http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/14458923

Nonrandom Behavior in Field Wave Spectra and Its Effect on Grouping of High Waves

Wave measurements are examined from three relatively deepwater field sites in Lake Michigan, the Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico. Approximately 1 hour of data representing high waves, single-peaked spectra, and nearly constant significant heights and peak spectral periods was selected for analysis. The data represent actively growing waves at two sites and swell at the third site. Analyses of the data are used to test the following six hypotheses about the nature of ocean waves: Spectral components are sometimes discrete and are not smeared over a broad continuous spectrum; Spectral components are sometimes related in a deterministic, nonrandom way; The detailed spectral shape may be partially explained by the theory of Benjamin and Feir (1967); Waves in deep water trend to be organized so that high waves occur in groups; The modulation period of wave groups is sometimes related to the period and steepness of waves; and The extent of grouping in each time series and the modulation period are related to certain features of the spectrum. Evidence supporting the hypotheses leads to the conclusion that some commonly held conceptions of ocean waves, including the notion of a random wave field represented by a continuous random-phase spectrum, are open to serious question.

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