Waves critically affect man in coastal regions, including the open coasts and adjacent continental shelves. Preventing beach erosion, designing and building structures, designing and operating ships, providing marine forecasts, and coastal planning are but a few examples of projects for which extensive information about wave conditions is critical. Scientific studies, especially those in volving coastal processes and the development of better wave prediction models, also require wave condition information. How ever, wave conditions along and off the coasts of the United States have not been adequately determined. The main categories of available wave data are visual estimates of wave conditions made from ships at sea, scientific measurements of waves made for short time periods at specific locations, and a small number of long-term measurements made from piers or offshore platforms. With these considerations in mind, the National Ocean Survey of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sponsored the Ocean Wave Climate Symposium at Herndon, Virginia, July 12-14, 1977. This volume contains papers presented at this symposium. A goal of the symposium was to establish the foundations for a com prehensive and far-sighted wave measurement and analysis program to fully describe the coastal wave climate of the United States. Emphasis was placed on ocean engineering and scientific uses of wave data, existing wave monitoring programs, and modern measure ment techniques which may provide currently needed data.

Today's greater public awareness of how climate affects our quality of life and environment has created an increasing demand for climatological information. Now this information is available in one convenient, accessible source, The Encyclopedia of Climatology. This comprehensive volume covers all the main subfields of climatology, supplies data on climates in major continental areas and explains what is known about the causes of climatic processes and changes. Contents include articles on bioclimatology, El Niño, climatic models, world regional climates, civilization and climate, climatic variations and the greenhouse effect.

Sandy beaches represent some of the most dynamic environments on Earth and examining their morphodynamic behaviour over different temporal and spatial scales is challenging, relying on multidisciplinary approaches and techniques. Sandy Beach Morphodynamics brings together the latest research on beach systems and their morphodynamics and the ways in which they are studied in 29 chapters that review the full spectrum of beach morphodynamics. The chapters are written by leading experts in the field and provide introductory level understanding of physical processes and resulting landforms, along with more advanced discussions. Includes chapters that are written by the world's leading experts, including the latest up-to-date thinking on a variety of subject areas Covers state-of-the-art techniques, bringing the reader the latest technologies/methods being used to understand beach systems Presents a clear-and-concise description of processes and techniques that enables a clear understanding of coastal processes

Extreme, freak or rogue waves are produced by a number of physical mechanisms that focus the water-wave energy into a small area, due to wave instability, chaotic behaviour, dispersion (frequency modulation), refraction (presence of variable currents or bottom topography), soliton interactions, etc. During the past thirty years a number of physical models of the rogue wave phenomenon have been intensively developed. Numerous experimental, statistical and theoretical investigations are intended to understand the physics of the huge wave formation, its relation to the environmental conditions and to provide a freak wave design for engineering purposes. The book details the vast progress that has been achieved in the understanding of the physical mechanisms of rogue wave phenomenon in recent years. The selected articles address such issues as the formation of freak waves due to modulation instability of nonlinear wave field, physical and statistical properties of rogue wave generation in deep water and in shallow water, various models of nonlinear water waves, special analysis of nonlinear resonances between water waves and the relation between observations and freak wave theories. The book is written for specialists in the fields of fluid mechanics, applied mathematics, nonlinear physics, physical oceanography and geophysics, and for students learning these subjects.

This book was published in 2004. The Interaction of Ocean Waves and Wind describes in detail the two-way interaction between wind and ocean waves and shows how ocean waves affect weather forecasting on timescales of 5 to 90 days. Winds generate ocean waves, but at the same time airflow is modified due to the loss of energy and momentum to the waves; thus, momentum loss from the atmosphere to the ocean depends on the state of the waves. This volume discusses ocean wave evolution according to the energy balance equation. An extensive overview of nonlinear transfer is given, and as a by-product the role of four-wave interactions in the generation of extreme events, such as freak waves, is discussed. Effects on ocean circulation are described. Coupled ocean-wave, atmosphere modelling gives improved weather and wave forecasts. This volume will interest ocean wave modellers, physicists and applied mathematicians, and engineers interested in shipping and coastal protection.

This volume provides global estimates of wind and wave conditions and is based on data from the GEOSAT satellite. Parameters such as monthly values of wind speed and wave heights are presented as contour fields in global and regional charts. Variations in wind and wave parameters are also shown along common shipping routes and lines of latitude and longitude. The Atlas includes a useful reference text, providing an introduction to global meteorology and the processes responsible for the generation of ocean waves. In addition, information relating to the GEOSAT mission, data preparation and validation, and wind/wave statistics provide a full summary of the background to this major new publication. Global estimates of wind and wave conditions are required for activities such as engineering design, oceanographic and meteorological studies, ship routing and recreational activities. This publication will appeal to a wide range of readers from scientists and engineers, educators and students, to readers in shipping companies and navies.A CD-ROM based on this material, providing searchable text is also available.This CD-ROM is based on material presented in the book version of Atlas of the Oceans: Wind and Wave Climate . The CD-ROM provides searchable text-based information on global wind and wave regimes, including an introduction to global meteorology and ocean wind waves, and preparation of data gathered from the GEOSAT satellite. An extensive bibliography of over 500 abstracts from the scientific literature is included. The database of wind and wave parameters can be interactively accessed to produce contour charts with global and regional coverage. Of considerable importance to anyone interested in wind and waves statistics is the underlying GEOSAT data. The raw GEOSAT data has been processed to eliminate errors and to calibrate measurements with in situ readings. The Atlas of the Oceans: Wind and Wave Climate therefore provides a ready-to-use database on wind and wave parameters. Additional features included on the CD-ROM are: Text and illustrations - Hyperlinking allows quick and easy-access to related information, such as abstracts or illustrations - Full text and index searching - Additional bibliography of over 500 abstracts related to wind and waves - Animation of selected line drawings - Additional images - Videos of Beaufort Scale Contour charts - User can select region, month and parameter for display of charts - Charts can be overlaid with wind direction and/or grids of latitude and longitude - Options to set chart colours and degree of data smoothing Database - Underlying data can be selected and accessed - Conversion between units of measurement available Path function - Enables user to input and label path of interest (eg. ship route) - Provides plotting facilities - Calculates distance using Great Circle Path Bookmark function - Allows selection and export of user-defined text, illustrations, charts, and data to assist with report writing or in lecture preparation About the Atlas Global and regional estimates of wind and wave conditions are required for a large range of activities such as engineering design, oceanographic and meteorological studies, for ship routing and for recreational purposes. The Atlas of the Oceans: Wind and Wave Climate is based on data from the GEOSAT satellite mission. The approach of using remotely sensed data has many advantages - the data is of high spatial density and accuracy, and has a full global coverage, unlike measurements collected from ships and buoys used previously. Includes a useful reference text providing an introduction to global meteorology and the processes responsible for the generation of ocean wa