Fluids & atmospheric physics › Ocean-wave simulator
Ocean-wave laboratory
Explore wave propagation, interference, refraction, dispersion and breaking as waves travel from deep water towards the coast.
What to notice
In deep water, particles move in near-circular paths and longer waves travel faster. As waves approach shallow water they slow, shorten, refract towards the shoreline and grow steeper. When wave height becomes too large compared with local depth, the crest overturns and breaks.
c = ω/k · cg = dω/dk · ω² = gk tanh(kh) · E ≈ ⅛ρgH²
Educational reduced-order model based on linear wave theory with illustrative shoaling and breaking. It is not a coastal-engineering or tsunami-warning tool.