American Geophysical Union Become an AGU Member
Subscribe to AGU Journals		 AGU Home AGU Publications

Read Full Article (file size: 607466 bytes)    Cited by

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 33, L05612, doi:10.1029/2005GL025086, 2006

Infrasonic estimation of surf period

Jérôme Aucan

Department of Oceanography, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA


David Fee

Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA


Milton Garcés

Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA


Abstract

Synchronous infrasonic, video, and wave height measurements were performed during high surf at Polihale beach, Kauai, on March 4–12, 2005. During the experiment, atmospheric sound levels in the 0.5–20 Hz frequency band were associated with large breaking ocean waves. The envelope of surf infrasound signals yields breaking wave periods comparable to those derived from nearshore sea surface elevation measurements. Our analysis confirms that individual plunging waves are partly responsible for the generation of surf infrasound. We demonstrate the potential to extract breaking wave period from a single, well sited infrasonic microphone.

Received 29 October 2005; accepted 21 December 2005; published 10 March 2006.

Index Terms: 0910 Exploration Geophysics: Data processing; 0935 Exploration Geophysics: Seismic methods (3025, 7294); 0933 Exploration Geophysics: Remote sensing; 3094 Marine Geology and Geophysics: Instruments and techniques; 4560 Oceanography: Physical: Surface waves and tides (1222).

Read Full Article (file size: 607466 bytes)    Cited by

Citation: Aucan, J., D. Fee, and M. Garcés (2006), Infrasonic estimation of surf period, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L05612, doi:10.1029/2005GL025086.