Depth‐Controlled Wave Height

Abstract

A method for estimating an upperbound on the total energy of the wind wave spectrum in shallow water is extended to define a depth‐controlled zero‐moment wave height for irregular waves. The method requires an estimate of the peak frequency of the wave spectrum, knowledge of the Phillips' equilibrium coefficient, a, and water depth, h. A method for estimating α from the peak frequency of the sea spectrum and windspeed is given. Results indicate that the depth‐controlled zero‐moment wave height is generally less than the depth‐limited monochromatic wave height, $H_d\text{,}$ and appears to vary with the square root of depth.