Observations of Surface Waves and Wave Breaking: A Tribute to Nick Newman

The Gulf of Tehuantepec is well known for having strong offshore winds, which occur predominantly during the winter months when significant atmospheric pressure differences develop between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, forcing winds through a mountain gap at the head of the gulf. During the Gulf of Tehuantepec Experiment (GOTEX), conducted in February 2004, we collected surface-wave and wave-breaking measurements using a conical scanning lidar (NASA Airborne Terrain Mapper, ATM) and a downward-looking video camera on the NSF/NCAR C-130 aircraft. We present ATM observations of surface waves as well as statistical and spectral descriptions of the wave field. We also present measurements of the occurrence and strength of breaking using digital video data to identify actively breaking waves. In order to infer the dynamics of breaking from simple physical models, the kinematics of the breaking must be separated from the kinematics of the underlying waves. This is done using linear and nonlinear estimates of the underlying orbital velocities from the spatio-temporal surface displacement data measured by the ATM. Nonlinear estimation of the orbital velocities is described in a companion paper in this symposium (Grue et al., OMAE 2008). Frequent breaking is observed under the strong wind forcing. Examples of the spatial structure of waves are compared to simultaneous video imagery, giving an indication of the scale at which wave breaking occurs. The GOTEX observations, to almost full wave development, are tested against the latest wind-wave numerical spectral models that include the effects of wave generation, nonlinear wave-wave interactions and wave dissipation due to breaking. This paper is dedicated to Nick Newman by the lead author in appreciation of Nicks encouragement and assistance when he (WKM) moved to MIT in the early 1980s.