Improved Stochastic Models for Surfing Climate

A new model for the joint probability density function (pdf) of surfer board-speed and wave break-rate is developed for use in making quantitative assessments of surfing wave climate. Maximum sustainable board speed is modeled upon the results of a companion study (Dally, 2001) that relates board sp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of coastal research 2001-01, p.41-50
Main Author: Dally, William R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Beaches
Climate models
Coastal engineering
Density distributions
Modeling
Peels
Sine function
Stochastic models
Surfing
Waves
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Summary:A new model for the joint probability density function (pdf) of surfer board-speed and wave break-rate is developed for use in making quantitative assessments of surfing wave climate. Maximum sustainable board speed is modeled upon the results of a companion study (Dally, 2001) that relates board speed directly to breaker height. Starting from a Rayleigh distribution for wave height in deep water, the distribution of breaker heights is developed by a rigorous transformation of random variable. A strictly empirical, yet utilitarian, pdf for the sine of the peel angle is fashioned from the Beta Distribution. Assuming that breaker height and peel angle are independent random variables, the product of the two pdf's is analytically transformed into the joint distribution of board speed and break rate. The proportion of surfable waves is determined by integrating the joint pdf in the domain where the board speed is greater than the break rate, for the largest 10% of breakers. Results of exercising the model indicate that it is the distribution of peel angle, as opposed to the breaker height or wave period, that most affects the proportion of surfable waves.
ISSN:0749-0208
1551-5036