The goals of wind wave research are relatively well defined: to be able to predict the wind wave field and its effect on the environment. That environment could be natural (beaches, the atmosphere etc.) or imposed by human endeavour (ports, harbours, coastal settlements etc.). Although the goals are similar, the specific requirements of these various fields differ considerably.This book attempts to summarise the current state of this knowledge and to place this understanding into a common frame work. It attempts to take a balanced approach between the pragmatic engineering view of requiring a short term result and the scientific quest for detailed understanding. Thus, it attempts to provide a rigorous description of the physical processes involved as well as practical predictive tools.

This book was published in 2004. The Interaction of Ocean Waves and Wind describes in detail the two-way interaction between wind and ocean waves and shows how ocean waves affect weather forecasting on timescales of 5 to 90 days. Winds generate ocean waves, but at the same time airflow is modified due to the loss of energy and momentum to the waves; thus, momentum loss from the atmosphere to the ocean depends on the state of the waves. This volume discusses ocean wave evolution according to the energy balance equation. An extensive overview of nonlinear transfer is given, and as a by-product the role of four-wave interactions in the generation of extreme events, such as freak waves, is discussed. Effects on ocean circulation are described. Coupled ocean-wave, atmosphere modelling gives improved weather and wave forecasts. This volume will interest ocean wave modellers, physicists and applied mathematicians, and engineers interested in shipping and coastal protection.

This monograph is an attempt to compile the present state of knowledge on ocean wave analysis and prediction. The emphasis of the monograph is on the development of ocean wave analysis and predic tion procedures and their utility for real-time operations and appli cations. Most of the material in the monograph is derived from journal articles, research reports and recent conference proceedings; some of the basic material is extracted from standard text books on physical oceanography and wind waves. Ocean wave analysis and prediction is becoming an important activity in the meteorological and oceanographic services of many countries. The present status of ocean wave prediction may be compar able to the status of numerical weather prediction of the mid-sixties and early seventies when a number of weather prediction models were developed for research purposes, many of which were later put into operational use by meteorological services of several countries. The increased emphasis on sea-state analysis and prediction has created a need for a ready reference material on various ocean wave analysis and modelling techniques and their utility. The present monograph is aimed at fulfilling this need. The monograph should prove useful to the ocean wave modelling community as well as to marine forecasters, coastal engineers and offshore technologists. The monograph could also be used for a senior undergraduate (or a first year graduate) level course in ocean wave modelling and marine meteorology.

The study of sea waves has always been in the focus of mankind's atten tion. This is attributed not only to a desire to understand the behaviour in seas and oceans, but also, it has some practical necessity. Developing up-to date wind wave numerical methods requires detailed mathematical modelling, starting with wave generation, development, propagation and transformation on the surface in different water areas under quasi-stationary conditions, up to a synthesis of climatic features observed under different wave generation conditions in oceans, sea or coastal areas. The present monograph considers wind waves in terms of the most general formulation of the problem as a probable hydrodynamic process with wide spatial variability. It ranges between the global scale of the oceans, whose typical size is comparable with the Earth's radius, to the regional and local scales of the seas, including water areas limited in space with significant current or depth gradients in coastal zones, where waves cease their existence having propagated tens of thousand miles.

Waves in Oceanic and Coastal Waters describes the observation, analysis and prediction of wind-generated waves in the open ocean, in shelf seas, and in coastal regions with islands, channels, tidal flats and inlets, estuaries, fjords and lagoons. Most of this richly illustrated book is devoted to the physical aspects of waves. After introducing observation techniques for waves, both at sea and from space, the book defines the parameters that characterise waves. Using basic statistical and physical concepts, the author discusses the prediction of waves in oceanic and coastal waters, first in terms of generalised observations, and then in terms of the more theoretical framework of the spectral energy balance. He gives the results of established theories and also the direction in which research is developing. The book ends with a description of SWAN (Simulating Waves Nearshore), the preferred computer model of the engineering community for predicting waves in coastal waters.

From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Secret World of Weather and The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs, learn to tap into nature and notice the hidden clues all around you Before GPS, before the compass, and even before cartography, humankind was navigating. Now this singular guide helps us rediscover what our ancestors long understood—that a windswept tree, the depth of a puddle, or a trill of birdsong can help us find our way, if we know what to look and listen for. Adventurer and navigation expert Tristan Gooley unlocks the directional clues hidden in the sun, moon, stars, clouds, weather patterns, lengthening shadows, changing tides, plant growth, and the habits of wildlife. Rich with navigational anecdotes collected across ages, continents, and cultures, The Natural Navigator will help keep you on course and open your eyes to the wonders, large and small, of the natural world.

Marine environmental conditions such as storms, storm surges and wave heights are directly experienced by, for example, off-shore operations or coastal populations. The authors review and bring together the state-of-the-art and present day knowledge about historical changes, recent trends and concepts on how marine environmental conditions may change in the future as well as discuss models and data problems.

​This book is an update of the first BACC assessment, published in 2008. It offers new and updated scientific findings in regional climate research for the Baltic Sea basin. These include climate changes since the last glaciation (approx. 12,000 years ago), changes in the recent past (the last 200 years), climate projections up until 2100 using state-of-the-art regional climate models and an assessment of climate-change impacts on terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. There are dedicated new chapters on sea-level rise, coastal erosion and impacts on urban areas. A new set of chapters deals with possible causes of regional climate change along with the global effects of increased greenhouse gas concentrations, namely atmospheric aerosols and land-cover change. The evidence collected and presented in this book shows that the regional climate has already started to change and this is expected to continue. Projections of potential future climates show that the region will probably become considerably warmer and wetter in some parts, but dryer in others. Terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems have already shown adjustments to increased temperatures and are expected to undergo further changes in the near future. The BACC II Author Team consists of 141 scientists from 12 countries, covering various disciplines related to climate research and related impacts. BACC II is a project of the Baltic Earth research network and contributes to the World Climate Research Programme.

This book is intended as a handbook for professionals and researchers in the areas of Physical Oceanography, Ocean and Coastal Engineering and as a text for graduate students in these fields. It presents a comprehensive study on surface ocean waves induced by wind, including basic mathematical principles, physical description of the observed phenomena, practical forecasting techniques of various wave parameters and applications in ocean and coastal engineering, all from the probabilistic and spectral points of view. The book commences with a description of mechanisms of surface wave generation by wind and its modern modeling techniques. The stochastic and probabilistic terminology is introduced and the basic statistical and spectral properties of ocean waves are developed and discussed in detail. The bulk of material deals with the prediction techniques for waves in deep and coastal waters for simple and complex ocean basins and complex bathymetry. The various prediction methods, currently used in oceanography and ocean engineering, are described and the examples of practical calculations illustrate the basic text. An appendix provides a description of the modern methods of wave measurement, including the remote sensing techniques. Also the wave simulation methods and random data analysis techniques are discussed. In the book a lot of discoveries of the Russian and East European scientists, largely unknown in the Western literature due to the language barrier, are referred to.

Wave breaking represents one of the most interesting and challenging problems for fluid mechanics and physical oceanography. Over the last fifteen years our understanding has undergone a dramatic leap forward, and wave breaking has emerged as a process whose physics is clarified and quantified. Ocean wave breaking plays the primary role in the air-sea exchange of momentum, mass and heat, and it is of significant importance for ocean remote sensing, coastal and ocean engineering, navigation and other practical applications. This book outlines the state of the art in our understanding of wave breaking and presents the main outstanding problems. It is a valuable resource for anyone interested in this topic, including researchers, modellers, forecasters, engineers and graduate students in physical oceanography, meteorology and ocean engineering.