Making sense of shallow-water waves with advanced statistics
When ocean waves reach shallow water, their complex interactions can produce lower-frequency infragravity waves. These waves strongly affect—and are affected by—the shape of coastlines, linking them to erosion, sediment deposition and the degradation of coastal ice.
Ocean waves change as they reach shallow water, producing lower-frequency infragravity waves through complex interactions. These waves affect and are affected by coastline shapes, linking them to erosion, sediment deposition, and coastal ice degradation.
Researchers from Eos collected data from a 60-day sensor network at Torrey Pines State Beach in California. They used Bayesian probability methods, specifically the maximum a posteriori technique, to analyze infragravity wave contributions to wave run-up. This method allowed them to separate and measure edge waves, which run parallel to the shoreline.
According to Eos, edge waves account for roughly 28% of infragravity wave energy. When infragravity waves combine with breaking waves, they can lead to wave interference and phenomena like "sneaker waves" that can be deadly for beachgoers. Phys.org also reported that infragravity waves strongly impact coastline shapes, erosion, sediment deposition, and coastal ice degradation.
Brief written by urgent.news from Phys.org, Eos — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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