Surface gravity wave

A surface gravity wave is a free-surface oscillation restored by gravity. In inviscid deep water its angular frequency and horizontal wavenumber satisfy ${\omega }^2=gk$.

Wave fetch is the distance over which wind acts on an uninterrupted water surface to generate waves. Growth also depends on wind speed and duration. A polynya can provide a local fetch inside otherwise extensive sea ice.

The excess depth-integrated, time-averaged momentum flux of a surface gravity wave is its radiation stress. In deep water $c_g/c_p=1/2$, so $S_{xx}=\mathcal{E}/2={\rho }_{w}g{a}^2/4$. The force per transverse width on a reflecting object is the incident plus reflected minus transmitted radiation stress. Reflection increases force because the reflected wave carries momentum in the opposite direction.

A linear deep-water gravity wave of surface-displacement amplitude $a$ has equal mean kinetic energy and potential energy, and total mean energy per horizontal area $\mathcal{E}={\rho }_{w}g{a}^2/2$. Its energy transport speed is the group velocity. This amplitude is half the crest-to-trough height.

The dimensionless product of surface-wave amplitude and wavenumber, $ka$, measures orbital displacement relative to the wavelength. Small wave steepness permits a Taylor expansion of the velocity sampled by moving parcels. For a deep-water gravity wave, orbital amplitudes and the local steepness decrease exponentially with depth.

A small-amplitude deep-water wave with surface elevation $\eta =A{e}^{i(kx-\omega t)}$ has dispersion relation ${\omega }^2=gk$ and a velocity potential that decays as $e^{kz}$ below the surface.

For an impulsive distant source of deep-water gravity waves, a component of period $T$ travels at group velocity $gT/(4\pi )$. Its arrival at distance $L$ obeys the displayed law, so inverse period increases linearly with arrival time. Two arrivals determine both $L$ and $t_0$. Finite source duration, currents, refraction and passage through sea ice can invalidate the simple inversion.

For small kinematic viscosity $\nu$, the mean viscous dissipation per unit horizontal area is $2\rho \nu g{k}^2|A{|}^2$. Since the mean wave energy is $\rho g|A{|}^2/2$, the amplitude obeys

For small-amplitude potential flow beneath a mean surface $z=0$, the linearized kinematic and dynamic conditions are

In a rectangular box with Neumann side walls, a horizontal modehas horizontal wavenumber $k=[(m\pi /L_x{)}^2+(n\pi /L_y{)}^2{]}^{1/2}$, depth dependence $e^{kz}$ in infinitely deep fluid, and natural frequency $\Omega =\sqrt{gk}$.

Pressure forcing of one rectangular free-surface mode reduces its amplitude toAt $\omega =\sqrt{gk}$, the inviscid undamped response contains $t\sin (\omega t)$ and grows without bound in the linear model.