GROUP 3

WAVES, WATER
DYNAMICS AND
TIDAL DATUM
 WAVES AND
WATER DYNAMICS
WAVES REPORTER:

FEVONICA REIGN ESTERAS

⮚ Wave is a disturbance that travels or propagates

from the place where it was created. Waves
transfer energy from one place to another, but they
do not necessarily transfer any mass.
 WHAT CAUSES WAVES?
All waves begin as disturbances. A rock thrown into a still pond creates waves that
radiate out in all directions. Releases of energy, similar to the rock hitting the water, are
the cause of all waves.
The movement of fluids with different densities can also create waves. These waves
travel along the interface (boundary) between the two different fluids. Both the air and the
ocean are fluids, so waves can be created along interfaces between and within these
fluids as follows:
• Ocean waves - Simply called waves. Along an air-water interface, it is the movement
of air across the ocean surface .
 WHAT CAUSES WAVES?
• Atmospheric waves - Along an air-air interface, it is the movement of different air masses,
which are often represented by ripple-like clouds in the sky. Atmospheric waves are especially
common when cold fronts (high-density air) invade an area.
• Internal waves - Along a water-water interface, it is the movement of water of different
densities. these waves travel along the boundary between waters of different density, they are
associated with a pycnocline. can be much larger than surface waves, with heights exceeding
100 meters (330 feet).

Most ocean waves are caused by wind, but many other waves are created by releases of
energy in the ocean, including internal waves, splash waves, tsunami, tides, and human-induced
waves.
An Internal wave moving along the
density interface (pycnocline) below the
ocean surface.

A view from the space shuttle of internal

waves off Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea.
Distribution of energy in
ocean waves.

Most of the energy

possessed by ocean
waves exists as wind-
generated waves while
other peaks of wave
energy represent
tsunami and ocean
tides
 HOW WAVES MOVE
PROGRESSIVE WAVES
• are waves that osculate uniformly and progress or travel without breaking. Progressive waves
may be Longitudinal, Transverse, or a combination of the two motions, called Orbital.

A diagram view of an idealized ocean wave showing its characteristics. The simple, uniform, moving
waveform transmits energy from a single source and travels along the ocean-atmosphere interface. These
waves are also called sine waves because their uniform shape resembles the oscillating pattern expressed
by a sine curve.
 PROGRESSIVE WAVES
• Longitudinal Wave - Back and forth motion
⮚ Particles (color) move back and forth in direction
of energy transmission. These waves transmit
energy through all states of matter.
• Transverse Wave - Side to side motion
⮚ Particles (color) move back and forth at right
angles to direction of energy transmission. These
waves transmission energy only through solids.
• Orbital Wave - Combination
⮚ Particles (color) move in orbital path. These
waves transmit energy along interface between
two fluids of different density (liquids and/or
gases.

Characteristics of
REPORTER:
Waves MARK WILSON ESGUERRA
• Crest and trough - the highest point and
lowest point of the wave.
• Still water level - Halfway between the
crests and the troughs, or what we call
the zero energy level.
• Wave height - is the level of the water if
there were no waves. It is designated by
the symbol H, it is the vertical distance
between a crest and a trough.
• Wavelength - It is designated by
the symbol L, it is the horizontal
distance between any two
corresponding points on
successive waveforms, such as
from crest to crest or from trough to
trough.
• Wave steepness - is the ratio of wave
height to wavelength:
Note: If the wave steepness exceeds 1/7, the
wave breaks (spills forward) because the wave is
too steep to support itself. A wave can break
anytime the 1:7 ratio is exceeded, either along the
shoreline or out at sea. This ratio also dictates the
maximum height of a wave.
CIRCULAR ORBITAL MOTION
• The water itself doesn't travel the
entire distance, but the waveform does.
As the wave travels, the water passes
the energy along by moving in a circle.
This movement is called circular orbital
motion.
• The ocean transmits wave energy by
circular orbital motion, where the water
particles move in circular orbits and
return to approximately the same
location.
 Orbital Motion Waves
• The circular orbits of an
object floating at the surface
have a diameter equal to the
wave height (Figure). Figure
shows that circular orbital
motion dies out quickly below
the surface. At some depth
below the surface, the
circular orbits become so This depth is called the wave base, and it is equal to one-half the

small that movement is wavelength (L/2) measured from still water level. Only wavelength

negligible. controls the depth of the wave base, so the longer the wave, the

deeper the wave base.

 DEEP-WATER WAVES
Water depth (d) is greater than the wave base (L/2). Deep-water waves have no interference
with the ocean bottom, so they include all wind-generated waves in the open ocean, where
water depths far exceed wave base.

• Wave speed (S) is defined as:

• Wave speed (S) in meters/second =

1.56 T in seconds

• Wave speed (S) in feet/second

= 5.12 T in seconds
 Speed of deepest water waves
Ideal relations among wavelength, period (blue line), and wave speed for deep-water waves.
 SHALLOW-WATER WAVES REPORTER:

KEVIN WYNE FALLURIN

Waves in which depth (d) is less than 1/20 of the wave- length (L/20). Shallow-water waves
are said to touch bottom or feel bottom because the ocean floor interferes with their orbital
motion.
• Wave speed (S) in meters/second =
3.13 √(𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠)
• Wave speed (S) in meters/second
= 5.67 √(𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑡)

Where: d = water depth

Thus, wave speed in shallow-water waves is deter- mined

only by water depth.
 TRANSITIONAL WAVES
Waves that have some characteristics of shallow-water waves and some of deep-water
waves.

The wavelengths of transitional waves are between two times and 20 times the water
depth (Figure below). The wave speed of shallow-water waves is a function of water depth;
for deep-water waves, wave speed is a function of wavelength. Thus, the speed of transitional
waves depends partially on water depth and partially on wavelength.

Relationship of wavelength to water depth

 WIND-GENERATED WAVES
• Capillary waves - as the wind blows over the ocean surface, it creates pressure and
stress. These factors deform the ocean surface into small, rounded waves with V-shaped
troughs and wavelengths less than 1.74 centimeters (0.7 inch).
- as the wind increases the capillary waves increases in size.
• Gravity waves - it is develop as more energy is transferred to the ocean. These are
symmetric waves that have wavelengths exceeding 1.74 centimeters (0.7 inch).
- The length of gravity waves = 15 to 35 x the height

Factors that determine the amount of energy in a waves:

1. Wind speed
2. The length of time during which the wind blows in one direction.
3. The fetch-the distance over which the wind blows in one direction.

• Wave heights - is directly related to the energy in a wave. Wave heights in a sea area are
usually less than 2 meters (6.6 feet), but waves with heights of 10 meters (33 feet) and
periods of 12 seconds are not uncommon.
 Wind creates capillary and gravity waves

• As wind increases (left-right), the height and wavelength of waves increases, beginning
as capillary waves and progressing to gravity waves. When the wave steepness (H/L)
exceeds a 1:7 ratio, the waves become unstable and break.
 The sea and swell REPORTER:

MISSY GEPOLLO

• As wind blows across the sea (red dash), wave size increases with increasing wind speed,
duration, and fetch. As waves advance beyond their area of origination, they advance across
the ocean surface and become sorted into uniform, symmetric swell.
• White caps - Open ocean breakers, it is when steepness reaches a critical value of 1/7.
• Westerlies between 40 and 60 degrees south latitude, called:
⮚ Roaring Forties
⮚ Furious Fifties
⮚ Screaming Sixties
• Largest wind-generated - during a typhoon in the western Pacific Ocean in 1935. The
152-meter (500-foot)-long U.S. Navy tanker USS Ramapo encountered 108- kilometer (67-
mile)-per-hour winds en route from the Philippines to San Diego, California.
⮚ The resulting waves were symmetrical, uniform, and had a period of 14.8 seconds.
⮚ The waves were 34 meters (112 feet) high, taller than an 11-story building.
• Swell - it is a long-crested waves. It is a uniform, symmetrical wave that have
traveled out of the area where they originated. Swells moves with little loss of
energy over large stretches of the ocean surface, transporting energy away from
one sea area and de-positing it in another.

• Interference pattern - produced when two or more wave systems collide is the
sum of the disturbance that each wave would have produced individually. The
interference pattern may be:
⮚ Constructive interference - occurs when wave trains having the same
wavelength come together in phase, meaning crest to crest and trough to
trough
⮚ Destructive interference - occurs when wave trains having the same
wavelength come together out of phase, meaning the crest from one wave
coincides with the trough from a second wave.
⮚ Mixed interference - A more complex, which explains the varied sequence
of high and lower waves (called surf beat) and other irregular wave patterns
that occur when swell approaches the seashore.
Constructive, destructive, and mixed interference patterns:
• Wave height is extremely
variable
⮚ 50% of all waves are
less than 2m (6-7 ft)
⮚ 10-15% are greater
than 6 m
o Up to 15 m in Atlantic
and Indian Ocean
o Up to 34m in Pacific
– long fetch (speed at
102 km/hr)
ROUGE WAVES
• These are massive, solitary waves that can reach enormous height and often occur at
times when normal ocean waves are not unusually large. Rogue means "unusual" and, in
this case, the waves are unusually large. Rogue waves sometimes called super waves can
be quite destructive and have been popularized in literature and movies such as "The
Perfect Storm."
• The main cause of rogue waves is theorized to be an extraordinary case of constructive
wave interference, where multiple waves overlap in phase to produce an extremely large
wave.
• 1 wave in 23 will be over twice the height of the wave average, 1 in 1175 will be three times
as high, and 1 in 300,000 will be four times as high. The chances of a truly monstrous
wave, therefore, are only one in several billion.
Storm Surges

• Large wave moving with a

storm (not just hurricanes)
• Low pressure above water –
water level rises at center
• Up to 3-4m higher than
normal
• Preceded by low sea-level
in front of storm
Added to increases wind waves +
high tide – most damage
 REPORTER:
WAVES IN SURF ZONE BRIDGETTE ASHLEY FROGOZO

• Surf Zone – zone of breaking waves near shore

• Shoaling water – water becoming gradually
more shallow
• When deep water waves encounter shoaling
water less than ½ their wavelength, they become
transitional waves.
 WAVES APPROACHING SHORE

As a deep-water wave becomes a shallow-water

wave:
◦ Wave speed decreases
◦ Wavelength decreases
◦ Wave height increases
◦ Wave steepness (height/wavelength) increases
◦ When steepness > 1/7, wave breaks
WAVES APPROACHING SHORE
 BREAKERS IN SURF ZONE

• Surf as swell from distant storms

⮚ waves break close to shore
⮚ uniform breakers
• Surf generated by local winds
⮚ choppy, high energy, unstable water
• Water depth < 1/20 wavelength, waves act as
shallow-water waves
⮚ wave particles “feels” sea floor
 TYPES OF BREAKERS

SPILLING BREAKER

• Gently sloping sea floor

• Waves energy expanded over
longer distance
• Water slides down front slope
of wave
TYPES OF BREAKERS

PLUNGING BREAKER
• Moderately steep sea floor
• Waves energy expanded
over shorter distance
• Best for board surfer
• Curling wave crest
 TYPES OF BREAKERS

SURGING BREAKER

• Steepest sea floor

• Energy spread over shortest
distance
• Best for body surfing
• Waves break on the shore
 SURFING

• Like riding a gravity-operated water sled

• Balance of gravity and buoyancy
• Skilled surfers position board on waves front
⮚Can achieve speeds up to 40 km/hr (25 miles/hr)
 WAVE REFRACTION

• Waves rarely approach shore at a perfect 90 degree angle

• As waves approach shore, they bend so wave crests are nearly
parallel to shore.
• Wave speed is proportional to the depth of water (shallow-water
wave).
• Different segments of the wave crest travel at different speeds.
WAVE REFRACTION
 WAVE REFRACTION
• Wave energy unevenly distributed
on shore
• Orthogonal lines or wave rays
– drawn perpendicular to wave
crests
⮚ More energy released on
headlands
⮚ Energy more dissipated in
bays
 WAVE REFLECTION
• Waves and wave energy bounced back
from barrier
• Reflected wave can interfere with next
incoming wave
• With constructive interference, can
create dangerous plunging breakers

Standing waves – can be produces

when waves are reflected at right angles
to a barrier
• The sum of two waves with the same
wavelength moving in opposite
directions – no net movement
STANDING WAVES
TSUNAMI REPORTER:
CARL BRYAN DELOS REYES

• The Japanese term for the large, sometimes destructive waves that
occasionally roll int their harbors is tsunami (tsu = harbor, nami = wave)
• Tsunami originate from sudden changes in the topography of the sea floor
caused by slippage along underwater faults, underwater avalanches, or
underwater volcanic eruptions.
• Many people mistakenly call them “tidal waves,” but tsunami are unrelated to
tides.
• Tsunami are seismic sea waves
TSUNAMI
 TSUNAMI
• Most occur in Pacific-
Ocean
• More earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions
• Damaging to coastal
areas
• Loss of human lives
 TSUNAMI CHARACTERISTICS
• Tsunamis are large ocean waves caused by the displacement of water, often
triggered by undersea earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides.
• They have long wavelengths and travel across entire ocean basins.
• Behaves as a shallow-water wave.
• Tsunamis are not caused by wind and can have periods between waves
ranging from minutes to an hour.
• Tsunami warning systems and early detection are crucial to mitigate their
impact on coastal communities.
 Tsunami destruction
• Sea level can rise up to 40 meters (131 feet)when a tsunami reaches shore.
 TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM

• Pacific Tsunami Warning

Center (PTWC) Honolulu, HI
• Deep Ocean Assessment
and Reporting of Tsunami
(DART)
CVENG414 SEARCH: TIDAL DATUM

TIDAL DATUM
A standard elevation defined by a certain phase of the tide. Tidal
datums are used as references to measure local water levels and should
not be extended into areas having differing oceanographic
characteristics without substantiating measurements.

In general, a DATUM is a base elevation used as a

reference from which to reckon heights or depths.
CVENG414 SEARCH: TIDAL DATUM

TIDAL DATUM
A standard elevation defined by a certain phase of the tide. Tidal
datums are used as references to measure local water levels and should
not be extended into areas having differing oceanographic
characteristics without substantiating measurements.

A TIDAL DATUM is height of the water used as a zero reference. In some areas, tidal
datums are calculated from a full nodal cycle (18.6-year period) of high and low
waters. In other areas, datums are chosen based on historical significance.
CVENG414 SEARCH: TIDAL DATUM
IMPORTANCE OF TIDAL DATUM
In order that they may be recovered when needed, such datums
are referenced to fixed points known as bench marks. Tidal datums
are also the basis for establishing privately owned land, state owned
land, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, and high seas
boundaries. Below are definitions of tidal datums maintained by the
Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services.

The following datums will be returned for all locations. These datums
are calculated over a full nodal cycle (~18.6 years) starting at Jan
1st, 2000.
CVENG414 SEARCH: TIDAL DATUM
DIFFERENT TIDAL DATUM AND ITS DEFINITION
Tidal datums are used as
references to measure local water
levels and should not be extended
into areas having differing
oceanographic characteristics
without substantiating
measurements. In order that they
may be recovered when needed,
such datums are referenced to
fixed points known as bench marks.
CVENG414 SEARCH: TIDAL DATUM
DIFFERENT TIDAL DATUM AND ITS DEFINITION
Mean High Water Spring
(MHWS)
The average of the
successive pair of highest
tides during spring tide
range.
Mean Higher High Water
(MHHW)
The average of the highest
of the successive pair of
high tides.
CVENG414 SEARCH: TIDAL DATUM
DIFFERENT TIDAL DATUM AND ITS DEFINITION
Mean Low Water Spring
(MLWS)
The average of the
successive pair of lowest
tides during spring tide
range.
Mean Lower Low Water
(MLLW)
The average of the lowest
of the successive pair of low
tides.
CVENG414 SEARCH: TIDAL DATUM
DIFFERENT TIDAL DATUM AND ITS DEFINITION
Mean High Water (MHW)
The average of all high
waters
Mean High Water Neaps
(MHWN)
The average of the
successive pair of highest
tides during neap tide
range.
CVENG414 SEARCH: TIDAL DATUM
DIFFERENT TIDAL DATUM AND ITS DEFINITION
Mean Low Water Neaps
(MLWN)
The average of the
successive pair of lowest
tides during neap tide
range.
Mean Low Water (MLW)
The average of all low
waters
CVENG414 SEARCH: TIDAL DATUM
DIFFERENT TIDAL DATUM AND ITS DEFINITION

(MSL)
Mean Sea Level
(Default)
The average sea
level.
CVENG414 SEARCH: TIDAL DATUM
DIFFERENT TIDAL DATUM AND ITS DEFINITION

Highest
Astronomical Tide
(HAT)
The highest
predicted
astronomical tide.
CVENG414 SEARCH: TIDAL DATUM
DIFFERENT TIDAL DATUM AND ITS DEFINITION
Lowest
Astronomical Tide
(LAT)
The lowest
predicted
astronomical tide.
CVENG414 SEARCH: TIDAL DATUM
DIFFERENT TIDAL DATUM AND ITS DEFINITION
CD - Chart Datum (Recommended)
Reference level for depths in navigational charts and heights
in tide tables. The actual level depends on local customs. For
historical reasons, this is not the default.
CVENG414 SEARCH: TIDAL DATUM
DIFFERENT TIDAL DATUM AND ITS DEFINITION
MLLWS - Mean Lower Low Water Spring
The average of the lowest tide during spring tide range.
MHLWS - Mean Higher Low Water Spring
The average of the higher of the successive pair of lowest tides during spring tide range.
MHLW - Mean Higher Low Water
The average of the highest of the successive pair of low tides.
MLLWN - Mean Lower Low Water Neaps
The average of the lowest tide during neap tide range.
MHLWN - Mean Higher Low Water Neaps
The average of the higher of the successive pair of lowest tides during neap tide range.
MTL - Mean Tide Level
The average of all high and low tides.
CVENG414 SEARCH: TIDAL DATUM
DIFFERENT TIDAL DATUM AND ITS DEFINITION
MLHWN - Mean Lower High-Water Neaps
The average of the lower of the successive pair of highest tides during neap tide range.
MHHWN - Mean Higher High Water Neaps
The average of the highest tide during neap tide range.
MLHW - Mean Lower High Water
The average of the lowest of the successive pair of high tides.
MLHWS - Mean Lower High Water Spring
The average of the lower of the successive pair of highest tides during spring tide range.
MHHWS - Mean Higher High Water Spring
The average of the highest tide during spring tide range.
CVENG414 SEARCH: TIDAL DATUM
DIFFERENT TIDAL DATUM AND ITS DEFINITION
Station Datum
A fixed base elevation at a tide station to which all water level measurements are referred. The
datum is unique to each station and is established at a lower elevation than the water is ever
expected to reach. It is referenced to the primary bench mark at the station and is held
constant regardless of changes to the water level gauge or tide staff. The datum of tabulation
is most often at the zero of the first tide staff installed.
National Tidal Datum Epoch
The specific 19-year period adopted by the National Ocean Service as the official time
segment over which tide observations are taken and reduced to obtain mean values (e.g.,
mean lower low water, etc.) for tidal datums. It is necessary for standardization because of
periodic and apparent secular trends in sea level. The present NTDE is 1983 through 2001 and is
actively considered for revision every 20-25 years. Tidal datums in certain regions with
anomalous sea level changes are calculated on a Modified 5-Year Epoch.
THANK YOU
FOR
LISTENING!
 GROUP 3
Delos Reyes, Carl Bryan Y.
Esguerra, Mark Wilson N.
Esteras, Fevonica Reign S.
Fallurin, Kevin Wyne F.
Frogozo, Bridgette Ashley A.
Gepollo, Missy Suico
Gonio, Chris Joshua E.
Gruta, Archimedes Q.
Villamor, Jerome