P1 - Waves & Swell

Phase 1; MET.
– Waves and Swell

A swell, in the context of an ocean, sea or lake, is a series of mechanical waves that
propagate along the interface between water and air and so they are often referred to as
surface gravity waves. These series of surface gravity waves are not wind waves, which are
generated by the immediate local wind, but instead are generated by distant weather systems,
where wind blows for duration of time over a fetch of water. This is the primary definition of
a swell as opposed to a locally generated wind wave, which is still under the influence of the
mechanisms that created it e.g. wind blowing over a puddle. More generally, a swell consists
of wind-generated waves that are not - or are hardly - affected by the local wind at that time.
Swell waves often have a long wavelength but this varies due to the size, strength and
duration of the weather system responsible for the swell and the size of the water body e.g.
wavelengths are rarely more than 150 m in the Mediterranean. Swell wavelength, also, varies
from event to event. Occasionally, swells which are longer than 700 m occur as a result of the
most severe storms. Swells have a narrower range of frequencies and directions than locally
generated wind waves, because swell waves have dispersed from their generation area, have
dissipated and therefore lost an amount of randomness, taking on a more defined shape and
direction. Swell direction is the direction from which the swell is coming. It is measured in
degrees (as on a compass), and often referred to in general directions, such as a NNW or SW
swell.
Swell formation
Large breakers one observes on a beach may result from distant weather systems over a fetch
of ocean. The fetch, also called the fetch length, is the length of water over which a given
wind has blown. Five factors influence the formation of wind waves which will go on to
become ocean swell:
1. Wind speed or strength relative to wave speed — the wind must be moving faster than
the wave crest for energy transfer, stronger prolonged winds create larger waves
2. The uninterrupted distance of open water over which the wind blows without
significant change in direction (called the fetch)
3. Width of area affected by fetch
4. Wind duration - the time over which the wind has blown over a given area
5. Water depth
All of these factors work together to determine the size of wind waves:
 Wave height (from trough to crest)

 Wave length (from crest to crest)
 Wave period (time interval between arrival of consecutive crests at a stationary point)
 Wave propagation direction
Waves in a given area typically have a range of heights. For weather reporting and for
scientific analysis of wind wave statistics, their characteristic height over a period of time is
usually expressed as significant wave height. The significant wave height is also the value a
"trained observer" (e.g. from a ship's crew) would estimate from visual observation of a sea
state.
Compiled by Capt. Saujanya Sinha; MSc (WMU, Sweden), MNI, MCMMI Page 1
Phase 1; MET. – Waves and Swell
Given the variability of wave height, the largest individual waves are likely to be somewhat
less than twice the reported significant wave height for a particular day or storm.
The phases of an ocean surface wave:
1. Wave Crest, where the water masses of the surface layer are moving horizontally in
the same direction as the propagating wave front.
2. Falling wave.
3. Trough, where the water masses of the surface layer are moving horizontally in the
opposite direction of the wave front direction.
4. Rising wave.
Sources of wind wave generation
Sea water wave is generated by many kinds of disturbances such as Seismic events, gravity,
and crossing wind. The generation of wind wave is initiated by the disturbances of cross wind
field on the surface of the sea water.
The wave height of a surface wave is the difference between the elevations of a crest and a
neighbouring trough. Wave height is a term used by mariners, as well as in coastal, ocean and
naval engineering. At sea, the term significant wave height is used as a means to introduce a
well-defined and standardized statistic to denote the characteristic height of the random
waves in a sea state. It is defined in such a way that it more-o-–less corresponds to what a
mariner observes when estimating visually the average wave height.
A crest is the point on a wave with the maximum value of upward displacement within a
cycle. A crest is a point on a surface wave where the displacement of the medium is at a
maximum. A trough is the opposite of a crest, so the minimum or lowest point in a cycle.
The wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave - the distance over which the wave's
shape repeats.
Wave period is the time interval between arrival of consecutive crests at a stationary point.
Compiled by Capt. Saujanya Sinha; MSc (WMU, Sweden), MNI, MCMMI Page 2

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Phase 1; MET.

– Waves and Swell

 Wave height (from trough to crest)

Sources of wind wave generation

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