Waves in the Costal and Oceanic Regions.

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to assess the waves techniques in the costal and oceanic regions. Methodology: One obvious way of measuring waves is to follow the three-dimensional motion of the water particles at the sea surface. This can be done with a buoy that closely follows the motion of these water particles by floating at the surface. Findings: Ocean waves are generally not observed and modelled in all their detail as they propagate across the ocean, into shelf seas and finally into coastal waters. Such details are generally not required and they are certainly beyond our capacity to observe and compute (except on a very small scale). The alternative is to consider the statistical characteristics of the waves. In advanced techniques of observing and modelling, these statistical characteristics are represented by the wave spectrum, which can be determined either from observations or with computer simulations based on wind, tides and seabed topography.