Spectral evolution of wind generated surface gravity waves in a dispersed ice field ...

The Marginal Ice Zone includes wide areas covered by dispersed ice floes in which wave conditions are significantly affected by the ice. When the wind blows from the solid ice pack, towards the open sea, growing waves are scattered by the floes, their spectral characteristics being modified. To furt...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Masson, Diane
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: University of British Columbia 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0053103
https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0053103
Description
Summary:The Marginal Ice Zone includes wide areas covered by dispersed ice floes in which wave conditions are significantly affected by the ice. When the wind blows from the solid ice pack, towards the open sea, growing waves are scattered by the floes, their spectral characteristics being modified. To further understand this problem, a model for the evolution of wind waves in a sparse field of ice floes was developed. The sea state is described by a two-dimensional discrete spectrum. Time-limited wave growth is obtained by numerical integration of the energy balance equation using the exact nonlinear transfer integral. Wave scattering by a single floe is represented in terms of far-field expressions of the diffracted and forced potentials obtained numerically by the Green's function method. The combined effect of a homogeneous field of floes on the wave spectrum is expressed in terms of the Foldy-Twersky integral equations under the assumption of single scattering. The results show a strong dependence of the ...