WAVE TRANSFORMATION AT PENSACOLA PASS, FLORIDA

Time series of wave, mean current, tidal stage, and wind data collected at Perdido Key, Florida, are analyzed to assess the influence of a large, dredged, micro tidal inlet with sizeable shoals on the surrounding wave conditions. Tidal inlets are of interest because of their dynamic nature and their importance for navigation. The relative importance of different wave transformation processes is addressed, with the aim of providing practical guidelines for modeling wave transformation numerically. A monochromatic wave tranformation model that includes wave shoaling, diffraction, breaking, and refraction due to both bathymetric gradients and horizontal gradients in tidal currents is tested against the field data. A two-dimensional (vertically averaged) hydrodynamic model is used to specify the mean flow, which serves as one input to the wave model. The wave model yields wave heights that, on average, compare well with measurements (within 1%, on average), but produces high spatial variation in wave direction, where waves propagate along a contour. Neglect of wind in the model is suggested to be one reason for the scatter evident in comparisons between measured and modeled wave conditions. Wave conditions west of Caucus Shoal, on the west side of Pensacola Pass, are governed primarily by wind and bathymetric control. Tidal currents exert little influence on waves outside of the shoals that flank the inlet.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0733950X
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Civil Engineers

  345 East 47th Street
  New York, NY  United States  10017-2398
• Authors:
  • Work, P A
  • Kaihatu, J M
• Publication Date: 1997-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 314-321
• Serial:
  • Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering
  • Volume: 123
  • Issue Number: 6
  • Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
  • ISSN: 0733-950X
  • EISSN: 1943-5460
  • Serial URL: http://ascelibrary.org/journal/jwped5

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bathymetry; Culvert inlets; Field studies; Hydrodynamics; Navigation; Tidal currents; Time series; Wave motion; Waves
• Uncontrolled Terms: Field data; Inlets
• Geographic Terms: Pensacola Pass (Florida)
• Old TRIS Terms: Wave transformation
• Subject Areas: Hydraulics and Hydrology; Marine Transportation; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00744039
• Record Type: Publication
• Contract Numbers: NA36RG0451
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 1 1997 12:00AM