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Improvements to the statistical theoretical model for wave breaking based on the ratio of breaking wave kinetic and potential energy

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Abstract

An improvement was proposed for the statistical theory of breaking entrainment depth and surface whitecap coverage of real sea waves in this study. The ratio of the kinetic and potential energy was estimated on a theoretical level, and optimal constants were determined to improve the statistical theory model for wave breaking. We also performed a sensitivity test to the model constants. A comparison between the model and in situ observations indicated that the level of agreement was better than has been achieved in previous studies.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2013AA09A506), the National Natural Science Foundation of China-Shandong Joint Fund for Marine Science Research Centers (Grant No. U1406404), the Youth Natural Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant No. ZR2015PD009), the Scientific and Technological Innovation Project Financially Supported by Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Grant No. 2015ASKJ01), and the Youth Science Foundation of China-Indonesia Maritime Cooperation Fund (Grant No. YZ0115005).

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Correspondence to BaoNan Sun.

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Wang, H., Yang, Y., Sun, B. et al. Improvements to the statistical theoretical model for wave breaking based on the ratio of breaking wave kinetic and potential energy. Sci. China Earth Sci. 60, 180–187 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-016-0053-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-016-0053-3

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