TABLE OF CONTENTS The methodologies represented in this ACES application provide quick and simple estimates for wave growth over open-water and restricted fetches in deep and shallow water. Also, improved methods (over those given in the Shore Protection Manual (SPM), 1984) are included for adjusting the observed winds to those required by wave growth formulas.
Wind-generated wave growth is a complex process of considerable practical interest. Although the process is only partially understood, substantial demand remains for quick estimates required for design and analysis procedures. The most accurate estimates available are those provided by sophisticated numerical models such as those presented in Cardone et al. (1976), Hasselmann et al. (1976), Resio (1981), and Resio (1987). Yet many studies, especially at the preliminary level, attempt to describe wind-generated wave growth without the benefit of intensive large-scale modeling efforts. The prediction methods that follow present a first-order estimate for the process, but their simplification of the more complex physics should always be considered.
Methods are included for adjusting observed winds of varying character and location to the conditions required by wave growth formulas. A model depicting an idealized atmospheric boundary layer over the water surface is employed to estimate the low-level winds above the water surface. Stability effects (air-sea temperature gradient) are included, but barotropic effects (horizontal temperature gradient) are ignored. The numerical descriptions of the planetary boundary layer model are based upon similitude theory. Additional corrections are provided for the observed bias of ship-based wind observations...
