On the Probability of Wave Breaking in Deep Water
Open Access
- 1 February 1986
- journal article
- Published by American Meteorological Society in Journal of Physical Oceanography
- Vol. 16 (2) , 382-385
- https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1986)016<0382:otpowb>2.0.co;2
Abstract
A simple analytic formula for the probability of wave breaking at a given point is derived on the basis of Gaussian statistics. The result is found to depend on a nondimensionalized variance of the sea surface acceleration and a threshold parameter α. This parameter determines those values of the downward acceleration at the crest (values greater than αg, α positive) for which the wave is considered to be breaking. The results are related to other recent work on wave breaking and the choice of the parameter α is discussed. Abstract A simple analytic formula for the probability of wave breaking at a given point is derived on the basis of Gaussian statistics. The result is found to depend on a nondimensionalized variance of the sea surface acceleration and a threshold parameter α. This parameter determines those values of the downward acceleration at the crest (values greater than αg, α positive) for which the wave is considered to be breaking. The results are related to other recent work on wave breaking and the choice of the parameter α is discussed.Keywords
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