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Shallow water wave spectral characteristics along the eastern Arabian Sea

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Abstract

The spectral characteristics of shallow water waves were studied at two locations along the eastern Arabian Sea during 2011. Wave spectra were single-peaked from June to October and predominantly double-peaked during the rest of the year. Even though both locations were subjected to open sea conditions, the percentage of single-peaked spectra was large (63 %) in the southern location compared to a location 350 km north (46 %), because of variation in local winds. Throughout the year, the double-peaked spectra were mostly swell dominated in the southern location. In the northern location, the double-peaked spectra during January to May and December were sea dominated due to the strong local winds blowing from north-west. For the double-peaked wave spectra, the average difference between the spectral peaks was 0.11 Hz, and the average ratio of the spectral energy density at the two peaks was 0.5. Significant wave heights up to 4.2 m and a maximum wave height of 7 m were observed during the south-west monsoon period. Fifty per cent of the waves recorded had spectral peak wave periods between 6 and 12 s. The narrowest directional spectra were found for waves with 10–12-s peak wave periods. Inverse wave age values were biased towards lower values with peaks in the range of 0.2–0.6, indicating a swell-driven wave regime along the eastern Arabian Sea.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support given by the Earth System Science Organization, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India to conduct this research. The directors of CSIR-NIO, Goa, and INCOIS, Hyderabad, provided encouragement to carry out the study. We thank Dr. T. M. Balakrishnan Nair, Head of the Ocean Science and Information Services Group, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information System, Hyderabad, for initiating the wave measurements at Ratnagiri. We thank Mr. Arun Nherakkol, a scientist with INCOIS, and Mr. Jai Singh, technical assistant at CSIR-NIO, for the help during data collection. The numerical wave transformation presented in the paper is part of the Ph.D. thesis of the second author. This is NIO contribution No. 5425.

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  1. Ocean Engineering, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research), Dona Paula, 403 004, Goa, India

    V. Sanil Kumar, P. R. Shanas & K. K. Dubhashi

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  1. V. Sanil Kumar
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  2. P. R. Shanas
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  3. K. K. Dubhashi
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Correspondence to V. Sanil Kumar.

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Kumar, V.S., Shanas, P.R. & Dubhashi, K.K. Shallow water wave spectral characteristics along the eastern Arabian Sea. Nat Hazards 70, 377–394 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-013-0815-7

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