DISPERSION OF WAVE ACTION

Abstract

The dispersion of particles beneath a random sea, produced by the associated random variations in the Stokes drift is considered. In particular, a sea state described by a Pierson-Moskowitz spectrum is considered and the diffusion rate on and below the surface is examined. For such a random sea the diffusion rate at the surface can be related to the wind speed. This expression is extended to consider dispersion rates below the surface and to relates these to the wind speed. The theory is then applied to study the dispersion of particles denser than water as they fall through a random sea.