Abstract
Fourier spectral methods have been widely applied to coastal zone current measurements. However in cases such as riverine tides or estuarine outflow currents exhibit non-stationary characteristics which invalidate the basic assumptions of these methods. Wavelet analysis techniques can be used to determine the temporal evolution of current variance over a range of frequency scales and therefore can provide an improved understanding of event-driven dynamics. Morlet continuous-wavelet transforms were applied to multiple vector time-series measurements from a High Frequency (HF) Doppler radar and moored ADCPs near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay in 1996 and 1997 as well as wind measurements at the Chesapeake Light tower. The time-varying clockwise (CW) and counter-clockwise (CCW) wavelet spectra were computed from each vector time-series. The horizontal, vertical and temporal evolution of high energy scales could then be visualized. Significant short-term intensifications of 30-60 hour CW energy in the region of the outfall plume were observed that were highly coherent with local wind forcing.
| Original language | English (US) |
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| Pages | 19-24 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| State | Published - Jan 1 1999 |
| Event | Proceedings of the 1999 IEEE 6th Working Conference on Current Measurement - San Diego, CA, USA Duration: Mar 11 1999 → Mar 13 1999 |
Other
| Other | Proceedings of the 1999 IEEE 6th Working Conference on Current Measurement |
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| City | San Diego, CA, USA |
| Period | 3/11/99 → 3/13/99 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Instrumentation