COASTAL AND TIDAL CURRENT PREDICTION

Prediction of tidal currents must be based on specific information for the locality in question. Such information is contained in various forms in many navigational publications.

Tidal Current Tables, issued annually, list daily predictions of the times and strengths of flood and ebb currents and the time of intervening slacks. Due to lack of observational data, coverage is considerably more limited than for tides. The Tidal Current Tables do include supplemental tidal data that can be determined for many places in addition to those for where daily predictions are given.

In this chapter, we discussed the basic principles and properties of ocean waves, associated terms, and wave spectrum. Next we considered forecasting of sea waves, generation and growth, and the characteristics of fully and nonfully developed seas. Wind field and fetch areas were also covered followed by an objective method of forecasting sea waves. We also covered the generation, dispersion and angular spreading of swell waves, as well as an objective method for forecasting swell waves. The generation of surf and associated characteristics, the three breaker types, definition of terms, and an objective technique for forecasting surf were also considered, followed by an explanation of the modified surf index. Finally, we looked at forecasting surface currents, wind driven currents, coastal and tidal currents.

[ Back ] [ Home ] [ Up ] [ Next ]

This information is now available on CD in Adobe PDF Printable Format

Privacy Statement - Press Release - Copyright Information. - Contact Us - Support Integrated Publishing