What is fetch and how does it affect waves

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer hits a large swell during a day spent mapping in the Pacific. Fetch is an important factor in the development of wind waves which increase in height with increasing fetch up to a maximum of 1600 km 1000 miles.

How long the.

What is fetch and how does it affect waves. The length of time it has been blowing. The distance of open water it has been blowing over. If any of these three variables increases then the size of waves will also increase.

The reason that understanding fetch is so valuable is that the. It is very important to remember that fetch is the maximum length of open water over which the wind can blow unobstructed. Waves with the highest energy levels will result from a combination of a long fetch and a consistent dominant wind blowing in the same direction.

So in simple terms the bigger the fetch the bigger the wave. This line generally coincides with the longest axis in the general wind direction. Fetch is an important factor in the development of wind waves which increase in height with increasing fetch up to a maximum of 1600 km 1000 miles.

Wave heights do not. Winds that blow along the shorelinelongshore windsaffect waves and therefore currents. Before one can understand any type of surface current one must understand how wind and waves operate.

Wave height is affected by wind speed wind duration or how long the wind blows and fetch which is the distance over water that the wind blows in a single direction. The windfield is kept synchronous with its own swell and the waves are continually being pumped with energy. Dynamic fetch has the same effect on the waves as extending the fetch while maintaining the full strength of the wind over that distance.

This will make the wave height bigger because you are putting a longer fetch into the equation. There are three main factors that affect wave formation. Wind velocity fetch and duration.

Wind velocity is the speed of the wind fetch is the distance over the water that the wind can blow uninterrupted which can be huge distances out at sea and duration is the amount of. The fetch how far the wave has travelled. The strength of the wind.

How long the wind has been blowing for. The most erosive waves will be where the wind has been blowing. When the wind blows over the sea it creates waves.

The size and energy of the wave depends on certain factors. The fetch - how far the wave has travelled. The strength of the wind.

How long the. Fetch is a geographic term that describes the amount of open water over which a wind has blown. The length of fetch is why ocean swells are usually much stronger than lake swells.

In the open ocean a waves fetch can be thousands of kilometers. The size and power of a wave is influenced by three main factors. How strong the wind is.

How long it has been blowing. How far the wave has travelled known as the fetch. How steeply a beach slopes or shelves and the topography of the sea bed near the beach will also affect the size and type of wave.

Five factors affect the growth of wind waves. First the wind speed must be blowing faster than the transfer of energy from wave crest to wave crest. The second factor is the amount of time the wind blows or wind duration.

The third factor is the fetch the uninterrupted distance over the sea for which the wind blows without a change in direction. Fetch is an important understanding of your lake formation and the direction and speed of winds to create waves. Diagram of a lake showing wind direction of fetch.

In its simplest term lake fetch is the maximum length of. Wave trains radiate outward in all direction from the fetch with the largest waves moving in the same direction as the winds within in the fetch. Over distance and time waves that are moving at nearly the same speed keep pace with one another and form a group.

There can be anywhere from 3-15 or more waves in a group. 1 Surface Waves. Waves affect a large number of marine activities and biochemical processes that take place on and below the ocean surface.

The widespread wind-generated waves are for example responsible for inducing considerable loads on marine structures such as ships and offshore platforms pipelines mooring systems renewable energy installations and port activities among many. A long fetch creates a high energy wave. In oceanography wind fetch also known as fetch length or simply fetch is the length of water over which a given wind has blown without obstruction.

1 2 Fetch is used in geography and meteorology and its effects are usually associated with sea state and when it reaches shore it is the main factor that creates storm surge which leads to coastal erosion and flooding. 171 Waves Waves form on the ocean and on lakes because energy from the wind is transferred to the water. The stronger the wind the longer it blows and the larger the area of water over which it blows the fetch the larger the waves are likely to be.

The important parameters of a wave are its wavelength the horizontal distance between two crests or two troughs its amplitude the. Wave height is affected by wind speed wind duration or how long the wind blows and fetch which is the distance over water that the wind blows in a single direction. If wind speed is slow only small waves result regardless of wind duration or fetch.

The factors that affect the height of waves are as follows. The greater the fetch the larger the wave. The fetch of a wave.

Wind speed also has a significant effect on the size of waves. The stronger the wind the larger the wave because of the energy transfer. Finally wind duration also affects the size of a wave.

The longer the wind blows over the open water the larger the waves. This is the distance of open water over which the wind blows. The longer the fetch the larger the waves.

The depth of the water also plays a role as it is difficult to generate large waves in shallow water. The size of a wave depends on three factors. The distance over which the wind blows across open water the fetch the strength of the wind and the duration that the wind blows.

The larger these factors the larger are the waves. Not surprisingly the largest wind waves occur on the open ocean. A method of shoreline erosion b.

The distance that wind travels across open water c. The circular pattern made by water particles when a wave passes d. A type of wave-cut platform.

Waves are caused by energy passing through the water causing the water to move in a circular motion. NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer hits a large swell during a day spent mapping in the Pacific. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research Deepwater Wonders.

Three factors of the wind hitting the ocean water during these storms affect the swell fetch velocity and duration. When winds velocity blow for a period of time duration over an area fetch a ripple affect is started. This ripple affect is similar to throwing a rock into water.

The fetch is the distance of the sea over which the wind has travelled. For example if the wind blows over an area of sea which is several thousand miles long destructive waves will form as they have had the time to generate greater energy. Whereas a shorter fetch will result in smaller constructive waves.