A unified deep-to-shallow water wave-breaking probability parameterization

Abstract

Breaking probabilities and breaking wave height distributions (BWHDs) in deep, intermediate, and shallow water depth are compared, and a generic parameterization is proposed to represent the observed variability of breaking parameters as a function of the nondimensional water depth. In intermediate and deep water, where waves of different scales may have markedly different breaking probabilities, a BWHD as a function of wave frequency is proposed and validated with intermediate-depth and deep water observational data. The current study focuses on waves with frequencies between 0.55 and 3.45 times the peak frequency fp. For the dominant frequency, the integration of the frequency-dependent BWHD provides a breaking probability that reproduces the known threshold-type behavior of the breaking probability for dominant waves. In shallow water, the present breaking statistics parameterization is consistent with other independent formulations validated by shallow water-breaking observations.© 2010 by the American Geophysical Union.