The generation of surface waves on open water primarily by wind blowing across the sea surface, with wave height and period growing with wind speed, duration and the distance, or fetch, over which the wind blows. Waves generated far offshore travel as organized swell that can reach coastlines long after the storm that created them has passed.
Facts
Process Type TimescaleDeep-water wind waves have a period up to about 20 seconds 1 First Proposed Year Connections
Sources
1. Wind wave, Wikipedia
Lead paragraph, first sentence
In fluid dynamics, a wind wave, or wind-generated water wave, is a surface wave that occurs on the free surface of bodies of water as a result of the wind blowing over the water's surface.
Paragraph on wave period, sentence beginning Wind waves (deep-water waves)
Wind waves (deep-water waves) have a period up to about 20 seconds.
Paragraph on theory of wave generation, Phillips and Miles sentence
The initial formation of waves by the wind is described in the theory of Phillips from 1957, and the subsequent growth of the small waves has been modeled by Miles, also in 1957.
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