waves
Nowweconsider moregeneral topographies, asshowninFigure4-15, showinghowwavesarerefractedtowards
shallower water, whichmeans that they refract towards ridges andto headlands, andaway fromvalleys or bays.
This has important implications for sandmovement oncoastlines andfor surfers, as nowthewavepower is not
distributeduniformlyalongthecoast at thecoast, but will beconcentratedatheadlands. Wecandothesamekinds
of calculationsaswedidfor straight shoaling, but herewewill havetotakeintoaccount that indifferent partsthe
waveorthogonalsmayhaveconverged(diverged) withanapparent increase(decrease) inpower per unit span.
4.5.3 Waverefractiontheory
Herewedescribethetheorybriey(seeDeanandDalrymple, 1984, p104for alonger discussion, whichisquite
interesting). Theway inwhichmost solutionsof shoalingareperformedistocalculatethepositionsof asystem
of orthogonals to thewavefronts (crests), and then to calculatethewaveshoaling using theabovemethods by
allowingfor theconvergenceor divergenceof thewaveorthogonals.
Consider Figure4-16. Itcanbeshownthat, if 0 istheanglethat awaveorthogonal makeswithther axis, thenthe
46
Figure4-15. Theshoalingof wavetrainsover somecommontopographies(after Graze)
governingequationis
0 (/ sin0)
0r

0 (/ cos 0)
0j
= 0, (4.40)
wherer isnormal tothebeachandj isalongthebeach. For asituationwherethecontoursareparallel thereisno
longshorevariationinthej directionandtheequationreducesto
d (/ sin0)
dr
= 0, or / sin0 = Constant.
Thismeansthat thelong-shoreprojectionof thewavenumber isconstant. Wecandividebyfrequencyo togive
sin0
c
= Constant =
sin0
0
c
0
,
wherethe0 subscripts denotethedeep water values. This is Snells law, originally found in geometric optics,
relatingthechangeindirectionof awavetothechangeinwavespeed. Asthewavespeedissmaller inshallower
water, thensoistheanglethewavesmaketothenormal tothebeach. Thus0 decreasesasthewaveshoals.
In general, offshorecontours areirregular, and in anengineering investigation it is necessary to solvethemore
general problem. Historically, ray-tracingtechniques weredevelopedto solvethis. Usingsomecalculus, it can
be shown that theequation governing the wave anglecan be written in (:, :) cordinates, : in the direction of
47
s
n
x
y
Wave crest
Wave ray/orthogonal
Depth contours
Figure4-16. Wavecrest andray/orthogonal andgeneral andlocal co-ordinates
propagationand: perpendicular, giving
00
0:
=
1
/
0/
0:
.
To evaluatethis weusethedispersion relation o =

q/ tanh/d, so that at agiven point whereweknowthe
depth, wecansolvethis to give/, andalso to give0/,0:. Useof theapproximation(4.39) for / as afunction
of o and d would make this procedure rather simpler. Having evaluated the right side, this gives us 00,0:,
whichisthecurvatureof theray, andsotheray canbeprojectedforward, andtheprocedurerepeated. Computer
programs which do this are known to have a number of problems, such as when, due to numerical errors or
irregular topography, therays cometoo close, giving locally inniteenergy and abreaking down of thetheory
probably beforethewavesthemselvesbreak! Neverthelessthey arewidely usedby theengineeringprofessionto
calculatethewaveeldat asiteof interest.
Havingcalculatedthepathsof variousrays, asthereisnoenergy ux acrossthewaverays, thetotal energy ux
betweentwoadjacentraysatonepointisthesameasatanother point. Our previoustheoryfor thechangeof height
withdistancewasessentiallytwo-dimensional, whereweconsideredwavesshoalingnormal tothebeach. Nowwe
simplymodifythetheorybymultiplyingby/, thedistancebetweentworaysat ageneral point andindeepwater,
togive1 = 1c
/ = 1
0
c
0
/
0
,wherethe0 subscriptsdenotethedeepwater values. Thus, asabove, weobtain
H
H
0
=
r
c
0
c
r
/
0
/
= 1
s
1
:
,
where, inadditiontotheShoalingCoefcient introducedabove, wehavetheRefractionCoefcient 1
:
=
p
/
0
,/.
4.5.4 A model of refractiononaplanebeach
Hereweusetheapproximationfor wavenumber to get anexplicit differential equation. WehaveSnells lawfor
thecasewherethecontoursareparallel:
/(r) sin0 = C = /
0
sin0
0
.
However, intermsof cartesianco-ordinates,
tan0 =
dj
dr
,
andsothedifferential equationbecomes
dj
dr
= tan0 = tan
sin
1
C
/(r)
=
1
q
|(r)
2
c
2
1
48
Nowweusetheapproximationof (4.39):
/(r) =
o
2
q
coth((o
p
d(r),q)
3/2
)
2/3
,
whichgivesthedifferential equation
dj
dr
=
coth((o
p
d(r),q)
3/2
)
2/3
sin0
0
2
1
1/2
.
Nowwecanassumeaparticularformof depthvariation. Thesimplestisthatof auniformslopec: d(r) = 1cr.
Wesolvethedifferential equationnumericallyfor threedifferent waveperiodsfor aslopeof c = 0.01, 0
0
= 45
,
starting50 km out tosea. Resultsareshowningure4-17. It isclear howthelongwavesfeel thebottommuch
further outatseaandaremoreaffectedbytheprocessof refraction. Shortwavesremainrelativelyunaffecteduntil
closeinshore.
0 2 4 6 8 10
Distance oshore (km)
5s period
10s period
20s period
Figure4-17. Planviewshowingtrajectoriesof wavesonabeachof slope0.01 for different periods
4.5.5 Wavesbreakinginshallowwater
Theshoalingcoefcient indicates that thewaveheight will approachinnity invery shallowwater, whichisnot
realistic. At somedepth, awaveof givencharacteristicswill becomeunstableandbreak, dissipatingenergyinthe
formof turbulence. Whendesigningastructurewhichat timesmay beinsidethesurf zoneit becomesnecessary
tobeabletopredict thelocationof thebreaker line.
Themeansbywhichwavesbreakdependsonthenatureof thebottomandthecharacteristicsof thewave, asshown
inFigure4-18. Therearethreemaintypes:
Spilling breakers: For very mildly sloping beaches, typically thewaves arespilling breakers, and is charac-
terisedby breakinggradually over alongdistancesuchthat many wavesoccur withinthesurf zone(denedas
that regionwherethewavesarebreaking, extendingfromthebeachtotheseawardlimit of thebreaking). The
rateof energylossissmall, permittinganearlycompletereformingof thewavesshouldtheyonceagainprogress
intodeepwater, suchaswhenthey crossasandbar. Thewaveremains almost symmetrical, withfoamgently
spillingdownthefront faceof thebreakingwave. Bythetimethewavereachesthetopof thebeach, theenergy
of thewavehasbeenalmost completelyabsorbed, withlittleor noreection.
Plunging breakers: Theseoccur onsteeper beachesandarecharacterisedbythecrest of thewavecurlingover
forwardandimpingingonto part of thewavetrough, sometimes trappingair, andplungingwithaloudreport.
Considerableenergy is dissipatedinthis manner by turbulence, andconsiderablefunis hadby surfers before
that moment of plunging. Therearefewmeasurementsof thebreakingcriteriafor suchwaves.
49
Figure4-18. Threetypesof wavebreakingonbeaches(after Svendsen). Thesmall guresdenotedifferent stages
of thebreakingprocess.
Surging breakers: Thesewaves occur onvery steepbeaches andarecharacterisedby narrowor non-existent
surf zones, and high reection. Sometimes a fourth type is added collapsing, which is a combination of
plungingandsurging.
Laboratoryexperimentshaveshownthat breaker typescanbeclassieddependingontheso-calledsurf similarity
parameter
=
,
p
H
b
,`
0
,
where , is the beach slope, H
b
is the wave height at breaking point, and `
0
is, as previously, the deep-water
wavelength. Theclassicationis
Type
Spilling < 0.4
Plunging 0.4 2
Surging 2
4.6 Diffraction
Wavediffractionis theprocess by whichwaves arescatteredby structures inthesea. This might bethesimple
truncation of awaveby abreakwater, or thescatteringof incident waves by alargepetroleumproduction plat-
form, onewhosephysical dimensionsarecomparablewiththewavelength. ExamplesareshowninFigure4-19.
Diffractionoccursontheshelteredsideof thebreakwater suchthat thewaves arecut-off by thebreakwater, and
thenastheypropagateenergyspreadslaterally, leadingtothediffractionpatternsshown. Thewavedisturbanceis
transmittedintotheshadowzone behindthebreakwater, andastheenergyisnowtravellingalsoparallel tothe
wavecrest, theenergy per unit lengthof wavecrest isbeingreduced. That part of thewavewhichisreectedby
thebreakwater will tendtoformastandingwavesystem, withawaveheight twicethat of theincident wave.
A quantitativeunderstandingof theeffectsof wavediffractionisrelevanttotheplanningandevaluationof harbour
layouts, includingtheextentandlocationof wave-absorbingfeaturesontheperimeterof theharbour. Thesolutions
canbecomequitecomplicated, astheyinvolvesolvingLaplacesequationwithmixedboundaryconditions. Many
solutionscanbetakenfromgeometricoptics. A simpleintroductionisgiveninDean& Dalrymple(1984, #4.9).
50
Diffracted wave crests
Incident waves
Impermeable breakwater
Incident and reflected waves
(a) Semi-infinite breakwater
(b) Finite breakwater
(c) Harbour entrance
(d) Vertical cylinder oil tank etc.
Figure4-19. Typical wavediffractionpatterns
51
4.7 Nonlinear wavetheories
4.7.1 Introduction
c
c
A
7
.
r
/
d
H
`
j
Figure4-20. Onewaveof asteadytrain, showingprincipal dimensions, co-ordinatesandvelocities
Earlierweconsideredthesteadily-propagatingmotionof sinusoidal wavesusinglinearwavetheory. Thatis, infact,
arather tooseverely limitingapproximationfor someapplicationsincoastal andoceanengineering, inparticular
thelatter, whereitisnecessarytobeabletocalculateaccuratelytheuidvelocitieswhichactonstructures. Figure
4-20shows thephysical situation, wherewehavenowshownthewaverather moreaccurately withasharper
crestandlonger troughs. Theeldof steadywavetheorieshasbeenanimportantone, evenapplyingthesetheories
inarather idealisedmanner.
In practice, the general case of water wave motion is where disturbances propagate in varying directions over
water which might beowing on ashear current, over varying permeableor deformabletopography. It is not
possibletosolvethisgeneral problemanalytically. Instead, it isconvenient toassumethat locallyat least thebed
isimpermeableandat, that disturbancesareof innitelengthtransversetothedirectionof propagationsuchthat
theowistwo-dimensional, that theuidishomogeneousandincompressible. It ispossibletoobtainanalytical
solutionswhichcorrespondtoasingleperiodicwavetrainwhichpropagatessteadilywithoutchangeof form the
steadywaveproblem.
Therearetwo maintheories for steady waves Stokes theory, most suitablefor waves whicharenot very long
relativetothewater depth; andCnoidal theory, suitablefor theother limit wherethewavesaremuchlonger than
thedepth. Inadditionthereisoneimportant numerical method theFourier approximationmethodwhichsolves
theproblemaccurately, andisnowwidelyusedinoceanandcoastal engineering.
4.7.2 Steadywaves: theeffectsof current andthegoverningequations
Threephysical dimensionsuniquely deneawavetrain: themeandepthd, thewavecrest-to-troughheight
H, andwavelength` andby theBuckingham Theorem, this means that two dimensionless quantities
uniquelydeneawavetrain, for example, H,d and`,d.
Many presentations of theory haveassumed that thewaveperiod can replacethewavelengthas thethird
parameter identifyingawavetrain.
However, wavesgenerally travel onanitecurrent whichisdeterminedby oceanographic andtopographic
factors. Thewavespeedrelativetoanobserver dependsonthecurrent, suchthat wavestravel faster withthe
current thanagainst it. Contrarytotheimplicit assumptionsof most presentationsof steadywavetheory, no
theory canpredict theactual wavespeed. What thetheories dopredict, however, is thespeedof thewaves
relativetothecurrent.
Usually in practical problems, however, it is not thewavelength which is known rather it is theperiod,
whichdoesnotuniquelyspecifytheproblem. Todothatwealsoneedtoknowthecurrentonwhichthewave
isriding, if wedont thenanysolutionisanapproximateoneonly.
Consider thewaveasshowninFigure4-20, withaframeof reference(r, .), r inthedirectionof propagation
of thewavesand. vertically upwardswiththeoriginontheat bed. Thewavestravel inther directionat
52
speedc relativetothisframe. Itisthisstationaryframewhichistheusual oneof interest for engineeringand
geophysical applications. Consider also aframeof reference(A, 7) movingwiththewaves at velocity c,
suchthat r = A +ct, wheret istime, and. = 7. Theuidvelocityinthe(r, .) frameis(n, n), andthat
inthe(A, 7) frameis(l, \). Thevelocitiesarerelatedbyn = l +c andn = \.
Inthe(A, 7) frameall uidmotionissteady, andconsistsof aowinthenegativeA direction, roughlyof
themagnitudeof thewavespeed, underneaththestationarywaveprole. Themeanhorizontal uidvelocity
inthisframe, for aconstant valueof 7 over onewavelength` isdenotedby
l. It isnegativebecausethe
apparent owisintheA direction. Thevelocitiesinthisframeareusuallynot important, theyareusedto
obtainthesolutionrather moresimply.
Thequantity

l is obtainedineachnonlinear wavetheory as afunctionof thewavedimensions. Inpapers
prior to1985it was this whichwasreferredtoas thewavespeed it isactually thewavespeedrelativeto
thewater.
Inthestationaryframeof referencethetime-meanhorizontal uidvelocityatanypointisdenotedby n
1
, the
meancurrentwhichastationarymeter wouldmeasure. Relatingthevelocitiesinthetwoco-ordinatesystems
gives
n
1
= c

l. (4.41)
If n
1
= 0 then c =

l, so that in this special case the wave speed is equal to

l. This is Stokes rst
approximationtothewavespeed, usually incorrectly referredtoashisrst denitionof wavespeed, and
isthat relativetoaframeinwhichthecurrent iszero.
A secondtypeof meanuidspeedis thedepth-integratedmeanspeedof theuid under thewaves inthe
framein which motion is steady. If Q is thevolumeowrateper unit span underneath thewaves in the
(A, 7) frame, thedepth-averagedmeanuidvelocity isQ,d, whered isthemeandepth. Inthephysical
(r, .) frame, thedepth-averagedmeanuidvelocity, themass-transport velocity, is n
2
, givenby
n
2
= c Q,d. (4.42)
If thereis no mass transport, n
2
= 0, then Stokes second approximation to thewavespeed is obtained:
c = Q,d. Most theoretical presentationsgiveQ asafunctionof waveparameters.
Ingeneral, neither of Stokes rst or secondapproximationsistheactual wavespeed, andinfact thewaves
cantravel at any speed. Usually theoverall physical problemwill imposeacertainvalueof current onthe
waveeld, thusdeterminingthewavespeed.
4.7.3 Stokestheory
All variationinther directioncanberepresentedby Fourier series andthecoefcients intheseseries can
be written as series in terms of wave height / water depth. Substitution of these high order perturbation
expansions into thegoverningnonlinear equations andmanipulationof theseries yields thesolution, viaa
seriesof linear problems.
Thestandard modern version of Stokes theory, with terms to fth order in waveheight, is that of Fenton
(1985).
If thethreedimensions, water depthd, waveheight H andwavelength` areknown, thenall quantitiessuch
asuidvelocitiesetc. canbecalculated. However if unsteady uidvelocitiesaretobecalculatedit isstill
necessarytoknowthewavespeedc or thecurrent onwhichthewaverides.
Stokestheoryprovidesanequationfor

l asafunctionof H, d and`:
l(/,q)
1/2
= C
0
+-
2
C
2
+-
4
C
4
+. . . , (4.43)
wherethecoefcientsC
0
, C
2
andC
4
dependon/d. Substitutingequation(4.43) andthedenitionof wave
speedc = `,t intoequation(4.41) andre-writingtheequationintermsof thewavenumber throughout, we
obtain
/
q
1/2
n
1
2
t(q/)
1/2
+C
0
(/d) +
/H
2
2
C
2
(/d) +
/H
2
4
C
4
(/d) +. . . = 0, (4.44)
whichis anonlinear transcendental equationfor thewavenumber /, provideddepthd, height H, periodt
andmeancurrent n
1
areall known. AnexampleisC
0
=
tanh/d.
53
Oneveryimportantapproximationisthatof linear theory, whichwehavealreadyhad weneglecttheterms
proportional to(/H)
2
and(/H)
4
,giving
/
q
1/2
n
1
2
t(q/)
1/2
+C
0
(/d) = 0,
and if wefurther neglect thecurrent n
1
werecover our familiar linear dispersion relation. It is no more
difcult numericallytosolve(4.44) thanthisequation.
Nonlinear wavetheoriessuchasStokesshowthat higher wavestravel faster.
Theneglect of current will not givealargeerror inthecalculatedwavenumber, as n
1
c, however, now
whenonegoestocomputetheuidvelocitiesinthegeophysical frame, thismaybeimportant. Theoriesgive
explicit formulaefor l, thevelocityinthesteadyframe. Whenweaddc togiven = c +l, thevelocityin
thegeophysical frame, it isimportant toknowc andtodothisweneedtoknowthecurrent.
Stokestheorybreaksdownif thewavelengthisgreater than10timesthedepth.
4.7.4 Cnoidal theory
Thecnoidal theoryfor thesteadywater waveproblemfollowsfromashallowwater approximation, inwhich
it isassumedthat thewavesaremuchlonger thanthewater isdeep.
A rst order solution shows that the surface elevation is proportional to cn
2
(cA|:), where cn(.|.) is a
J acobian elliptic function of argument cA and modulus : and which gives its nameto thetheory. This
solutionshowsthelongat troughsandnarrowcrestscharacteristicof wavesinshallowwater.
Various versions of cnoidal theory have been presented. Fenton (1979) gave a fth-order theory, which
assumedthat current waszero. ThiswascorrectedinareviewarticlebyFenton(1990), andamoremodern
versionwasgiveninanother reviewarticlebyFenton(1999a).
Thecnoidal theory breaks downindeepwater (short waves) inamanner complementary to that inwhich
Stokestheorybreaksdowninshallowwater (longwaves).
4.7.5 Accuracyandareasof validity
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1 10 100
Wave height/
depth
1d
Wavelength/depth (`d)
Solitary wave
Nelson 1d = 0.55
Stokes theory Cnoidal theory
Williams
Eqn (32) of Fenton (1990)
lv2 = 12
Figure4-21. Regionof possiblewaves
Anempirical expressionfor therelativeheight of thehighest waveH
n
,d as afunctionof wavelengthhas been
obtainedbyFenton(1990):
H
n
d
=
0.141063 (`,d) + 0.0095721 (`,d)
2
+ 0.0077829 (`,d)
3
1 + 0.078834 (`,d) + 0.0317567 (`,d)
2
+ 0.0093407 (`,d)
3
, (4.45)
andis shownplottedinFigure4-21. Theequationwas obtainedfromcomputational results of Williams (1981).
54
It was obtained by solving thefull nonlinear problemof asteadily-progressing waveover ahorizontal bottom
(whichwehavesolvedfor small waves), andshouldbeconsideredaguide. Mostrelevantinthecontextof spilling
breakers is thefact that for long waves, thehighest wavehas H
n
,d 0.83. However, also shown plottedare
thedisturbingresultsof Nelson(1994, 1997), whoinaseriesof eldandlaboratory experimentsnever observed
waveshigher than0.55of thewater depth.
Hedges(1995) showedthat theboundarybetweenStokesandcnoidal theories areasof applicationis
U =
H`
2
d
3
= 40, (4.46)
wherel istheUrsell number
U =
H,d
(d,`)
2
=
Nonlinearity (measureof height)
Shallowness (measureof depth/length)
,
whichcanbeusedto characterisewaves. ThosewithalargeUrsell number aregenerally longhighwaves, and
cnoidal theory isbest, whereasfor small Ursell number (deeper water), Stokestheory ismost applicable. Thisis
shownonthegure. TheFourier approximationmethodworks well for all waves upto withinabout 1%of the
highest.
4.7.6 Fourier approximationmethods
A limitationtotheuseof bothStokesandcnoidal theorieshasbeenthat theyhavebeenwidely believed, to
benot accuratefor all waves. Thisisnot entirely true(seeFenton1990). Fifth-order theory intheversions
aspresentedaboveareof acceptableengineeringaccuracyalmost everywherewithintherangeof validityof
each.
Whereit might benecessary toobtainresultsof highaccuracy, whereastructureof major importanceisto
bedesignedandwheredesigndataareaccurately known, or whereit is necessary to useamethodwhich
is validinbothdeepandshallowwater, thennumerical solutionof thefull nonlinear equations is abetter
option, whichiswhat isprovidedbythismethod.
Theusual method, suggested by thebasic formof theStokes solution, is to useaFourier series which is
capableof accurately approximating any periodic quantity, provided thecoefcients in that series can be
found.
Calculatethecoefcientsnumericallybysolvingthefull nonlinear equations.
Moreaccuratethan either of theperturbation expansion approaches described above, becauseits only ap-
proximationsarenumerical ones, andnot theessential analytical onesof theperturbationmethods.
The Fourier approximation version of Fenton (1988) rather automates the process, and is recom-
mended by the Coastal Engineering Manual, http://140.194.76.129/publications/eng-manuals/em1110-2-
1100/PartII/PartII.htm, PageII-1-51. Thecomputer programisavailabletoanybodywhowantsit:
http://johndfenton.com/Lectures/Coastal-and-Ocean-Engineering/Fourier.zip
5. Thecalculationof forcesonoceanstructures
Therearetwolimitswhichcanbeconsideredfor thecalculationof theforcesandthedesignof oceanstructures.
5.1 Structural element muchsmaller thanwavelength dragandinertia
forces
Inthis casethestructureis considerednot to modify thewave. Theforceoneachpart of thestructureis dueto
theuidvelocity andaccelerationeldsaroundthepart. Verycomplicatedstructures, suchaspiledjacketsmade
upof (very large) tubular steel connections canbeanalysedby superimposingtheforceoneachcomponent. In
this case, thevelocity andaccelerationeldscanbetakenfromasteady wavetheory suchasStokes, cnoidal, or
theFourier approximationmethod. Oncethekinematicsof theeldhavebeendetermined, thecalculationof the
forcesarenot, inprincipal, complicated.
55
5.1.1 TheMorison(MOJ S) equation
ThesenoteshavebeentakenfromWikipedia.
Inuiddynamicsthe"Morisonequation" isasemi-empirical equationfor theinlineforceonabodyinoscillatory
ow. It issometimescalledthe"MOJ Sequation" after all four authors Morison, OBrien, J ohnsonandSchaaf
of the1950paper inwhichtheequationwasintroduced.
TheMorisonequationis usedto estimatetheoceansurfacewaveloads inthedesignof oil platforms andother
offshorestructures.
TheMorisonequationisthesumof twoforcecomponents: aninertiaforceinphasewiththelocal owacceleration
andadrag(physics)|dragforceproportional tothe(signed) squareof theinstantaneousowvelocity. Theinertia
forceisof thefunctional formasfoundinpotential owtheory, whilethedragforcehastheformasfoundfor a
bodyplacedinasteadyow. Intheheuristicapproachof Morison, OBrien, J ohnsonandSchaaf thesetwoforce
components, inertiaanddrag, aresimplyaddedtodescribetheforceinanoscillatoryow.
TheMorisonequationcontainstwoempirical hydrodynamicscoefcients aninertiacoefcient andadragcoef-
cient whicharedeterminedfromexperimental data. Asshownbydimensional analysisandinexperimentsby
Sarpkaya, thesecoefcientsdependingeneral ontheKeulegan-Carpenter number, Reynoldsnumber andsurface
roughness. Thedescriptions given belowof theMorison equation arefor uni-directional on-owconditions as
well asbodymotion.
Fixed body in an oscillatory ow: Inanoscillatory owwithowvelocity n(t), theMorisonequation
givestheinlineforceparallel totheowdirection:
1 = jC
n
\ n
| {z }
J
+
1
2
jC
J
n|n|
| {z }
J
,
where1(t) isthetotal inlineforceontheobject, theinertiaforce1
1
= jC
n
\ n, isthesumof theFroude-Krylov
forcej\ n andthehydrodynamic massforcej C
o
\ n, thedragforce1
1
=
1
2
jC
J
n|n|, C
n
= 1 + C
o
isthe
inertiacoefcient, andC
o
theadded-mass coefcient, is thecross-sectional areaof thebody perpendicular to
theowdirection, \ isvolumeof thebody.
For instancefor acircular cylinder of diameter 1 inoscillatoryow, thereferenceareaper unit cylinder lengthis
= 1 andthecylinder volumeper unit cylinder lengthis\ =
1
4
1
2
. Asaresult, 1(t) isthetotal forceper unit
cylinder length:
1 = C
n
j
4
1
2
n +C
J
1
2
j1n|n|.
Besides the inlineforce, thereare also oscillatory lift forces perpendicular to theow direction, dueto vortex
shedding. Thesearenot coveredbytheMorisonequation, whichisonlyfor theinlineforces.
Moving body in an oscillatory ow: Incasethebody moves as well, withvelocity (t), theMorison
equationbecomes:
1 = j\ n
|{z}
o
+jC
o
\ ( n )
| {z }
b
+
1
2
jC
J
(n ) |n |
| {z }
c
.
wherethetotal forcecontributionsare: a: Froude-Krylovforce, b: hydrodynamicmassforce, c: dragforce.
Limitations
TheMorison equation is aheuristic formulation of theforceuctuations in an oscillatory ow. Therst
assumptionis that theowacceleration is more-or-less uniformat thelocationof thebody. For instance,
for avertical cylinder inoceansurfacegravity wavesthisrequiresthat thediameter of thecylinder ismuch
smaller thanthewavelength. If thediameter of thebodyisnotsmall comparedtothewavelength, diffraction
effectshavetobetakenintoaccount.
It is assumedthat theasymptotic forms: theinertiaand dragforcecontributions, validfor very small and
very largeKeulegan-Carpenter numbersrespectively, canjust beaddedtodescribetheforceuctuationsat
intermediateKeulegan-Carpenter numbers. However, fromexperimentsit isfoundthat inthisintermediate
56
regime where both drag and inertia are giving signicant contributions the Morison equation is not
capableto describetheforcehistory very well. Althoughtheinertiaanddragcoefcients canbetunedto
givethecorrect extremevaluesof theforce.
When extended to orbital owwhich is acaseof non uni-directional ow, for instanceencountered by a
horizontal cylinder under waves, theMorisonequationdoesnot giveagoodrepresentationof theforcesasa
functionof time.
5.1.2 TheKeuleganCarpenter number
1
c
=
\ T
1
,
where: \ istheamplitudeof theowvelocity oscillation(or theamplitudeof theobjectsvelocity, incaseof an
oscillatingobject), T istheperiodof theoscillation, and1 isacharacteristiclengthscaleof theobject, for instance
thediameter for acylinder under waveloading.
A closelyrelatedparameter, alsooftenusedfor sedimenttransportunder water waves, isthe"displacementparam-
eter" c = ,1, with theexcursionamplitudeof uidparticlesinoscillatoryow. For sinusoidal motionof the
uid, = \ T,2 and1
c
= 2c.
TheKeuleganCarpenter number canbedirectly relatedtotheNavierStokesequations, by lookingat charac-
teristicscalesfor theaccelerationterms:
convectiveacceleration: (u )u \
2
,1,
local acceleration 0u,0t \,T. Dividing these two acceleration scales gives the KeuleganCarpenter
number.
A somewhat similar parameter istheStrouhal number, informequal tothereciprocal (mathematics)|reciprocal of
theKeulegan-Carpenter number. TheStrouhal number givesthevortexsheddingfrequencyresultingfromplacing
anobject inasteadyow, soit describestheowunsteadinessasaresult of aninstabilityof theowdownstream
of theobject. WhiletheKeulegan-Carpenter number is relatedto theoscillationfrequency of anunsteady ow,
intowhichtheobject isplaced.
5.2 Structural element comparablewithwavelength diffractionforces
Inthecaseof awavebeingscattered, or diffractedby thestructure, it isnecessary tosolvethequitecomplicated
problemof theincident wavetrainplusthescatteredwaves, thetwobeingcombinedsuchthat at all placesonthe
structure, theuidvelocity normal to thestructureis zero. As anexample, wecanconsider theproblemof the
diffractionbyavertical circular cylinder, rst solvedbyMacCamy& Fuchs(1954).
Consider theinput velocitypotential duetoatrainof incident periodicwaves:
c
1
=
r
q
/
3
1
1
cosh/.
cosh/d
sin/ (r ct) , (5.1)
wherec
1
isthevelocitypotential, / isthewavenumber, / = 2,`, the1
1
canbeobtainedfromequation(4.15),
andc isthespeedasthewavespropagateinadirectionparallel tother axis. Infact, inthiscaseit ispossibleto
writetheincident wavecanbewrittenincylindrical coordinatesasaninniteseriesof Bessel functions
c
1
= i
r
q
/
3
1
1
cosh/.
cosh/d
c
I.|

X
n=0
,
n
J
n
(/r) cos :0. (5.2)
where,
0
= 1, ,
n
= 2i
n
for : 1, wavefrequency. = /c, andJ
n
(. . .) isaBessel function. Nowtoaddon
thescatteredwave, wehavetoensurethat onthewallsof thecylinder of radiusa thenormal velocity iszero. It
canbeshownthattheresultingcompletesolutionc = c
1
+c
1
includingincidentandreectedwavescannowbe
written
c = i
r
q
/
3
1
1
cosh/.
cosh/d
c
I.|

X
n=0
,
n
J
n
(/r)
J
0
n
(/a)
H
0
n
(/a)
H
n
(/r)
cos :0. (5.3)

57
Wehavethelinearisedpressureequation(UnsteadyBernoulli Equation) for thepressureinauid:
0c
0t
+
j
j
+q. = 0, (5.4)
throughout theuid. Now, wecansubstituteequation(5.3) intothistoobtainthepressureat anypoint. Theforce
cannowbefoundbyintegration:
F =
Z
.
j n d, (5.5)
where n isaunit normal vector directedfromthesolidsurfaceintotheuid, and isthewettedsurfacearea. In
thecaseof thecircular cylinder, n = i cos 0 +j sin0 andtheelement of areaisa d0 d., sothat weobtain
F = a
J
Z
0
2t
Z
0
j (i cos 0 +j sin0) d0 d., (5.6)
andwecanshowthat therearenotransverseforces, andthein-lineforcescanbecalculated.
It hasbeendifcult andany geometrical complicationmakesthesolutioncorrespondingly muchmorecompli-
cated. Therearecomputer programsthat cansolvetheproblemfor arbitrarybodies.
58
6. Windgenerationof wavesandwaveprediction
Themost obvious causeof surfacewaves is wind. Aristotlerealisedthat windontheseasurfaceplayedanim-
portant rolein thedevelopment of waves. Historically, many approaches havebeen used to describethebasic
mechanismfor thetransfer of windenergytosurfacewaves. Present understandingof thewavegenerationmech-
anismisbasedontwomodelsproposedbyPhillipsandMiles. ThePhillipsmodel isapplicableintheearlystage
of wavegeneration, whileMiles model predictsfurther wavegrowth. For thedetailedmechanisms, referencecan
bemadetobookssuchasMassel (1999, #3.5).
Inthelast 30years therehas beenalot of work onthegenerationof waves andthedevelopment of operational
wave models around the world (see, e.g. Khandekar 1989). Use of such wave-prediction models involves an
enormousamount of effort, andmoredatathanoneislikely topossess. Duetothevaryingnatureof thewindas
well as theinteractionof different storms, theseaandswell statearegenerally observednot to havethesimple
wavetraincharacteristics discussedintheearlier sections. Any examinationof waves under theactionof wind
clearlyshowstheconfusednatureof thesystem. LordRayleighwrotethebasiclawof theseawayistheapparent
lack of any law. Themoderntrendincoastal engineeringis toattack wavepredictionby characterisingthesea
statistically, by investigatingtheenergy spectrumtobeexpectedfor different situationsandby usingprobability
theoriestoforecasttheoccurrenceof speciedwaveheightsandperiods. SuchamethodwasdevelopedbyPierson
andNeumann, whichisnecessarywhenapossiblerangeof harbour frequencieshastobeinvestigated, suchasfor
harbour resonance.
However, many coastal engineeringproblems areofteninuencedby thewaveheight, characterisedby asingle
value. This older method still has a wide degree of acceptance. Empirical formulae have been developed by
Sverdrup-Munk-Bretschneider (SMB). Thisisthemost convenient wavepredictionsystemtousewhenalimited
amount of dataandtimeareavailable. Thisisset out most conveniently intheUSCERC (1975, Chapter 3). The
formulaearewritteninterms of thesignicant waveheight H
s
, whichis theaverageof thehighest one-thirdof
waveheights, whichisclosetothemeanwaveheight estimatedby thehumaneye, andtheassociatedsignicant
waveperiodT
s
. Thegenerationof windwavesismainlyafunctionof windspeedl; thedistanceover whichthe
windacts, calledthefetchlength1; thedurationof thewindt, andthedepthof water d. Thefetchwill depend
on theparticular direction chosen, and anumber of different possibilities might haveto beconsidered, usually
limitedby therst landencounteredinagivendirection. Thedurationwithwhichthewindmight blowcanbe
inferredfrommeteorological records. Theproceduresareset out inUSCERC (1975, Chapter 3). For aparticular
locationandwindstrength, thesignicant waveheight is either fetch-limitedor duration-limited, dependingon
whichprovides thegreater restrictiononthegrowthof waves. If alocationis fetch-limited, this means that the
durationislonger thanthetimetakenfor adisturbancetravellingat thegroupspeedtotraversethefetch, andit is
thefetchwhichlimitsthewavecharacteristics. Otherwise, thewindcannot blowat that strengthfor asufciently
longtime, andit isthisdurationwhichprovidesthelimitation.
6.1 Predictingwavesindeepwater
Theprocedurefor wavesinwater of nitedepthissimilar, but morecomplicated. It isgiveninUSCERC (1975,
#3.6), but inthesenoteswewill conneourselvestothedeepwater case.
A dimensional analysisof theaboveparametersshowsthat thequantitiescanbearrangedintermsof thedimen-
sionlessgroups
qH
s
l
2
,
q1
l
2
,
qT
s
l
and
qt
l
,
wherethedepthof water entersafter wehavecalculatedthedeep-water values. Bretschneider obtainedempirical
relationships, of whichwepresent thetwosimplest:
qH
s
l
2
= 0.283 tanh
0.0125

q1
l
2
0.42
!
(6.1)
qT
s
l
= 7.54 tanh
0.077

q1
l
2
0.25
!
, (6.2)
with a rather longer expression for the dimensionless duration qt,l also as a function of q1,l
2
. These are
presentedaschartsinarchaicunitsintheUSCERC(1975, #3.51). It israther easier tousethedimensionlesschart
presentedhereasFigure6-1. Thegurecontainstheplotswhichhavebeenscaledtot onthesameaxes, sothat
59
thequantitieswhichareplottedareqt,l 10
5
, theunscaledqH
s
,l
2
, andthenqT
s
,l 10
1
.
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0 5000 10000 15000 20000
j1l
2
jT
l 10
1
jtl 10
5
j1
l
2
Figure6-1. Plot of dimensionlessequationsfor duration, waveheight andwaveperiod
1. Adopt valuesof fetch1 anddurationt expectedat asitefor agivendirectionandwindspeedl.
2. Calculatethedimensionlessfetchq1,l
2
.
3. Calculatethedimensionlessdurationqt,l fromequation(3-23) givenintheUSCERC(1975) or fromFigure
6-1, andcomparetheexpecteddurationwiththat soobtained.
4. If theactual expecteddurationislessthanthecalculateddurationfor that fetch, theeldisdurationlimited
Fromtheexpectedduration, calculatetheequivalent fetchbysolvingequation(3-23) or useFigure6-1.
5. Otherwise, if theexpecteddurationisgreater thanthatcalculated, thewaveeldislimitedbytheactual fetch.
6. Usetheequivalentor theactual fetchtocalculatethesignicantwaveheightandperiod, usingequations(6.1)
and(6.2).
Wewill provideanexampleastohowtheequationsand/or thediagramcanbeused.
Example: For awindspeedof 20 ms
1
, andanexpecteddurationof 10 h, calculatetheexpectedwaveheight and
periodfor (a) afetchof 120 km, and(b) afetchof 400 km. Herewewill present resultsfromdetailedcalculation.
Repeat for yourself usingFigure6-1. It isquiteappropriatetouseq 10 ms
2
.
(a) Fetch120 km: q1,l
2
= 10120000,20
2
= 3000. Thesolidlinegivesqt,l 10
5
= 0.128, fromwhich
weobtaint = 7.1 h, whichislessthantheexpectedduration, soit isfetchlimited, andwecancalculateor read
off thevalues, qH
s
,l
2
= 0.098, H
s
= 3.9 m, andqT
s
,l 10
1
= 0.39, T
s
= 7.8 s.
(b) Fetch400 km: q1,l
2
= 10400000,20
2
= 10000. Thesolidlinegivesqt,l10
5
= 0.327, fromwhich
weobtaint = 18.2 h, whichis greater thantheexpectedduration, so it is durationlimited. For theexpected
durationof t = 10 h, weobtainqt,l = 18000. If weweresolvingthis numerically wewouldhaveto solve
thetranscendental equation(3-23), andweget 1 = 186 km. By usingthegraph, takingqt,l 10
5
= 0.18
andreadingoff theabcissa, weget q1,l
2
4700 and1 190 km. Thenwecalculateor readoff qH
s
,l
2
=
0.116, H
s
= 4.6 m, qT
s
,l 10
1
= 0.422, T
s
= 8.4 s.
60
7. Tsunami
7.1 Introduction
Tsunami is aJapanesetermthat means harbour wave, or indeed harbour waves, as it is theplural formas
well
1
. It is usedworldwideto describealargeseawavegeneratedby sea-oor disturbance. Wewill useit as a
singular andplural noun(onetsunami, manytsunami).
7.1.1 Generation
Therearethreemainmechanisms:
Volcanic eruptionsleadingtospectacular tsunami suchasthe1883Krakatauevent. OnAugust 26and27, 1883,
theKrakatau volcanic island erupted ercely, after beginning eruptions on May 20 of that year (p28 Simkin &
Fiske1983). Many villagesandtownswerewashedaway. Theformationof thetsunami, whether by submarine
explosions, by thesudden rush of water into thevolcanic chamber when thesidewas blown out, or by caldera
collapse, remains uncertain. However, inall cases, as suggestedby Figure7-1, therewill beless landunder the
sea, andtheinitial disturbancewill benegative.
ocean
s eamount
Figure7-1. Mechanismfor generationby avolcanic explosionsuchas Krakatau, wheremuchearthandrock is
blownintotheatmosphere, leadingtothegenerationof anegativewave(drawnbyProf. P. G. Baines)
Undersealandslides such as the1998Aitapetsunami off thenorthern coast of Papua-NewGuinea. Thesemay
be rapid events, but are not instantaneous. Nevertheless, we would expect an initial displacement resembling
that shown in Figure 7-2, which will result in a wave of depression propagating onshore, followed by a wave
of elevation. Thereis someevidence(seeFigure7-3) that the2004Sumatrantsunami might actually havebeen
causedbythismechanism, althoughtheoriginal causeof thelandslideswasunderseaearthquakes.
z
ocean floor
Initial surface displacement
movement of
avalanche
Figure7-2. Mechanismfor generationby anundersealandslide, showinggenerationof negativewavewhichis
incident onthecoast (drawnbyProf. P. G. Baines)
Underseaearthquakes of magnitudegreater than6.5ontheRichter scaleandwhichhavefocal depths less than
50 km aretheprincipal causeof tsunami. Not all such events producetsunami, and thegeneration mechanism
differsfromevent toevent. Themajorityof themoriginateunder great depthsinthesea. Their preciseoriginsare
unknown, andtsunami havenever beenrecordedinmid-ocean. Seismicactivityoccursalongvolcanicislandarcs,
whichusuallyconsist of subductionboundaries, whereoneplatepassesunderneathanother, suchasthat southof
1
Accordingtoaspokespersonfor theJ apanInformationandCultural Centre, Melbourne
61
Figure7-3. Underwater topographyalongthelineof Sundafaultoff SumatrarecordedbytheRoyal Navyafter the
2004event, showingextensivelandslips.
J avaandSumatraor theAleutianIslandsoff Alaska. Subductionzoneearthquakes, arethemost commonsource
of destructive tsunami, and the Sumatran tsunami of 26 December 2004 was caused at least indirectly by this
mechanism. They might begeneratedas showninFigure7-4, whichis takenfromAustralia(2004), andwhich
showssomethingof thecomplexityof tsunami generation.
Figure7-4. A possiblemechanismfor generationby asubductingplateboundary: (a) thelower subductingplate
dragsagainst theupper plate, causingexure; (b) stressontheplateboundary causes theupper platetorebound
toits initial, unexedposition, displacingtheseasurface; (c) thedisplacedseasurfacepropagatesoutwardsasa
tsunami.
This, however, doesnot explainwhytherst waveisoftennegative. That iseasilydone, however, byconsidering
thecaseasshowninFigure7-5, wheretheupperplatedoesnotrebound, andthenetdisplacementof theundwerater
bottomisall negative.
Figure7-6showsthelocationof tsunami sourcesinthePaccic Ocean. Theworst tsunami havebeengenerated
bytheveryactivesubductioninterfacesoff ChileandintheAleutianIslands. IntheIndianOceanthemost active
subductioninterfaceisassociatedwiththeSundafault, just southof J avaandSumatra.
62
Ocean surface
Ocean floor
trench
Initial displacement
z
Figure7-5. Subductionzonegeneration, wheretheupper platedoesnotrebound, whilethesubductingplateslides
downwards, causinganegativedisplacement ontheseasurface(drawnbyProf. P. G. Baines)
Figure7-6. Locationof tsunami sourceareasinthePacicOcean, after Kelleher
7.1.2 Propagationacrosstheocean
Theheight of atsunami in theopen ocean might beof theorder of 0.5 m, but its wavelength might beseveral
tens of kilometres: any changeof water surfaceelevationcan hardly berecognised. Period of waves: 5 min to
40 min, correspondingto alengthof 70 500 km. This longperiodsuggests that tsunamigenesis is arelatively
slowprocess, possiblytheprocessof subductionor undersealandslidestakingplaceover anextendedperiod.
7.1.3 Effectsoncoasts
Approachingland, theperiodremainsthesame, thewavespeeddecreases(c d
1/2
) sothat itslengthisless, and
toconserveenergy, theheight of wavesincrease(height d
1/4
). Thesituationinthevicinityof thecoastlineis
verycomplicated, andthetimehistoryof themotionisgovernedbythelocal topography. Asthewavesapproach
shallower water, theindividual amplitudesbecomelarger. Ultimately theprogressof eachwaveisarrestedat the
shoreline, andtypicallyabout 40%of theenergyisscatteredback out tosea. Thewater onthecoastal shelf isset
into oscillationcharacteristic of theregioninquestion. Typically, followingamoderateriseor recessionof sea
level, therearethreetovemajor oscillations, after whichthereisareductioninamplitude. Oftenthesecondor
thirdwavemightbethehighest. Almostall of thedamageoccursduringtheshortinterval of thelargeoscillations,
63
whichinsomeareasencroachuponthelandtotheextent of sometensof metresabovesealevel. Suchareasare
relativelyfew, andaroundmost of theoceanicperimeter local oscillationsrarelyexceedthenormal tiderange.
7.2 Whentherst evidenceof atsunami isrecessionof thesea
Therearemany reports that often therst obvious warning of atsunami is when thesearecedes dramatically,
leaving sh apping on the former seabed, and people go down to investigate and prot, and then the REAL
tsunami comesin...? Theevidencefor thisincludes:
Classical GreekandRomanwritings
thephotoof KalutarabeachinSri Lanka, Figure7-10below, on26December 2004.
Numerousother reportsof thesametsunami insomelocations.
7.2.1 Possibleexplanationsfor negativerst wave
Doesthewavespeeddependonwavelengthsuchthat thetsunami wavesactuallytravel asagroupandindividual
waves travel throughthegroupandin50%of cases thetrougharrives rst? Conventional thinking(all tsunami
wavesarelongsuchthat their velocity isindependent of wavelengthandall waveswill travel at thesamespeed)
suggeststhisisnot theanswer.
Does thesubductionmechanismmeanthat inonedirectiontherst wavegeneratedis oneof depression, andin
theother oneof elevation? Theevidenceisvaried therst waveof theSumatrantsunami wasarecessionat Sri
Lankabut apositiverst waveat CocosIsland, anisolatedplaceduesouthof theepicentre. However theformer
waslocatedonalineperpendicular tothemajor lineof activity, whilethelatter isroughlyinlinewithit.
Is theinitial disturbanceof atsunami actually negative? Thereareactually somesimplephysical explanations
that thisistrue for all threegenerationmechanismsdescribedabove. If weconsider avolcaniceruptionsuchas
Krakatau.
Canweappeal tomass-conservationandenergyarguments?
Largelateral movement at toe~10m; Typical slope~1%; Increaseinelevationat toe0.1m; Decreaseinelevation
behindtoetoprovidethemassthat hasmovedforwardrather thanup, andhenceageneral decreaseinthewater
level?
Energy rather thanbeingsoprescriptive, canwejustsaythatafter all themovementof therock, itislikely, while
strainenergymighthaveprovidedsomeof thatnecessaryfor themotion, thatthepotential energyof therockmass
will providesome? Thepotential energy will belessafterwardsthanbefore, it will generally haveslumped, and
hencethewater surfacetoowill havedropped.
Now, after alongjourney, theharmlessdepressionwavehasreachedtheshore, but at therear, theelevationpart
hassplit intoatrainof higher wavesbecauseof theeffectsof nitedepth, andtheyarenowabout towreakhavoc
7.3 Someaspectsof tsunami behaviour
7.3.1 Solitonssiononashelf
Figure7-7showsanaspect of thebehaviour of awaveas it crossesashelf, showinghowtheheight of thewave
increases, as expected, but not all that much, in accordancewith Greens d
1/4
law, however it also shows the
ssionof thewave("soliton") andthegenerationof awavetrain. Thegureis fromcomputations whichsolve
Laplaces equation and all nonlinear boundary conditions without any essential approximations (Fenton 1993).
Thevertical scaleis, of course, grosslydistorted.
7.3.2 Final onrushof apositivetsunami
This is describedinKajiura& Shuto (1990): for tsunami less than2 m high, gradual riseandfall of thewater
level onthebeachisusually observed. Tsunami 2 m to5 m highraisethewater level by sendingoneshort wave
after another, thelatter overtakingandlyingupontheformer. Tsunami higher than5 m showanabrupt riseof the
water surfacenear theshoreline, followedbyasuddenbreaking. Figure7-8showsrepresentationof that. Ineach
64
Figure7-7. Solitonssionandgenerationof wavesasasolitoncrossesashelf
Height <2 m, wave does not steepen appreciably, more like a gradual rise and fall of the water on the beach
Height 2-5 m, wave steepens, then splits into a number of waves like an undular bore
Height >5 m, wave steepens near the shoreline, sudden breaking and formation of a bore
Height <2 m, wave does not steepen appreciably, more like a gradual rise and fall of the water on the beach Height <2 m, wave does not steepen appreciably, more like a gradual rise and fall of the water on the beach
Height 2-5 m, wave steepens, then splits into a number of waves like an undular bore
Height >5 m, wave steepens near the shoreline, sudden breaking and formation of a bore
Figure7-8. Conventional beliefsandinterpretationsof thebehaviourof positivetsunami wavesclassiedaccording
toheight.
case, thewavesarefollowingconventional behaviour aspredictedbydifferent water wavetheories.
7.3.3 Propagationbehaviour of anegativetsunami
Figure7-9 shows acomputer simulation, wherean initial negativetsunami is generated just off amarked shelf
break, similar to the Sumatran Tsunami of 26 December 2004. As predicted by linear long wave theory, the
tsunami splits into two of half theheight. Onetravels out to seaas shown, slowly varyingas it does. Theother
almostimmediatelyencountersshoalingwater, andimmediatelyitsamplitudestartstoincreaseanditspropagation
velocity decreasesevenmoremarkedly. It canbeseenontheright that thenegativewavereachestheshorerst,
but that thewater at theback of thenegativewavestartstodevelopalargepositiveheight andseemstocontinue
to grow. This pictureseems to describetheobservedbehaviour inanumber of locations. Figure7-10shows an
aerial photographof KalutaraBeach, Sri Lanka, on26December 2004, showingtherst effect of thetsunami, a
largewithdrawal of water fromthebeach.
65
Figure7-9. Computer simulationof aninitiallynegativetsunami
Figure7-10. Aerial photographof KalutaraBeach, Sri Lanka, on26December 2004.
66
7.4 Tsunami generatedbytheKrakataueruptionof 1883
This was oneof themost remarkableoccurrences in naturein themodern age. Many books havebeen written
about it. A total of about 14tsunami waveswererecordedat TanjungPriok (p.378Simkin& Fiske1983), witha
meanperiodof 2 h02 min, andintherst wavethewater roseabout 3 minafewminutes.
Figure7-11. AreassubmergedbytheKrakatautsunami of 1883inmetres(fromSymons1888), takenfromfrom
p299of Symons(1888)
Figure7-11showstheareasinundatedbythetsunami.
Thedamagecausedby tsunami ismost severeinV-shapedbaysstruck by ashort-periodtsunami. A well-known
exampleof thisisLampongBaynorthof Krakatau. At theheadof thisbayisTelukbetung, whereintheKrakatau
eruptionawaveheight of 15 m wasobserved, thesameheight asat pointsmuchcloser tothevolcano(seeFigure
7-12).
Figure7-12. Distributionof theobservedmaximumheight of theKrakatautsunami inmetres(from(Yokoyama
1981), adaptedfrom(Wharton1888)).
7.5 Aninvestigationof tsunami riskonanislandnear theSundaStrait
In1991thelecturer carriedoutaninvestiagationof tsunami riskfor aproposeddevelopmentontheislandof Pulau
Panjang. Therelativelackof problemsfromanexplosionof Krakatauisexplainedbytherefractiondiagramshown
67
Figure7-13. Refraction diagramof thetsunami caused by the1883 Krakatau eruption, Figure7 of Yokoyama
(1981)
onFigure7-13. Thisshowsthewavecrestsat varioustimes, andthedashedlinesarewaveorthogonalsdrawnat
right anglestothecrests. Whentheseorthogonalsarewidelyspaced, thewaveenergyisdistributedover agreater
width, andthewaveheight iscorrespondingly less. Several featuresshowninthediagramareof importancefor
theprotectionof PulauPanjang. Theseare:
1. Theisland Pulau Sangiang in themiddleof theSundaStrait acts very much as its English name, namely
"Thwart-way". Thiswasoriginally givenbecauseit blockednavigation, however it isalsoamassivebarrier
towavespropagatingnorth-eastwards, leavingaconsiderablysmaller gapthroughwhichtheycanpass.
2. Thosewaveswhichdopassthroughthegaphaveamarkedtendencytoberefractedbytheshallower topog-
raphyontothepeninsulainthevicinityof Merak.
3. This leaves arelatively narrowgapthroughwhichwaves pass whichwill subsequently washonto thecoast
all thewayfromthetopof thepeninsulanear PulauPanjang, almosttoJ akarta. Thismeansthat therelatively
small energycontainedinthat gapisdistributedall thewayalongthecoast.
4. All thewayalongthat coastline, refractionactsastocontinuallyspreadout anddiminishthewaveenergy.
Theresultantimportanteffectisthatthewaveswhichweresome30-40mhighintheregionof Krakatauwereonly
about 2mhighat PulauPanjang.
If atsunami wereto approach theisland fromthelikely north-easterly or northerly direction, it would initially
beintheformof awave, probably of elevation, withafront facewhichwouldhaveatendency to steepenas it
approachedshoalingwater. Usually, theworst possiblecaseof underwater topography is wherethebottomis a
long uniformslopeuntil thebeach. In this case, thewavecan growin height in accordancewith principles of
energyconservation. Theinitial growthwouldbeinaccordancewithGreensLaw, basedonassumptionsthat the
wavemotionislowrelativetothewater depthandmuchlonger thanthat depth, showingthat thewaveheight is
proportional to d
1/4
, whered is thelocal depth. When thewaveheight becomes largeenough, it steepens in
accordancewiththefull nonlinear equations, untilsit formsaturbulent bore, inwhichall thewater istravellingat
avelocity comparablewiththewavespeed. It isthissituationwhichisthemost dangerous, andwhichseemsto
havebeenthecaseintheMerak coast regionin1883, becausethemagnitudeof thetsunami waslargerelativeto
thewater depth.
Inthecaseof PulauPanjang, therewouldbemuchlesstendencyfor thewavetosteepencatastrophically. Thisis
becausethesizeof tsunami wouldbeconsiderably lessthanthat intheSundaStrait in1883. It iscalculatedthat
evenintheKrakatoaevent, that aheight of about 2 m prevailedonPulauPanjang, andthat theexpectedtsunami
height fromseismicoriginsintheSundaStrait wouldbeabout 30 cm. Examinationof AdmiraltyandIndonesian
Chartsshowthewater off theislandtobequitedeep, at least 10 m until veryclosetotheisland, whenthebottom
shoals quiteabruptly. This shows that thewaveheight relativeto water depthis suchthat nonlinear steepening
wouldnot beginuntil thelast coupleof hundredmetres, andthenthisregionissoshort that thecumulativeeffect
68
of thesteepeningwouldbesmall. Thereshouldbenotendencyfor alargeamplitudebreakingwavetooccur.
Thewavelengthof tsunami canbecalculatedapproximatelyusingasmall periodwavecorrespondingtoalocally-
generatedtsunami, of about 10 min. WiththedeptharoundPulauPanjangof about 15 m, andusingtheformula
for wavespeedc =
qd whereq isgravitational accelerationandd isthedepth, givesawavelengthof morethan

7 km. In thecaseof theperiod of 2hours of the1883event, awavelength of morethan80 km is obtained. It
is morelikely that local topography inBantenBay wouldplay animportant local role. If any protectionagainst
tsunami wereever tobeprovided, however, thisshowsthattheobservedeffectontheislandisnotthat of wavesof
ashort length, but that of agradual riseinthewater level aroundtheislandasawhole.
Intheunlikely event of atsunami exceeding2 m (inthecaseof anequivalent Krakataueruption, theworst sce-
nario), if parts of theislandwereoodedthis wouldnot bewiththecatastrophic highuidvelocities associated
with largetsunami incident onrestrictedvolumes of water. Damagewouldnot bestructural, but wouldbethat
usuallyassociatedwithooding, namelytheeffectsof salinityandwater onbuildingsandstructures.
8. Coastal engineering
In the past there was a pre-occupation with hard solutions to coastal engineering problems (consider the cata-
logueof catastrophicsolutionsshownasslides). Structuressuchasbreakwaters, groynesandseawallshavebeen
usedfor beachandharbour protection. Theunfortunatetruthis that almost everywherethat hardsolutions have
beenadopted, they havefailed somewhere. Hardsolutions, are, however, goodfor engineeringconsultants and
constructioncompanies. Theyare, almost everywhere, badfor thecoast.
8.1 Anexampleof abeachinvestigation MissionBay, Auckland
Figure8-1. Locationplan
Mission Bay is one of Aucklands most popular beaches. An investigation in 1987-89 has been described by
Hamill, Christian&Fenton(1989). Itprovidesaninterestingexampleof theprocesseswhichmightbeinvestigated
whenconsideringthesupposeddegradationof conditionsonabeach. Theoriginal stimuluscamefromresidents
whoclaimedtohaveobservedagradual lossof sandfromthebeach, andthestudy wasfundedby theAuckland
CityCouncil.
Historically the beach had a natural source of sand frommaterial washed out fromthe mouth of the Waikato
69
Figure8-2. Sitelocation
Stormwater
Incident and reflected wave rays
Sand loss
Seawall
Figure8-3. MissionBay, showingimportant processes
River when it discharged through theFirth of Thames, and fromtheerodiblecliffs around theeastern beaches
of Auckland(notethat theprevailingsandtransport is fromeast to west). However, sinceconstructionof asea
wall all along theeastern suburbs coastlinetherewas aseverely reduced sourceof beach material. Also, prior
to Rangitotos appearancesome800years ago thedominant fetchwas fromthenorth. Rangitoto thensheltered
thebeachfromwaves comingfromthis direction, positioningthecritical fetchbetweenRangitoto andMotuihe
Islands.
A baywhichhashadanysediment supplytoit cut off will erodetoaparticular shape. Oncethisshapeisreached
thebeachwill maintainstaticequilibrium, whereincomingwavesrefract intothebayandbreaksimultaneously
aroundthewholeperiphery. Thisimpliesthatthereisnolongshorecomponentof breakingwaveenergyandhence
nolittoral drift. Inthecaseof MissionBay theprovisionof theseawall preventedtheremoval of material from
70
thebeachandexacerbatedtheproblem. Thelayout of thebeachat MissionBayisshowninFigure8-3.
Inthe1930s roads andhouses withhardsurfaces werebuilt, so that therewas anincreaseinstormwater runoff
passingthroughastormwater channel at thewestern end of thebeach. At hightidethestormwater enteredthe
seaas ajet which was diffused in theseawater, but at lowtides thestormwater cut achannel through thesand
andtransportedit towardsthewatersedge, whereit couldmoreeasily bemovedby thewaves. Thebeach, inan
attempttomaintainequilibrium, movedsandtoreplacethatwhichhadgone, whichslowlyreducedthelevel of the
sandalongthebeach, whichinturnexposedtheseawall whichthenservedtoaggravatetheproblem.
Therst part of theinvestigationwasadatacollectionexercise. Historical recordsof beachproleandplan
shapewerestudiedtotry to determinealong-termpattern. At thesametimelocal residents cameforward
withvariousexplanationsfor thedisappearanceof thebeach(removal of thejettyinthe1930s, thebeach
cleaner).
Beachprolesprovideahistory of sediment movement, anddevelopingacompletephysical history would
havebeenuseful toprovideanunderstanding, however suchproleswereonlyavailablefrom1977. For the
studytwonewsitesweredevelopedandbeachprolesregularly taken. Themonthly recordsof theproles
producednormtrends, but clearlyshowedthevariableanddynamicnatureof processesonthebeach. The
movement of material was found to behighly dependent on theprevailing wind direction. During north-
easterlystormsthesandwastransportedfromeast towest, but duringthewesterlywindswhichweremilder
but morefrequent, thesediment returnedalongthebeach. Dynamicequilibriumexisted.
Fieldmeasurements weretakentoprovidedatafor expectedwavelengths, heights, andwaveperiodduring
anorth-easterlystorm. A measuringbuoywasinstalled, andtheresult wasthat thedesignconditionswere:
H
s
= 0.5 m, T
s
= 3.33 s, and` = 16.5 m. A computer studyof waverefractionwasundertaken, andtypical
resultsareshowninFigure8-4. It canbeseenthat somesmall reefsoffshoreprovideprotectionfor themost
dangerous winddirection. At thesametimeawind-rosewas drawnfromanearby stationfromdatafrom
1955to1962. ThestrongestwindcamefromtheEast-North-Eastduringwinter andspring. Thelargestfetch
wasfromtheNorth-East, betweenRangitotoandBrownsIsland. Thiscombinationof largefetchandstrong
windscreatedthemost lethal winddirection.
Figure8-4. Waverefractiondiagram, input waveswithaheadingof 225
, T
s
= 3.5 s.
Thewaves fromthis directionreectedobliquely off thewall at hightideandcontinuedto travel, but now
towards theWest, roughly parallel to thebeach, and potentially carrying sand with them. At thewestern
endof thebeachthemovement of material was sloweddownbecauseof themass of sandwhichhadbeen
transported there, encouraging waves to break on thebeach rather than reect off thewall. However, the
stormwater aggravated thecondition by encouraging thesand to movearound therocky point, effectively
losingthesandforever toMissionBay.
Todeterminethemost suitablemethodfor preventingfurther erosion, ascalemobilebedmodel of thebay
wasconstructedintheFluidMechanicslaboratoryatAucklandUniversity. Thescaleswere1:150horizontal
and 1:40 vertical. Thegranular material used was crushed coal, with aspecic gravity of 1.3 and d
50
of
1.14 mm, sothat it transportedreadily. Approximately25different congurationsweretested, whichcould
71
beclassiedintofour groups:
a. Control experiments toprovideacomparison, withthebeachasit was, withandwithout stormwater.
b. Retentiveexperiments structureswereconstructed, suchasgroynes, breakwaters, andseawallsat both
ends, toretainthesandwithinthebay.
Any of theretentiveschemesalsorequiredsomebeachnourishment programtorecover thesandwhich
hadalreadymovedaroundthepoint at thewesternend.
c. Preventiveexperiments aimedat preventingwavesfromreectingfromthewall, by usingenergy ab-
sorbersonthewall, buildingupthebeach, andbuildingarticial reefsoff thebeach.
d. Stormwater runat highandlowtides. Optionstestedincluded: pipingthestormwater under thebeach;
transferringstormwater owtotheeasternendof thebeach, andseparatingthestormwater outowfrom
thebeachwitharoughlowgroyne. Themost effectivewaspipingthestormwater under thebeach.
It wasconcludedthat theerosionwascausedby acombinationof beachalignment, thestormwater outfall,
andreectionoff theseawall. Anycombinationof hardstructuressuchasgroynesandseawallsonlymade
conditionsworsesomewhereonthebeach, andhadthemajor defect of preventingthegradual returnof sand
under gentler prevailingwinds.
Themosteffectivesolutionswerethearticial beachnourishment/returningscheme, rip-raponthepreviously-
smoothseawall toroughenit andreducereection, andtheprovisionof anextrareef out at sea. Thelatter,
however, wouldhaverequiredmassiveworksandwouldhaveinterferedwithnavigation. Themainsolution
adoptedwasthegentleoneof beachnourishment, effectively re-circulatingsandalready lost or about tobe
lost andbuildingupbeachessothat thesea-wallswereprotectedfromwaveaction.
Overall, theconclusionwasthat erosionwasnot causedbyonemajor problem, but acombinationof minor ones:
themixtureof fetchorientation, climate, topography, theseawall whichenhancedlittoral drift, andthestormwater
channel. It was concludedthat thesituationwas reversible, by nourishingthebeachwithsandalready removed
andallowingittopassalongthebeachduringthepredominantlysouth-westerlywinds. Itwasbesttoallownatural
processes to continueunhinderedandto achieveabeachas closeto equilibriumas possible. To assist withthis,
the stormwater was recommended to be piped under the beach. It was suggested that the sand movement be
continuously monitored by measuring beach proles at regular intervals. Therewas an emphasis on aexible,
unobtrusiveandreversiblelow-key solution: designs whichacknowledgetheimbalanceof natures forces and
attempt providefor natureslossesgiveamorelastingsolutionthanonewhichimposesonnatureinanattempt to
control it.
Historical note: Theproposedgentleandcheapsolutiondidnot resonatewell withsomeleadingconsultants
or their hiredretiredacademic consultant. They proposedasolutionwhichconsistedof anL-shapedbreakwater
turningbackalongthebeach, constructedof boulders, risingto2 mabovethewater level andextendingalongthe
beachfor adistanceof 200 m, therebydestroyingthenatureof thebeachandtheviewsuptheRangitotoChannel.
Thiswasovercomepoliticallybyafriendof thelecturer takinghimdowntothebeachoneSundaymorning, using
surveyingequipment toinstall scaffoldingat variouscrosssectionsof theproposedstructure, takingphotographs
fromtheshoreandthencolouringinthewholeproposedbreakwater onthephotosandshowingthistoaperplexed
City Council. Thismight havecarriedtheday, but it isstill not clear if it didor not. What didultimately decide
was anancial crisis whichallowedno money for theobsceneimprovement. Infact, therewas no money for
anything, andthebeachistherestill ... Many moralscanbedrawn, includingonethat theforcesof darknessare
omnipresent, that rationalitydoesnot alwaysprevail, andthat sometimesonecanbejust lucky.
Further historical note: Theabovedescriptionwasusedbyacoastal activistinNewZealand, DavidSissons.
Hehas brought thehistory moreupto date(2003) inanarticleWecanlearnfromAucklands experience on
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~sissons/Auckland_experience.html. Hewrote:
Auckland City are spending millions of dollars on xing up the beach erosion caused by seawalls and
stormwater drains. They wish they could get them back to a natural state like we still have at Tahunanui.
Aucklands Mission Bay is now one of its most popular beaches, but only after the Council has spent about
$7 million on correcting the problems caused by the sea wall and the stormwater drains.
The wall was built in the 1920s to protect a coastal reclamation. Since then, storm waves reecting off it
have combined with the ow of stormwater from six outfalls draining the surrounding suburbs to steadily
lower the level of the sand in front of the wall. Eventually the sea undermined the foundation of the wall.
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Rather than just adding a new foundation and waiting for the sea to undermine it again, Auckland City
Council repaired the existing foundation, diverted the stormwater drains away from the beach, and brought
in a large amount of new sand from Pakiri Beach, over 60 kilometres away.
It has been so successful that the other ve communities along Tamaki Drive all want the same done to their
beaches. It comes at a continuing cost - $70,000 per year to move the sand back up the beach because the
sea wall still stops it moving up naturally, plus the cost of bringing more sand from Pakiri every 5 years.
The ratepayers of Auckland are happy to pay because they now have a lovely beach once more.
Here at Tahuna we havent yet put in a sea wall, and we can divert the stormwater easily enough. Or we can
copy Aucklands mistakes, put in hard protection, and then use the rates to correct the ongoing problems
that result.
8.2 Coastal management
Thereisastatementthat"if youhaveahammer inyour hand, everyproblemlookslikeanail", andthat, toacertain
extent, iswhathappensincoastal engineering. Hard, engineered, masculine, protablesolutionshaveusuallyheld
theday.
ThearticleinWikipediaisexcellent, andwewill borrowfromit extensively:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal_management
Figure8-5. Oosterscheldekeringbreakwater, theNetherlands
Historical background Coastal engineering, asit relatestoharbours, startswiththedevelopment of ancient
civilizationstogether withtheoriginof maritimetrafc, perhapsbefore3500B.C., andother harbour workswere
built byhandandoftenonagrandscale.
Someof theharbour worksarestill visibleinafewof theharboursthatexisttoday, whileothershaverecentlybeen
exploredbyunderwater archaeologists. Most of thegrander ancient harbor workshavedisappearedfollowingthe
fall of theRomanEmpire.
Mostancientcoastal effortsweredirectedtoportstructures, withtheexceptionof afewplaceswherelifedepended
on coastlineprotection. Veniceand its lagoon is onesuch case. Protection of theshorein Italy, England and
theNetherlands canbetracedback at least to the6thcentury. Theancients understoodsuchphenomenaas the
Mediterraneancurrentsandwindpatternsandthewind-wavecause-effect link.
The Romans introducedmanyrevolutionaryinnovationsinharbor design. Theylearnedtobuildwallsunder-
water andmanagedtoconstruct solidbreakwaterstoprotect fullyexposedharbors. Insomecaseswavereection
mayhavebeenusedtopreventsilting. Theyalsousedlow, water-surfacebreakwaterstotripthewavesbeforethey
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reachedthemainbreakwater. Theybecametherst dredgersintheNetherlandstomaintaintheharbour at Velsen.
Silting problems hereweresolved when thepreviously sealed solid piers werereplaced with new"open"-piled
jetties. TheRomansalsointroducedtotheworldtheconcept of theholidayat thecoast.
Middle Ages: Thethreatof attackfromtheseacausedmanycoastal townsandtheirharbourstobeabandoned.
Other harbourswerelostduetonatural causessuchasrapidsilting, shorelineadvanceor retreat, etc. TheVenetian
Lagoon was oneof thefewpopulated coastal areas with continuous prosperity and development wherewritten
reports document theevolution of coastal protection works. Engineering and scientic skills remained alivein
theeast, in Byzantium, wheretheEastern Roman Empiresurvived for six hundred years whileWestern Rome
decayed.
Modern Age: LeonardodaVinci couldbeconsideredtheprecursor of coastal engineeringscience, offering
ideas and solutions often morethan threecenturies ahead of their common acceptance. Although great strides
weremadeinthegeneral scientic arena, littleimprovement was donebeyondtheRomanapproach to harbour
construction after the Renaissance. In the early 19th century, the advent of the steamengine, the search for
newlands and traderoutes, theexpansion of theBritish Empirethrough her colonies, and other inuences, all
contributedtotherevitalizationof seatradeandarenewedinterest inport works.
Twentieth century: Evolutionof shoreprotectionandtheshift fromstructurestobeachnourishment. Prior
to the1950s, thegeneral practicewas to usehardstructures to protect against beacherosionor stormdamages.
Thesestructureswereusuallycoastal armoringsuchasseawallsandrevetmentsor sand-trappingstructuressuchas
groynes. Duringthe1920sand30s, privateor local communityinterestsprotectedmanyareasof theshoreusing
thesetechniquesinarather adhocmanner. Incertainresortareas, structureshadproliferatedtosuchanextentthat
theprotectionactually impededtherecreational useof thebeaches. Erosionof thesandcontinued, but thexed
back-beachlineremained, resultinginalossof beacharea. Theobtrusivenessandcost of thesestructuresledin
thelate1940s andearly 1950s, to movetowardanew, moredynamic, method. Projects no longer reliedsolely
on hard coastal defencestructures, as techniques weredeveloped which replicatedtheprotectivecharacteristics
of natural beachanddunesystems. Theresultant useof articial beachesandstabilizeddunesasanengineering
approachwasaneconomically viableandmoreenvironmentally friendly meansfor dissipatingwaveenergy and
protectingcoastal developments.
Over thepast hundredyearsthelimitedknowledgeof coastal sediment transport processesat thelocal authorities
level has often resulted in inappropriatemeasures of coastal erosion mitigation. In many cases, measures may
havesolvedcoastal erosionlocallybut haveexacerbatedcoastal erosionproblemsat other locations-uptotensof
kilometersaway- or havegeneratedother environmental problems.
8.2.1 Current challengesincoastal management
Thecoastal zoneisadynamicareaof natural changeandof increasinghumanuse. Theyoccupylessthan15%of
theEarthslandsurface; yet accommodatemorethan50%of theworldpopulation(it isestimatedthat 3.1billion
peoplelivewithin200kilometresfromthesea). Withthree-quartersof theworldpopulationexpectedtoresidein
thecoastal zoneby2025, humanactivitiesoriginatingfromthissmall landareawill imposeaninordinateamount
of pressures on theglobal system. Coastal zones contain rich resources to producegoods and services and are
hometomostcommercial andindustrial activities. IntheEuropeanUnion, almosthalf of thepopulationnowlives
within50kilometres of theseaandcoastal zoneresources producemuchof theUnions economic wealth. The
shing, shippingandtourismindustriesall competefor vital spacealongEuropesestimated89000kilometresof
coastline, andcoastal zonescontainsomeof Europesmost fragileandvaluablenatural habitats. Shoreprotection
consists up to the50s of interposing astatic structurebetween theseaand theland to prevent erosion and or
ooding, and it has along history. Fromthat period newtechnical or friendly policies havebeen developed to
preservetheNatural environment whenpossible. Is already important wherethereareextensivelow-lyingareas
that requireprotection. For instance: Venice, NewOrleans, Nagarariver inJ apan, Holland, CaspianSea
Protectionagainstthesealevel riseinthe21stcenturywill beespeciallyimportant, assealevel riseiscurrentlyac-
celerating. Thiswill beachallengetocoastal management, sinceseawallsandbreakwatersaregenerallyexpensive
toconstruct, andthecoststobuildprotectioninthefaceof sea-level risewouldbeenormous.
Changes on sea level have a direct adaptive response frombeaches and coastal systems, as we can see in the
succession of alowering sealevel. When thesealevel rises, coastal sediments arein part pushed up by wave
andtideenergy, so sea-level riseprocesses haveacomponent of sediment transport landwards. This results ina
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dynamic model of riseeffectswithacontinuoussediment displacement that isnot compatiblewithstatic models
wherecoastlinechangeisonlybasedontopographicdata.
8.2.2 Planningapproaches
Figure8-6. Fivecoastal management strategies
Therearevegeneric strategiesfor coastal defence. Thedecisiontochooseastrategy issite-specic, depending
onpatternof relativesea-level change, geomorphological setting, sedimentavailabilityanderosion, aswell aseries
of social, economicandpolitical factors.
Alternatively, integrated coastal zonemanagement approaches may beused to prevent development in erosion-
or ood-prone areas to begin with. Growth management can be a challenge for coastal local authorities who
oftenstruggleto providetheinfrastructurerequiredby newresidents seekingsea-change. Sustainabletransport
investmenttoreducetheaverageecological footprintof coastal visitorsisoftenagoodwayoutof coastal gridlock.
ExamplesincludeDongtanandtheGoldCoast Oceanway.
Do nothing, noprotection, leadingtoeventual abandonment Thedonothing option, involvingnoprotection,
is acheapandexpedient way tolet thecoast takecareof itself. It involvestheabandonment of coastal facilities
when they are subject to coastal erosion, and either gradually landward retreat or evacuation and resettlement
elsewhere. This optionis very environmental friendly andtheonly pollutionproduced is fromtheresettlement
process. However it doesmeanlosingalot of landtotheseaandpeoplewill losetheir housesandtheir homes.
Managed retreat or realignment, whichplansfor retreat andadoptsengineeringsolutionsthat recognise
natural processesof adjustment, andidentifyinganewlineof defencewheretoconstruct newdefences.
Managed retreat is an alternative to constructing or maintaining coastal structures. Managed retreat allows an
areathat was not previously exposed to ooding by theseato becomeooded. This process is usually in low
lyingestuarineor deltaicareasandalmost alwaysinvolvesoodingof landthat hasat somepoint inthepast been
reclaimedfromthesea. Managedretreat is oftenaresponseto achangeinsediment budget or to sealevel rise.
Thetechniqueis usedwhenthelandadjacent to theseais lowinvalue. A decisionis madetoallowthelandto
erodeandood, creatingnewsea, inter-tidal andsalt-marshhabitats. Thisprocessmaycontinueover manyyears
andnatural stabilizationwill occur.
Theearliest managedretreat intheUK wasanareaof 0.8haat NortheyIslandinEssex, that wasoodedin1991.
Thiswasfollowedby Tollesbury andOrplandsinEssex, wheretheseawallswerebreachedin1995. IntheEbro
delta(Spain) coastal authoritieshaveplannedamanagedretreat inresponsetocoastal erosion.
Themaincost isgenerally thepurchaseof landtobeooded. Housingscompensationfor relocationof residents
may be needed. Any other human made structure which will be engulfed by the sea may need to be safely
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dismantledtoprevent seapollution. Insomecases, aretainingwall or bundmust beconstructedinlandinorder to
protect landbeyondtheareatobeooded, althoughsuchstructurescangenerallybelower thanwouldbeneeded
on theexisting coast. Monitoring of theevolution of theooded areais another cost. Costs may belowest if
existing defenses areleft to fail naturally, but often therealignment project will bemoreactively managed, for
examplebycreatinganarticial breachinexistingdefencestoallowtheseainat aparticular placeinacontrolled
fashion, or bypre-formingdrainagechannelsfor createdsalt-marsh.
Hold the line, shorelineprotection, wherebyseawallsareconstructedaroundthecoastlines
Human strategies on the coast have been heavily based on a static engineered response, whereas the coast is
in, or strives towards, adynamic equilibrium. Solidcoastal structures arebuilt andpersist becausethey protect
expensive properties or infrastructures, but they often relocate the problemdowndrift or to another part of the
coast. Softoptionslikebeachnourishment, whilealsobeingtemporaryandneedingregular replenishment, appear
moreacceptable, and go some way to restore the natural dynamismof the shoreline. However in many cases
thereis alegacy of decisions that weremadein thepast which havegiven riseto thepresent threats to coastal
infrastructureandwhichnecessitateimmediateshoreprotection. For instance, theseawall andpromenadeof many
coastal citiesinEuroperepresentsahighly engineereduseof primeseafront ange-eatingspace, whichmight be
preferably designatedas public openspace, parklandandamenities if it wereavailabletoday. Suchopenspace
might alsoallowgreater exibilityintermsof futureland-usechange, for instancethroughmanagedretreat, inthe
faceof threats of erosionor inundationas aresult of sea-level rise. Foredunes areas represent anatural reserve
whichcanbecalleduponinthefaceof extremeevents; buildingontheseareasleaveslittleoptionbuttoundertake
costly protectivemeasures when extremeevents (whether amplied by gradual global changeor not) threaten.
Managedretreat cancomprisesetbacks, rollingeasementsandother planningtools includingbuildingwithina
particular designlife. Maintenanceof thosestructuresor softtechniquescanarriveatacritical point(economically
or environmental) tochangeadoptedstrategy.
Structural or hardengineeringtechniques, i.e. usingpermanent concreteandrock constructionsto"x" the
coastlineandprotect theassets locatebehind. Thesetechniquesseawalls, groynes, detachedbreakwaters,
andrevetments represent asignicant shareof protectedshorelineinEurope(morethan70%).
Soft engineeringtechniques(e.g. sandnourishments), buildingwithnatural processesandrelyingonnatural
elementssuchassands, dunesandvegetationtoprevent erosiveforcesfromreachingthebackshore. These
techniquesincludebeachnourishment andsanddunestabilization.
Move seawards, byconstructingnewdefencesseawardtheoriginal ones
Thefutility of tryingto predict futurescenarios wherethereis alargehumaninuenceis apparent. Evenfuture
climateistoacertainextentafunctionof whathumanschoosetomakeof it, for examplebyrestrictinggreenhouse
gas emissions to control climate change. In some cases - where new areas are needed for new economic or
ecological development - amoveseawardstrategy canbeadopted. Someexamples fromEUROSION are: Ebro
delta(E), KogeBay(DK) WesternScheldt estuary(NL), Chatelaillon(F).
Thereis anobvious downsideto this strategy. Coastal erosionis already widespread, andtherearemany coasts
whereexceptional hightides or stormsurges result inencroachment ontheshore, impingingonhumanactivity.
If thesearises, many coasts that aredevelopedwithinfrastructurealongor closeto theshorelinewill beunable
toaccommodateerosion, andwill experiment aso-called"coastal squeeze". Thisoccurswheretheecological or
geomorphological zones that wouldnormally retreat landwards encounter solidstructures andaresqueezedout.
Wetlands, salt marshes, mangroves and adjacent fresh water wetlands areparticularly likely to suffer fromthis
squeeze.
Anupsidetothestrategy isthat movingseaward(andupward) cancreatelandof highvaluewhichcanbringthe
investment requiredtocopewithclimatechange.
Limited intervention, accommodation, by whichadjustmentsaremadetobeabletocopewithinundation,
raisingcoastal landandbuildingsvertically
Limitedinterventionisanactiontakenwherebythemanagement onlysolvestheproblemtosomeextent, usually
inareasof loweconomic signicance. Measurestakenusinglimitedinterventionoftenencouragethesuccession
of haloseres, including salt marshes and sand dunes. This will normally result in theland behind thehalosere
beingmoresufciently protected, aswaveenergy will bedissipatedby theaccumulatedsediment andadditional
vegetation residing in thenewly formed habitat. Although thenewhalosereis not strictly man-made, as many
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natural processeswill contributetothesuccessionof thehalosere, anthropogenicfactorsarepartially responsible
for theformationasaninitial factor wasneededtohelpstart theprocessof succession. Thismust not beconfused
withaccommodate whichisaboutpropertye.g. effectiveinsurance, earlywarningsystemsandnotabouthabitat.
8.2.3 Hardconstructiontechniques
Thefollowingisacatalogueof relevant techniquesthat couldbeemployedascoastal management techniques.
Breakwaters Enormousconcreteblocksandnatural bouldersareplacedsoastoabsorbtheenergyof waves,
Figure8-7. Examplesof small breakwaters
protect harbours, and reducethewaves erosivepower. This leads to wider beaches, which absorb thereduced
waveenergy, protectingcliff andsettlementsbehind. TheDoloswhichwasinventedbyaSouthAfricanengineer
inEast London, SouthAfricahasreplacedtheuseof concreteblocksbecausethedolosismuchmoreresistant to
waveactionandrequireslessconcretetoproduceasuperior result. Similar concreteobjectsliketheDolosarethe
A-jack, Akmon, Xbloc andtheTetrapod. Breakwatersmay beconstructedsomedistanceaway fromthecoast or
Figure8-8. Dolosse
built withoneendlinkedtothecoast. They may beeither xedor oating: thechoicedependsonnormal water
depthandtidal range. Most Breakwater constructiondepends uponwaveapproachandconsideringsomeother
environmental parameters. Whenoncomingwaves hit thesebreakwaters, their erosivepower is concentratedon
thesestructuresandthereisanareaof slackwater behindthem. Depositionoccurringinthesewatersandbeaches
canbebuilt upor extendedinthesewaters. However, nearby unprotectedsectionsof thebeaches donot receive
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freshsuppliesof sedimentsandmaygraduallyshrinkduetoerosion, namelylongshoredrift.
Breakwatersaresubject todamage, andovertoppingby bigstorms. Thewall alsoservestoencourageerosionof
beachdepositsfromthefoot of thewall andcanincreaselongshoresediment transport.
Groynes
Figure8-9. Groyneat Mundesley, Norfolk, GB
Groynes arewooden, concreteand/or rock barriers or walls perpendicular to thesea. Beach material builds up
ontheupdrift side, wherelongshore/littoral drift is predominantly inonedirection, creatingawider andamore
plentiful beach, thereforeenhancingtheprotectionfor thecoast becausethesandmaterial ltersandabsorbsthe
waveenergy. However, thereisacorrespondinglossof beachmaterial onthedowndriftside, requiringthatanother
groynebebuilt there. Moreover, groynes do not protect thebeachagainst storm-drivenwaves andif placedtoo
closetogether will createcurrents, whichwill carrysandmaterial offshore.
Groynes areextremely cost-effectivecoastal defensemeasures, requiring littlemaintenance, and areoneof the
mostcommoncoastal defensestructures. However, groynesareincreasinglyviewedasdetrimental totheaesthetics
of thecoastline, andfacestrongoppositioninmanycoastal communities.
Manyexpertsconsider groynestobea"soft" solutiontocoastal erosionbecauseof theenhancementof theexisting
beach.
Inadditionto beingcostly, thereis also aproblemcalledTerminal GroyneSyndrome. Thelast groynethat has
beenbuilt or theterminal groyne, preventslongshoredrift frombringingmaterial toother nearbyplaces. Thisisa
commonproblemalongtheHampshireandSussexcoastlineintheUK; aperfect exampleisWorthing.
Sea walls Wallsof concreteor rock, built at thebaseof acliff or at theback of abeach, or usedtoprotect a
settlement against erosionor ooding. Older stylevertical seawallsreectedall theenergyof thewavesback out
tosea, andfor thispurposewereoftengivenrecurvedcrestwallswhichalsoincreasethelocal turbulence, andthus
increasingentrainment of sandandsediment. Duringstorms, seawallshelplongshoredrift
Modernseawalls aimto destroy most of theincident energy, resultinginlowreectedwaves andmuchreduced
turbulenceand thus taketheformof sloping revetments. Current designs useporous designs of rock, concrete
armour (Seabees, SHEDs, Xblocs) withintermediateightsof stepsfor beachaccess, whilst inplaceswherehigh
rates of pedestrianaccess arerequired, thesteps takeover thewholeof thefrontage, but at aatter slopeif the
samecrest levelsaretobeachieved.
Careneedstobetakeninthelocationof aseawall, particularlyinrelationtotheswept prismof thebeachprole,
the consequences of long termbeach recession and amenity crest level. These factors must be considered in
assessingthecost benet ratio, whichmust befavourableinorder tojustifyconstructionof aseawall.
Seawallscancausebeachestodissipaterenderingthemuselessfor beachgoers. Their presencealsoscarsthevery
landscapethat theyaretryingtosave.
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ModernexamplescanbefoundatCronulla(Australia, 1985-6), Blackpool (1986-2001), Lincolnshire(1992-1997)
& Wallasey (1983-1993). Thesites at Blackpool andCronullacanbevisitedbothby GoogleEarthandby local
webcams(Cronulla, Cleveleys).
A most interestingexampleistheseawall at Sandwich, Kent, wheretheSeabeeseawall isburiedatthebackof the
beachunder theshinglewithcrest level at roadkerblevel.
Seawallsareprobablythesecondmost traditional methodusedincoastal management.
Revetments Slantedor upright blockades, built parallel totheseaonthecoast, usuallytowardsthebackof the
Figure8-10. Typical revetment
beachtoprotect thecliff or settlement beyond. Themost basicrevetmentsconsist of timber slantswithapossible
rock inll. Wavesbreak against therevetments, whichdissipateandabsorbtheenergy. Thecliff baseisprotected
bythebeachmaterial heldbehindthebarriers, astherevetmentstrapsomeof thematerial. Theymaybewatertight,
coveringtheslopecompletely, or porous, toallowwater tolter throughafter thewaveenergyhasbeendissipated.
Most revetmentsdonot signicantlyinterferewithtransport of longshoredrift. Sincethewall greatlyabsorbsthe
energy insteadof reecting, it erodes anddestroys therevetment structure; therefore, major maintenancewill be
neededwithinamoderatetimeof beingbuilt, thiswill begreatlydeterminedbythematerial thestructurewasbuilt
withandthequalityof theproduct.
Rock armour Alsoknownasriprap, rock armour islargerockspiledor placedat thefoot of dunesor cliffs
withnativestonesof thebeach. Thisisgenerallyusedinareaspronetoerosiontoabsorbthewaveenergyandhold
beachmaterial. Althougheffective, thissolutionisunpopular duetothefact that it isunsightly. Also, longshore
drift isnot hindered. Rock armour hasalimitedlifespan, it isnot effectiveinstormconditions, andit reducesthe
recreational valueof abeach. Thecost isaround300per metre, dependingonthetypeof rocksused.
Gabions Wirecageslledwithcrushedstoneusedtoreduceerosion. Bouldersandrocksarewiredintomesh
cages andusually placedinfront of areas vulnerableto heavy to moderateerosion: sometimes at cliffs edges or
jagout at aright angletothebeachlikealargegroyne. Whentheseawater breaksonthegabion, thewater drains
throughleavingsediments, alsotherocksandbouldersabsorbamoderateamount of thewaveenergy.
Gabionsneedtobesecurelytiedtoprevent abrasionof wirebyrocks, or detachment of plasticcoatingbystretch-
ing. Hexagonal meshdistributesoverloadsbetter thanrectangular mesh.
Thedownsideof thesearethat they get worn out quickly and arent very attractive, thereforenot avery good
sourceof coastal management.
Cliff stabilization Cliff stabilizationcanbeaccomplishedthroughdrainageof excess rainwater of through
terracing, planting, andwiringto holdcliffs inplace. Cliff drainageis usedto holdacliff together usingplants,
fencesandterracing, thisisusedtohelpprevent landslidesandother natural disasters
Entrance training walls Rockor concretewallsbuilt toconstrainariver or creekdischargingacrossasandy
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Figure8-11. Typical gabioninstallation
coastline. Thewallshelptostabiliseanddeepenthechannel whichbenetsnavigation, oodmanagement, river
erosionandwater quality but cancausecoastal erosionduetotheinterruptionof longshoredrift. Onesolutionis
theinstallationof asandbypassingsystemtopumpsandunder andaroundtheentrancetrainingwalls.
Floodgates Stormsurgebarriers, or oodgates, wereintroduced after theNorth SeaFlood of 1953 in the
Netherlands andareaprophylactic methodto prevent damagefromstormsurges. They arehabitually openand
allowfreepassage, but closewhenthelandisunder threat of astormsurge. TheThamesBarrier isanexampleof
suchastructure, asistheMoiseproject toprotect theVenetianlagoon.
8.2.4 Soft constructiontechniques
Sand bypassing: widely used, alsoinFloridaintheUSA soasnot tointerrupt thesandtransport alongthe
beach. Thereis agoodexampleontheTweedRiver ontheeast coast of Australia. Thegureshows wherethe
sandis collectedanddistributedinfour different locations "downstream". Prior to theinstallation, for some40
yearsall thebeachestothenorthhadbeenlosingtheir sandbecauseof thetrainingwallsontheriver.
Figure8-12. TweedRiver sandbypassingscheme
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Beach nourishment: Beach nourishment or replenishment is oneof themost popular soft engineering
techniquesof coastal defencemanagement schemes. Thisinvolvesimportingaliensandoff thebeachandpilingit
ontopof theexistingsand. Theimportedsandmust beof asimilar qualitytotheexistingbeachmaterial soit can
integratewiththenatural processesoccurringthere, without causingany adverseeffects. Beachnourishment can
beusedalongsidethegroyneschemes. Theschemerequires constant maintenance: 1to 10year lifebeforerst
major recharge.
Sand dune stabilisation: Vegetation can beused to encouragedunegrowth by trapping and stabilising
blownsand.
Beach drainage Beachdrainageor beachfacedewateringlowers thewater tablelocally beneaththebeach
Figure8-13. Beachdrainagesystem
face. Thiscausesaccretionof sandabovethedrainagesystem.
A lower watertable(unsaturatedbeachface) facilitatesdepositionbyreducingowvelocitiesduringbackwashand
prolonginglaminar ow. Incontrast, ahighwatertableresultsinconditionfavoringbeacherosion. Withthebeach
in asaturated state, backwash velocity is accelerated by theaddition of groundwater seepageout of thebeach
withintheefuent zone.
A useful sideeffect of thesystemisthat thecollectedseawater isverypurebecauseof thesandltrationeffect. It
maybedischargedbacktoseabut canalsobeusedtooxygenatestagnant inlandlagoons/marinasor usedasfeed
for heat pumps, desalinationplants, land-basedaquaculture, aquariumsor seawater swimmingpools.
Beachdrainagesystemshavebeeninstalledinmanylocationsaroundtheworldtohalt andreverseerosiontrends
in sand beaches. Twenty four beach drainage systems havebeen installed since1981 in Denmark, USA, UK,
J apan, Spain, Sweden, France, ItalyandMalaysia.
8.2.5 Monitoringcoastal zones
Coastal zonemanagers arefacedwithdifcult andcomplex choices about howbest to reduceproperty damage
intheshorelines. Oneof theproblems they faceis error anduncertainty intheinformationavailableto themon
theprocessesthat causeerosionof beaches. Video-basedmonitoringletscollect datacontinuouslyat lowcost and
produceanalysesof shorelineprocessesover awiderangeof averagingintervals.
Event warning systems: Event warning systems, such as tsunami warning systems and stormsurge
warnings, can beused to minimisethehuman impact of catastrophic events that causecoastal erosion. Storm
surge warnings can also be used to determine when to close oodgates to reduce the physical impact of such
events.
Shoreline Mapping: Deningtheshorelineis adifcult task dueto thedynamic natureof thecoast and
theintendedapplicationof theshoreline. Giventhisideatheshorelinemust thereforebeconsideredinatemporal
sensewherebythescaleisdependent onthecontext of theinvestigation. Thefollowingdenitionof thecoast and
shorelineismost commonly employedfor thepurposesof shorelinemapping. Thecoast comprisestheinterface
betweenlandandsea, andtheshorelineisrepresentedbythemarginbetweenthetwo. Duetothedynamicnature
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of theshorelinecoastal investigatorsadopt theuseof shorelineindicatorstorepresent thetrueshorelineposition.
Shoreline Indicator: Thechoiceof shorelineindictor is aprimary considerationinshorelinemapping. It
is important that indicators areeasily identiedintheeldandonaerial photography. Shorelineindicators may
bephysical beachmorphological featuressuchasthebermcrest, scarpedge, vegetationline, dunetoe, dunecrest
andcliff or thebluff crest andtoe. Alternatively, non-morphological featuresmay alsobeused. Theseindicators
arebasedonwater level includingthehighwater line, meanhighwater line, wet/dry boundary, andthephysical
water line. Figure8-14providesasketchof thespatial relationshipbetweenmanyof thecommonlyusedshoreline
indicators.
Thehighwater line(HWL), denedasthewet/dry line(H inFigure8-14) isthemost commonly usedshoreline
indicator becauseit isvisibleintheeld, andcanbeinterpretedonbothcolour andgreyscaleaerial photographs.
TheHWL represents thelandward extent of themost recent high tideand is characterised by achangein sand
colour dueto repeated, periodic inundation by high tides. TheHWL is portrayed on aerial photographs by the
most landwardchangeincolour or greytone.
Figure 8-14. Coastline indicators representing the spatial relationship between many of the commonly used
indicators. (Adapted fromBoak, E. H., & Turner, I. 2005, Shoreline Denition and Detection: A Review,
Journal of Coastal Research, 21, 4, pp. 688-703.)
Importance and application: The location of the shoreline and its changing position over time is of
fundamental importancetocoastal scientists, engineersandmanagers. Presentdayshorelinemonitoringcampaigns
provideinformationabouthistoricshorelinelocationandmovement, andaboutpredictionsof futurechange. More
specicallythepositionof theshorelineinthepast, at present andwhereit ispredictedtobeinthefutureisuseful
for inthedesignof coastal protection, tocalibrateandverifycomputer simulationmodelstoassesssealevel rise,
maphazardzonesandformulatepoliciestoregulatecoastal development. Accurateandconsistent delineationof
theshorelineis integral to all of thesetasks. Thelocation of theshorelinealso provides information regarding
shorelinereorientationadjacent tostructures, beachwidth, volumeandratesof historical change.
8.2.6 Datasources
A variety of data sources are available for examining shoreline position however, the availability of historical
datais limited at many coastal sites and so thechoiceof datasourceis largely limited to what is availablefor
thesiteat agiventime. Shorelinemappingtechniques appliedto datasources havemovedtowards automation
in association with technological advances and the need to reduce uncertainty. Although these changes have
resulted in improvement in coastal dataprocessing and storagecapabilities, thefrequent changein technology
haspreventedtheemergenceof onestandardmethodof shorelinemapping. Thishasoccurredbecauseeachdata
sourceandassociatedmethodhavetheir ownuniquecapabilitiesandshortcomings. A number of thedatasources
82
usedfor shorelinemappingandtheir associatedadvantagesanddisadvantagesarediscussedbelow.
Historical maps: Intheeventthatastudyrequirestheshorelinepositiontobemappedbeforethedevelopment
of aerial photographs, or if thelocationhas poor photographcoverageit is necessary to employ historical maps
in order to detail shorelineposition. Themain advantageand reason for using historical maps is that they are
abletoprovideahistoric recordthat isnot availablefromother datasources. Many potential errorshowever are
associated with historical coastal maps and charts. Such errors may be associated with scale, datumchanges,
distortions fromuneven shrinkage, stretching, creases, tears and folds, different surveying standards, different
publicationstandards, andmapprojectionerrors. Theseverity of theseerrorsdependsontheaccuracy standards
met byeachmapandthephysical changesthat haveoccurredsincethepublicationof themap. Theoldest reliable
sourceof shorelinedataintheUnitedStatesdatesbacktotheearlytomid1800sandistheU.S. National Geodetic
Survey. In theUnited Kingdom, many maps and charts weredeemed to beinaccurateuntil around 1750. The
foundingof theOrdnanceSurveyin1971hassinceimprovedtheaccuracyof themapping.
Aerial photographs: Aerial photographs havebeenusedsincethe1920s to providetopographical infor-
mation about an area. They arethereforeagood databasefor compilation of historical shorelinechangemaps.
Aerial photographs arethemost commonly used datasourcein shorelinemapping becausemany coastal areas
haveextensiveaerial photocoveragethereforeprovidingavaluablerecordof shorelineposition. Ingeneral, aerial
photographsprovidegoodspatial coverageof thecoast however temporal coverageisvery muchsitespecicde-
pendingontheightpathof theFixed-wingaeroplane. A seconddisadvantageassociatedwithaerial photography
isthattheinterpretationof theshorelinepositionissubjectivegiventhedynamicnatureof thecoastal environment.
Thiscombinedwithvariousdistortionsinherentinaerial photographscanleadtostatistical signicanterror levels.
Delineation of the shoreline: Thedynamic natureof thecoast has meant that accuratemapping of an
instantaneousshorelinepositionhasbeenassociatedwithsignicant uncertainty. Thisuncertainty arisesbecause
at anygiventimethepositionof theshorelineisinuencedbytheshort-termeffect of thetideandawidevariety
of longtermeffectssuchasrelativesea-level riseandalong-shorelittoral sediment movement. Not onlydoesthis
affect theaccuracy of computedhistoricshorelinepositionbut alsoany predictedfuturepositions. Asmentioned
earlier theHWL is most commonly usedas ashorelineindicator. This canusually beseenas asignicant tonal
changeonaerial photographs. Therearehowever manyerrorsassociatedwithusingthewet/drylineasaproxyfor
theHWL andshoreline. Theerrorsof largestconcernaretheshorttermmigrationof thewet/dryline, interpretation
of thewet/drylineonaphotographandmeasurementof theinterpretedlineposition. Systematicerrorssuchasthe
migrationof thewet/dry linemay arisefromtidal andseasonal changes. Storm-inducederosionisanother factor
whichmaycausethewet/drylinetomigratelandward. Fieldinvestigationshaveshownthat thesechangescanbe
minimisedbyusingonlysummer data. Furthermore, theerror bar canbesignicantlyreducedbyusingthelongest
recordof reliabledatatocalculateerosionrates.
Beach proling surveys: Beach proling surveys are typically repeated at regular intervals along the
coast inorder to measureshort-term(daily to annual) variations inshorelinepositionandbeachvolume. Beach
prolingisaveryaccuratesourceof informationhowever measurementsaregenerallysubjecttothelimitationsof
conventional surveyingtechniques. Shorelinedataderivedfrombeachprolingisoftenspatially andtemporally
limiteddueto thehighcost associatedwithsuchalabour intensiveactivity. Shorelines aregenerally derivedby
interpolationbetweenaseriesof discretebeachproles. It isimportant tonotehowever that thedistancebetween
theproles is usually quitelargeandso theaccuracy of theinterpolatingbecomes compromised. Incontrast to
aerial photographs, surveydataislimitedtosmaller lengthsof shorelinegenerallylessthantenkilometres. Beach
proling datais commonly availablein fromregional councils in New Zealand such as thosecompiled by the
HawkesBayRegional Council.
Remote sensing: Technological advancement over thelast decadehas ledto thedevelopment of arange
of airborne, satelliteand land based remotesensing techniques. Someof theremotely sensed datasources are
Multispectral andhyperspectral imaging, Microwavesensors, Global positioningsystem(GPS), LIDAR Airborne
light detectionandrangingtechnology
Remotesensingtechniquesareattractiveastheyarecost effective, reducemanual error andremovethesubjective
approachof conventional eldtechniques. Remotesensingisarelativelynewconcept andsoextensivehistorical
observationsareunavailable. Giventhisidea, itisimportantthatcoastal morphologyobservationsarequantiedby
couplingremotelysenseddatawithother sourcesof informationdetailinghistoricshorelinepositionfromarchived
sources.
83
Video analysis: Video analysis provides quantitative, cost-effective, continuous andlong-termmonitoring
beaches. Theadvancement of coastal videosystemsover thepast 15yearshasresultedintheextractionof large
amountsof geophysical datafromimages. Suchdataincludesthat about coastal morphology, surfacecurrentsand
waveparameters. Themainadvantageof video analysis lies intheability to reliably quantify theseparameters
withhighresolutionandcoverageinbothspaceandtime. Thisinparticular highlightstheir potential importance
as aneffectivecoastal monitoringsystemandanaidto coastal zonemanagement. Interestingcasestudies have
beencarriedout usingvideoanalysis.
8.3 AnexamplefromSpain PuertoBanus
Figure8-15. PuertoBanusinAndalucia, Spain, showingharbour withbreakwatersandgroynes
Figure8-15showsanexampleof anintensivelyprotectedcoastline, showingaharbour protectedbyabreakwater,
andwest of theharbour areaseriesof groyneswhichhaveformedcrescenticbeaches, andthetransport will have
beenseverely retarded. At thetimeof thephotographthewaves aretravellingfromthesouth-west. Refraction
of thewavescanbeseen, but they areshort enoughthat they areactually breakingat quiteanangletothebeach
intheeast of thephotograph. Despitetheintensity of "hardsolutions", thesystemdoesnot seemtobebadly out
of equilibrium. Theharbour entrancedoesnot seemsiltedup, andthecrescentic "pocket beaches" seemtobein
equilibrium. It isnot clear inwhichdirectiontheprevailingsandtransportis. Thereisevidenceontheeasternside
that it might betravellingfromeast to west, as thereis acertainaccumulationbehindthebreakwater. However,
ontheveryleft of thephotographabeachcanbeseenwithahealthysanddeposit, soit ispossiblethat thesandis
abletopassthecomplicatedman-madestructureswithout toomanyproblems.
84

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C. Salinity alsoinuenceswater density. Awayfromcoaststhesalinity of

C of temperature. Thelargescaledensitystructureof theoceanisdominatedbyvariationsin

latitudethereisasurfacelayer of water, lessthan1 kmdeep, knownasthe

C. Thesalinity inthethermoclinealsovaries, andis

C higher inthewest, withcool

C, theblackbandintheseplots) iswithin50 mof thesurface.

Wshow, forexample, thatduring1982-1983the17

, continuingtoadepthof about23 kmafter whichtheoceanoor

, thecontinental rise, whichmayextendmorethan500 kmtodepthsupto4 km.

away - but for our present argument, all

q/, where/ isthewater depth. Usingtheabovevalue, givestherequireddepthtobe

S, wherecircumferenceisshorter andwater sufcientlydeep, canthesemi-diurnal

either sideof theequatorial plane. Tideproducing

, thetidal rangeissmaller thanaverage, andthetidesareneaptides.

qd depends on therelativewavelength `,d. It is plotted in

isthat duetothewavemotiononly. Hence,

dependsonthedimensionlesswavelengthintheratiotanh/d , /d. For longwaves, when

1 + cos 2/(r ct)

andintegratingwithrespect tor from0 to` andmultiplyingbyj,2 gives

isthegroupvelocity,whichisthemeanspeedat whichenergyistransmitted, andit canalsobeshownto

,c = 1,2, showingthat indeepwater the

, thegroupvelocity. Werecall that thewaveenergyis

q tanh/d +q/d sech

, as sinh2/d = 2 sinh/d cosh/d.

decreaseswithwater depth, thewaveheight

q/ tanh/d for / at that

cos :0. (5.3)

qd whereq isgravitational accelerationandd isthedepth, givesawavelengthof morethan

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