During four cruises in July and September of 2008 and 2009, the shipboard X-band radar was tuned to detect the modulated bands of surface roughness caused by converging and diverging currents associated with high-frequency nonlinear internal wave (NLIW) packets. The data collected was used to quantify the propagation direction (ϴp),...
Physical modelling is instrumental to the progression of coastal engineering research and our understanding of the offshore and nearshore environments. Scaled models are designed and built to be tested in coastal research laboratories, where a wave basin or flume generates the desired wave conditions for experimentation. The surrounding hydrodynamics of...
Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) imagery can provide wavenumber and frequency data to generate bathymetry estimates for locations where limited access or extreme ocean conditions can make standard bathymetry survey techniques difficult or impossible. The availability of SAR data could allow for regular bathymetry estimates of navigational channels providing insight into dredging...
In this study, the effects of implementing different wind input or physics packages in a numerical wave model to recreate large wave conditions are explored. Three large wave events are simulated with WaveWatch III. The wind inputs which are compared are NCEP's Global Forecasting System (GFS) with 0.5 degree resolution...
Coastal foredunes protect lives, infrastructure, and ecosystems during severe winter storms. In the U.S. Pacific Northwest (PNW), coastal foredune geomorphology is determined by both physical and ecological mechanisms. Before the 1900's, the native plant Elymus mollis was the dominant dune grass and dune morphology was largely determined by sediment supply...
With energy prices rising and increasing concern about the influence of fossil fuels on climate change, wave energy systems are on the verge of commercial implementation. These first generation wave energy converters utilize either pneumatics or hydraulics to convert the mechanical energy of waves into electricity. For the last several...
In the northwestern Gulf of Mexico there is a need for reliable water level forecasts to facilitate safe commercial navigation, marine construction, and emergency management. Though the low amplitude tides of the region can be predicted with conventional harmonic techniques, frequent strong storms make accurate forecasts of water levels difficult....
This thesis presents the details of a large-scale laboratory experiment to study the
turbulence generated by waves breaking on a fixed barred beach. The data set includes
comprehensive measurements of free surface displacement and fluid velocity for one
random and one regular wave case.
Observations of the time-averaged turbulent kinetic...
In the presence of strong winds, ocean surface waves dissipate significant amounts of energy by breaking. Here, breaking rates and wave-following turbulent dissipation rate measurements are compared with numerical WAVEWATCH III estimates of bulk energy dissipation. At high winds, the measurements suggest that turbulent dissipation becomes saturated, however the modeled...
A Finite Element Model of a deployed Fiber-Optic Micro Cable (FOMC) was performed using the marine cable modeling software, OrcaFlex. The focus of this study was a parametric analysis of a two-part, towed cable array with the FOMC dragged behind a depressor and connected to a drogue chute. Length-to-diameter ratios...