Dispersion relations and wave shapes

Abstract

Wave spectra calculated from 204 observations in the Atlantic trade-wind region east of Barbados, each observation with average duration of 11 minutes, were analyzed for the slope of the equilibrium region of the spectrum and the dispersion relation. Anomalous dispersion relations were correlated to shallow slopes of the equilibrium range, indicating that waves steeper than third-order Stokes waves may have contributed to the spectra.