Abstract
The fine structure of wind-wave spectra in a wind-wave tunnel is investigated in connection with the process of nonlinear interaction among spectral components, where each spectrum is calculated from about one hour of data measured with 8 wave gauges arranged at a distance of 25 cm. It is found that there are several significant spikes, or primary modes, around the spectral maximumf 0. Among such primary modes, three primary modes including the spectral maximum satisfy the resonance condition 2f 0=f 1+f 2, wheref 1 andf 2 are frequencies of the higher and lower frequency modes adjacent tof 0, while the frequency width between adjacent modes,f 1−f 0 orf 0−f 2, is nearly equal to 0.1f 0. In the process of growth of the spectra with fetch, the energy density at the lower frequencyf 2 increases accompanied with an energy decrease at the higher frequencyf 1, and the modef 2 replaces the modef 0 as the spectral maximum. This evolutional process is repeated several times in the range of the present experimental condition. These results suggest that the discrete primary modes are not due to statistical error, but rather due to some wave-wave interaction.
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Hatori, M. Nonlinear properties of laboratory wind waves at energy containing frequencies. Journal of the Oceanographical Society of Japan 40, 12–18 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02071204
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02071204