Microwave backscatter and acoustic radiation from breaking waves

An experimental study of the microwave backscatter and acoustic radiation from breaking waves is reported. It is found that the averaged microwave and acoustic measurements correlate with the dynamics of wave breaking. Both the mean-square acoustic pressure and the backscattered microwave power correlate with the wave slope and dissipation, for waves of moderate slope (S < 0.28). The backscattered power and the mean-square pressure are also found to correlate strongly with each other. As the slope and wavelength of the breaking wave packet is increased, both the backscattered power and the mean-square pressure increase. It is found that a large portion of the backscattered microwave power precedes the onset of sound production and visible breaking. This indicates that the unsteadiness of the breaking process is important and that the geometry of the wave prior to breaking may dominate the backscattering. It is observed that the amount of acoustic energy radiated by an individual breaking wave scaled with the amount of mechanical energy dissipated during breaking. These laboratory results are compared to the field experiments of Farmet & Vagle (1988), Crowther (1989) and Jessup et al. (1990).

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