Ocean wave prediction

Prediction of ocean waves is of vital importance for shipping and designing coastal infrastructure (and for surfing!). The science of wave prediciton started in WW2, when preparations for D-Day landing were made. For a succesful invasion of France, the allied forces had to be sure that the waves on the Normandy beaches were not too large. Two oceanographers, Munk and Sverdrup, came up with a method for wave forecasting using wind speed and fetch length that is still being used today (although mostly more sophisticated methods are being used). For those of you interested in the history of wave forcasting, have a look at this report (read only the first two section - it gets quite technical for the second part). See you at next week's lecture where you will be doing some wave forecasting.



Storm waves at Portleven, Cornwall