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Extracting free-surface expressions of underwater features

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Abstract

We present a method to extract the surface expressions of underwater features inspired by the observation that these features are characterized by sharp elevation gradients at their apparent boundaries. To isolate these features, we therefore measure the spatially resolved surface slope field and analyze it using continuous wavelet transforms. Our methods do not require us to prescribe the shape, size, or location of the features a priori. We demonstrate our techniques using data measured in a laboratory water flume, and show that our technique performs well even when the surface is perturbed with wind. Finally, by tracking the motion of these features in time we also find that they move at nearly the mean surface velocity, suggesting that they may also be useful for surface velocimetry.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge funding from the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. We also thank N.J.M. Laxague for discussions on the PSS method and I. Dey for discussions on the implementation of wavelet transforms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Bob and Norma Street Environmental Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, CA, USA

    Saksham Gakhar, Jeffrey R. Koseff & Nicholas T. Ouellette

Authors
  1. Saksham Gakhar
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  2. Jeffrey R. Koseff
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  3. Nicholas T. Ouellette
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Data collection and analysis were performed by S. Gakhar, under the supervision of N.T. Ouellette and J.R. Koseff. The manuscript was drafted by S. Gakhar and all authors commented on the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Saksham Gakhar.

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Gakhar, S., Koseff, J.R. & Ouellette, N.T. Extracting free-surface expressions of underwater features. Exp Fluids 63, 138 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-022-03491-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-022-03491-w

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