AN INVESTIGATION OF WAVE SHELTERING BY ISLANDS

Abstract

The West Coast Experiment, a meso-scale oceanographic experiment, was conducted from February to April, 1977, off the coast of Southern California. The wave data measured by an air-borne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and a shore-based high frequency (HF) radar on March 25, 1977, are used to study the sheltering effect of islands on waves propagating towards shore. The comparisons between wave directional spectra offshore, in the vicinity of islands, and nearshore show that islands play a significant role in determining the near shore wave climate. The data show clearly the "shadow" and "window" effects. An investigation of waves coming out of the "shadow" region indicates that nonlinear wave-wave energy transfer is the likely mechanism responsible for producing such waves.