Wave refraction in the southern North Sea

Abstract

Abstract The computerised model on surface wave refraction by Wilson (1966) is applied to the topographic data of the southern North Sea. A series of wave refraction diagrams has been produced and the refraction coefficients are evaluated from these diagrams. It is found that there is an agreement between these refraction coefficients and the coefficients calculated from wave data obtained at various stations in the same area. Both the model and the data suggest that the area of wave ray convergence is highly coherent with the area of concentrated wave energy in which the higher waves are detected. It is the purpose of this paper to demonstrate the relationship between the theoretically derived model and the real data obtained in the southern North Sea where the bottom topography provides a pronounced refraction effect on surface waves as well as to show some spatial variation of wave height in that area.