What physical processes or characteristics determine the size of an ocean wave?

Asked by: Mohamed Blacc

Three factors determine how large wind-generated waves can become. The first factor is wind speed, and the second factor is wind duration, or the the length of time the wind blows. The final factor is the fetch, the distance over which the wind blows without a change in direction.

What determines size of ocean waves?

Wave height is affected by wind speed, wind duration (or how long the wind blows), and fetch, which is the distance over water that the wind blows in a single direction. If wind speed is slow, only small waves result, regardless of wind duration or fetch.

What three things determine the size and shape of waves?

When wind blows over large areas of the ocean, waves are created. How big the waves get are determined by three things: the speed of the wind, the amount of time the wind travels across the ocean and the distance that the wind travels.

What are ocean wave characteristics?

Wave characteristics include a crest at the top and a trough at the bottom. The difference in elevation between the crests and trough is the wave height. The distance between the crest or the troughs of waves is termed the wavelength. The ratio of wave height to wavelength is the wave’s steepness.

What factors affect ocean wave length?

The faster the wind, the longer it blows, or the farther it can blow uninterrupted, the bigger the waves. Therefore, a wave’s size depends on wind speed, wind duration, and the area over which the wind is blowing (the fetch). This variability leads to waves of all shapes and sizes.

What are two things that determine the size of a wave?

The first factor is wind speed, and the second factor is wind duration, or the the length of time the wind blows. The final factor is the fetch, the distance over which the wind blows without a change in direction.

What are the factors which depend on the size of waves?

Fetch, wind speed and wind duration.

What determines ocean wave frequency?

The frequency of ocean waves depends on the wind speed, the time that the wind has been blowing and the length of the sea that it is been blowing over, which is what we call the fetch.

What are the factors affect the movement of ocean water?

characteristics like temperature, salinity, density and the external forces like of the sun, moon and the winds influence the movement of ocean water. The horizontal and vertical motions are common in ocean water bodies.

What conditions produce the smallest and largest ocean waves?

Wind moving at higher speeds will transfer energy over a larger part of the ocean water, resulting in waves with a shorter wavelength. Winds moving at higher speeds with cause water to move forward at faster rates, causing larger ocean waves.

Which conditions create the smallest ocean waves?

Therefore, the conditions to produce the smallest and largest ocean waves are strong winds that blow for a long time over a great distance and weak winds that blow for short periods of time with a short fetch.

What 3 changes occur to an ocean wave as it approaches the land?

A breaking wave occurs when one of three things happen: The crest of the wave forms an angle less than 120˚, The wave height is greater than one-seventh of the wavelength (H > 1/7 L), or. The wave height is greater than three-fourths of the water depth (H > 3/4 D).

What are the three most common generating forces of waves?

There are three primary generating forces for waves in the ocean: wind, displacement of large volumes of water – think of a large splash when you jump in the ocean or when you drop a rock in a puddle – and uneven forces of gravitational attraction between the Earth and the Moon and the Sun.

What four factors determine the formation of a wave?

So in total, wave height is affected by: Wind speed. Wind duration. Fetch – distance of wind travel over open water.

What are the processes that start a wave?

Waves are created when wind blows over the surface of the water. Energy is transferred from wind to the water by friction and carried in the upper part of the water by waves.

What three factors determine the amplitude of waves that reach the coast?

Wave height in the open ocean is determined by three factors. The greater the wind speed the larger the waves. The greater the duration of the wind (or storm) the larger the waves. The greater the fetch (area over which the wind is blowing – size of storm) the larger the waves.

How is wave size measured?

Wave Sizes

In scientific terms and most used by the surfing community around the world, the wave height is measured vertically from the trough to the crest and is known by surfers as face scale. In Hawaii, local surfers use the back of the wave to measure wave height and is called Hawaiian scale or local scale.

What are the 3 coastal processes?

The three principle marine processes that influence coasts are erosion, transportation and deposition.

How is height of wave determined?

Explanation: Wave height is determined by wind speed, the duration of time the wind has been blowing, fetch and by the depth and topography of the seafloor. A given wind speed has a matching practical limit over which time or distance will not produce larger waves.

How do you measure wave height in geography?

Wave height can be estimated by using a groyne or other marker on the beach to judge the height of at least 20 waves. Calculate mean wave height. Wave frequency can be estimated by counting the number of waves breaking on the shore in 10 minutes.

What are the two 2 main parameters to determine the wave energy resource assessment at a given location?

Surface-following buoys provide measurements of wave conditions at a fixed location and have been widely used for many years. There are two main approaches to measuring the waves: Pitch-roll-heave buoys measure the slope of the surface (both its magnitude and 1. direction) and the elevation of the surface.

How does water depth influence wave height?

But as waves enter shallow water, interaction with the bottom alters the waves. Wave speed decreases, wavelength shortens and wave height increases. Eventually shallow-water waves become so high and unstable that they break and create surf.

What physical feature of a wave is related to the depth of the wave base?

The circular orbital motion is related to the depth of the wave base.

What determines the speed of a wave for water?

The speed of water waves depends on a few factors; some of them are inherent to the planet, including gravity and surface tension, whereas others are dependent on the depth of the water, and the wavelength of the waves (which is in turn determined by things like depth and wind speed.)