Year: 2007
Type: article
Abstract: We present an experimental study of the statistics of surface gravity wave turbulence in a flume of a horizontal size $12\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}6\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{m}$. For a wide range of amplitudes the wave energy spectrum was found to scale as ${E}_{\ensuremath{\omega}}\ensuremath{\sim}{\ensuremath{\omega}}^{\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\nu}}$ in a frequency range of up to one decade. However, $\ensuremath{\nu}$ appears to be nonuniversal: it depends on the wave intensity and ranges from about 6 to 4. We discuss our results in the context of existing theories and argue that at low wave amplitudes the wave statistics is affected by the flume finite size, and at high amplitudes the wave breaking effect dominates.
Source: Physical Review Letters
Institutions: University of Hull, University of Warwick
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1925431705