MIKE 21 NSW

Nearshore Spectral Wind-Wave Module

User Guide

DHI Software 2007

Software development by : xxx

Written by: xxx

C:\Work\main\Products\Source\Manuals\M21\m21nsw\Cover.fm 2 November 2006 8:43 am

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Printing History
June 2003
June 2004
August 2005
October 2006

MIKE 21 NSW

CONTENTS

MIKE 21 NSW User Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

1

ABOUT THIS GUIDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1.1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.2 Assumed User Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1 General Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1.1 Application areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

GETTING STARTED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.1 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2 Defining and Limiting the Wave Problem . . . .
3.2.1 Identify the wave problem . . . . . . . .
3.2.2 Check MIKE 21 NSW capabilities . . . .
3.2.3 Selecting model area and grid spacings
3.2.4 Check computer resources . . . . . . .
3.3 Collecting Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4 Setting up the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.1 What does it mean . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.2 Bathymetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.3 Boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.4 Surface elevation . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.5 Bottom friction coefficients . . . . . . . .
3.4.6 Wind field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.7 Current field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5 Calibrating and Verifying the Model . . . . . . .
3.5.1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.2 Calibration and verification situations . .
3.5.3 Calibration factors . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.6 Running the Production Simulations . . . . . . .
3.7 Presenting the Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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EXAMPLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.2 A Simple Example: Refraction and Shoaling Test
4.2.1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.2.2 Defining the problem . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.2.3 Setting up the model . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.2.4 Running the simulation . . . . . . . . . . .
4.2.5 Presenting the results . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3 More Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3.1 Wave breaking test . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3.2 Grdyb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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MIKE 21 NSW

4.3.3
5

Caravelas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

REFERENCE MANUAL . . . . . . . . . . .
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2 Basic Parameters . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2.1 Bathymetry . . . . . . . . . .
5.2.2 Bathymetric parameters . .
5.2.3 Simulation period . . . . . .
5.3 Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . .
5.3.1 Offshore wave conditions . .
5.3.2 Lateral boundary conditions
5.4 Solution Parameters . . . . . . . . .
5.4.1 Discrete directions . . . . . .
5.4.2 Numerical parameters . . .
5.5 Model Parameters . . . . . . . . . . .
5.5.1 Bottom dissipation . . . . . .
5.5.2 Surface elevation . . . . . .
5.5.3 Wave breaking . . . . . . . .
5.5.4 Wave-current interaction . .
5.5.5 Wind-wave generation . . .
5.6 Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.6.1 Integral wave parameters . .
5.6.2 Spectral wave parameters .
5.6.3 Disk space . . . . . . . . . .
5.6.4 CPU time . . . . . . . . . . .

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SCIENTIFIC DOCUMENTATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
6.1 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

MIKE 21 NSW

MIKE 21 NSW
User Guide

10

MIKE 21 NSW

Purpose

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

1.1

Purpose
The main purpose of this User Guide is to enable you to use the Nearshore
Spectral Wind-wave Module of MIKE 21, MIKE 21 NSW, for applications involving the propagation, growth and decay of short-period and
short crested waves in nearshore areas. The User Guide is complemented
by the On-line Help.
The following section, Section 2 INTRODUCTION, gives you a short
description of the module MIKE 21 NSW and the type of applications it
can be used for.
Section 3 GETTING STARTED, contains a step-by-step procedure which
can be followed when working on an application or when writing a proposal. It is the intention that by following this procedure and by using the
Reference Manual you should be able to get good and reliable results from
MIKE 21 NSW although a formal procedure is no substitute for common
sense.
Section 4 EXAMPLES describes a simple MIKE 21 NSW application in
order to get you started. The what key to press procedure for this example is described in detail.
In addition to this simple example, a couple of more complicated examples are given. These are chosen to cover typical application areas of
MIKE 21 NSW. The emphasis in these examples is on how the parameters
are selected and how the results are presented.
Section 5 REFERENCE MANUAL describes the parameters in the MIKE
21 NSW dialogs. It provides more details on specific aspects of the operation of MIKE 21 NSW and is what you will normally refer to for assistance if you are an experienced user. The contents of this section is the
same as found in the On-line Help.
In Section 6 SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND, you can find information on
the scientific background for MIKE 21 NSW as well as a reference list.
An INDEX is found at the end of this MIKE 21 NSW User Guide.

11

About This Guide

1.2

Assumed User Background

Although MIKE 21 NSW has been designed carefully with emphasis on a
logical and user-friendly interface and although the User Guide contains
modelling procedures and a large amount of reference material, common
sense is always needed in any practical application.
In this case, common sense means a background in wave problems
which is sufficient for you to be able to check whether the results from
MIKE 21 NSW are reasonable or not. This User Guide is not intended as a
substitute for - and it cannot replace - a basic knowledge of the area in
which you are working: mathematical modelling of wave problems.
It is assumed that you are familiar with the basic elements of MIKE 21:
file types and file editors, the Plot Composer, the MIKEZero Toolbox, the
MIKE 21 Toolbox and the Bathymetry Editor. An introduction to these
can be found in the MIKE 21 Short Introduction and Tutorial.

12

MIKE 21 NSW

General Description

INTRODUCTION

2.1

General Description
MIKE 21 NSW is a wind-wave model that describes the propagation,
growth and decay of short-period and short-crested waves in nearshore
areas. The model takes into account the effects of refraction and shoaling
due to varying depth, local wind generation and energy dissipation due to
bottom friction and wave breaking. The model also takes into account the
effect of wave-current interaction.
MIKE 21 NSW is a stationary, directionally decoupled, parametric model.
To take into account the effect of currents the basic equations in the model
are derived from the conservation equation for the spectral wave action
density. A parameterization of the conservation equation in the frequency
domain is performed by introducing the zeroth and the first moment of the
action spectrum as dependent variables.
The frequency spectrum is assumed single-peaked which means that
mixed seas (e.g. wind waves and swell) can not be simulated.

Figure 2.1

MIKE21 NSW is extensively used for calculation of wave transformation from deep water to the shoreline

The basic equations are solved using an Eulerian finite difference technique. The zeroth and the first moment of the action spectrum are calculated on a rectangular grid for a number of discrete directions. A once-

13

Introduction

through marching procedure is applied in the predominant direction of

wave propagation.
The basic output from the model is integral wave parameters such as significant wave height, mean wave period, mean wave direction, the directional standard deviation and radiation stresses. In addition, spectral
output data in form of distribution of wave energy on directions at a
number of user-selected points can also be obtained.

2.1.1

14

Application areas
MIKE 21 NSW can be applied to the study of wave disturbance in coastal
areas. The assessment of the wave conditions - wave heights, wave periods and wave directions - is essential for the estimation of wave forces at a
shoreline. An important object in coastal engineering is calculation of sediment transport, which in the nearshore zone is largely determined by the
wave conditions and associated wave-induced currents. The wave-induced
currents are generated by the gradients in radiation stresses that occur in
the surf zone. MIKE 21 NSW can be used to calculate the wave conditions
and associated radiation stresses.

MIKE 21 NSW

General

GETTING STARTED

3.1

General
The purpose of this section is to give you a general check list which you
can use when modelling situations involving the propagation of shortperiod and short-crested waves in nearshore areas using the MIKE 21
Nearshore Spectral Wind-Wave module.
The work will normally consist of the six tasks listed below:
!

defining and limiting the wave problem

collecting data

setting up the model

calibrating and verifying the model

running the production simulations

presenting the results

Each of these six tasks are described for a general wave study in the following sections. For your particular study only some of the tasks might be
relevant.
Please note that whenever a word is written in italics it is included as an
entry in the On-line Help and in the Reference Manual.

3.2

Defining and Limiting the Wave Problem

3.2.1

Identify the wave problem

When preparing to do a study you have to assess the following before you
start to set up the model:
!

what are the wave conditions under consideration in the area of

interest?

what are the important wave phenomena? The following phenomena

should be taken into consideration:
Shoaling
Refraction
Diffraction

15

Getting Started

Reflection
Bottom dissipation
Wave blocking
Wave breaking
Wind generation
Frequency spreading
Directional spreading
Wave-wave interaction
Wave-current interaction
The MIKE 21 NSW module can handle these phenomena with the
exception of diffraction, reflection, non-linear wave-wave interaction
and wave blocking.
!

what is the area of influence of the wave phenomena?

3.2.2

Check MIKE 21 NSW capabilities

Next, check if the MIKE 21 NSW module is able to solve your problem.
This you can do by turning to Section 1, which gives a short description of
MIKE 21 NSW and an overview of the type of applications for which
MIKE 21 NSW can be used, and by consulting the Scientific Documentation.

3.2.3

Selecting model area and grid spacings

Draw up your model area on a sea chart showing the area of interest and
the area of influence. This is normally an iterative process as on one hand
you should keep the model area as small as possible, while on the other
hand you have to include the total area of influence. When deciding on
your model area you have to consider the alignment of the grid with the
dominant direction of wave propagation in the model area. You also have
to consider the Boundary Conditions (Offshore Wave Conditions and Lateral Boundary Conditions). Guidelines for Selection of the Model Area are
given as a subject under Bathymetry.
The choice of grid spacing in the x,y,-space depends on the wave conditions for which simulations are to be performed and on the bathymetry,
wind field and current field in the area of interest:
!

16

the grid spacing in the x,y-plane must be selected to provide adequate

resolution of the bathymetry, the wind field and the current field.

MIKE 21 NSW

Collecting Data

3.2.4

the grid spacing in the x,y,-space must be selected to provide adequate

resolution of the wave field under consideration. In the case where
radiation stresses will be used in the calculation of wave-induced currents, the grid spacing must also be chosen to resolve the wave decay
process in the surf zone.

the grid spacing in the x,y,-space must be selected to satisfy the stability criterion for the numerical scheme which is applied in MIKE 21
NSW.

In practice, the choice of the grid spacing is often a compromise

between low computer costs, storage requirements and high accuracy.

Check computer resources

Finally, before you start to set up the model, you should check that you are
not requesting unrealistic computer resources:
!

the CPU time required should be estimated

the Disk Space required should be estimated

This can be done by e.g. running a test simulation and checking the computer resources used. Please refer to section 5.6.3 and 5.6.4 for further
information.

3.3

Collecting Data
This task may take a long time if, for example, you have to initiate a monitoring program. Alternatively it may be carried out very quickly if you are
able to use existing data which are immediately available. In all cases the
following data should be collected:
!

bathymetric data such as sea charts from local surveys or, for example,
from the Hydrographic Office, UK.

boundary data, which might be measurements (existing or planned specifically for your model), observations etc.

information on the bottom friction.

calibration and validation data; these might be measured wave parameters at selected locations, e.g. root mean square wave height, peak
wave period and mean wave direction.

17

Getting Started

3.4

Setting up the Model

3.4.1

What does it mean

Setting up the model is actually another way of saying transforming real
world events and data into a format which can be understood by the
numerical model MIKE 21 NSW. Thus generally speaking, all the data
collected have to be resolved on the spatial grid selected.

3.4.2

Bathymetry
You have to specify the bathymetry as a dfs2 data file containing the water
depths in the model area. Describing the water depths in your model is one
of the most important tasks in the modelling process. A few hours less
spent in setting up the model bathymetry may later on mean extra days
spent in the calibration process.

3.4.3

Boundary conditions
The boundary conditions are divided into two categories, (1) Offshore
wave conditions and (2) Lateral boundary conditions.
For the offshore boundary, you may have to prepare one of the following
types of input data:
!

wave parameters describing the wave conditions (constant values).

a dfs0 data file containing wave parameters describing the wave conditions.

a dfs1 data file containing wave parameters describing the wave conditions at all grid points along the boundary.

a dfs1 data file containing wave parameters from an encompassing

model describing the wave conditions at all grid points along the
boundary.

It should be noted that MIKE 21 NSW uses the specified offshore wave
conditions for each time step (in the dfs0 or dfs1 file) to compute the
steady state nearshore wave distribution for that time step. The time steps
are mutually independent.
Lastly, you can also specify that the offshore boundary is a land boundary.
In this case, waves in the model area will be generated by the local wind
field specified.
For the lateral boundaries (model north and south) you will have to choose
one of the following types of boundary conditions:
!

18

Symmetrical

MIKE 21 NSW

Calibrating and Verifying the Model

This condition ensures that the gradient of the wave conditions

across the lateral boundary is zero. Basically, this is synonymous
with assuming that the contours are locally straight and parallel near
the boundary.
!

Absorbing
This condition ensures that the incident waves at the boundary are
fully absorbed. At the downwave lateral boundary, incident waves
propagate out of the model without any reflection, while at the
upwave lateral boundary no waves can propagate into the model
area.

3.4.4

Surface elevation
The surface elevation, or water level, (measured relative to the bathymetry
reference zero level) can be specified as a constant value, using a dfs0 data
file or a dfs2 data file. The specified surface elevation is then combined
with the bathymetry to obtain the actual water depths used in the wave
simulation. No calculations are carried out on water depths less than 0.05
m. The output is set to delete values (blanks).

3.4.5

Bottom friction coefficients

The bottom friction can be specified either as a friction factor or as a
Nikuradse roughness parameter (see Bottom Dissipation). In both cases
the value can be given either as a constant for the entire model area or as a
dfs2 data file (two-dimensional map).

3.4.6

Wind field
The wind field, i.e. wind speed and direction, can be given either as constant for the entire model area or as a dfs2 data file (two-dimensional
map). Please see Specifying the Wind Field under Wind-Wave Generation.

3.4.7

Current field
The current field, given as velocity components in the x- and y-direction,
can be given either as constant for the entire model area or as a dfs2 data
file (two-dimensional map). Please see Wave-Current Interaction.

3.5

Calibrating and Verifying the Model

3.5.1

Purpose
Having completed all tasks listed above you are ready to do the first wave
simulation and to start on the calibration and verification of the model.

19

Getting Started

The purpose of the calibration is to tune the model in order to reproduce

known/measured conditions for a particular situation.
In open coastal areas, the nearshore wave field depends very much on the
offshore wave field. Thus, the calibration of the wave model must ensure
that the correct parameters are used in MIKE 21 NSW such that all the
processes between the offshore and inshore locations are adequately represented.
The calibrated/tuned model is then verified by running one or more simulations for which measurements are available without changing any tuning
parameters. This should ensure that simulations can be made for any situation similar to the calibration and verification situations with satisfactory
results. However, you should never use simulation results, whether verified or not, without checking if they are reasonable or not.

3.5.2

Calibration and verification situations

The situations which you select for calibration and verification of the
model should cover the range of situations you wish to investigate in the
production runs. However, as you must have some measurements/observations against which to calibrate and, as the measurements are often only
available for short periods, you may only have a few situations from
which to choose.
One way of calibrating the model is to select a number of measured offshore wave conditions and the corresponding measurements at some
inshore locations. MIKE 21 NSW is then applied to model these sets of
measured offshore conditions. The model is then tuned until a plot of the
calculated wave conditions versus the measured conditions falls approximately on a 45 line.

3.5.3

Calibration factors
When you run your calibration run the first time and compare the simulation results to your measurements you will in many cases see differences
between the two. The purpose of the calibration is then to tune the model
so that these differences become negligible. The most important factor in
the calibration is the accuracy of the data. Hence, in order to reduce the
differences, you may have to change the basic model specifications listed
in Section 3.4. The calibration parameters available in MIKE 21 NSW are:
!

20

Bottom friction

MIKE 21 NSW

Running the Production Simulations

An increase of the bottom friction coefficient in shallow water

depths usually leads to increased energy dissipation and thus
decreased wave heights (and mean period). The converse is also the
case. In deep water the effect of bottom friction will be negligible,
since the waves will not feel the bottom.
!

Directional spreading index, n

In areas with complicated bathymetries (e.g. with islands, deep
channels, underwater bars, etc.) changing the spreading index at the
offshore boundary may significantly affect the wave field. Thus, if
there is no information on the spreading index at the boundary, this
parameter can be used as a calibration factor.

Breaking parameters: , 1, 2
The breaking wave parameters can also be used as calibration factors in some cases. However, you should be careful in tuning these
parameters. The parameter controls the rate of energy dissipation
after breaking, 1 controls the amount of steepness related breaking,
while 2 controls the amount of depth related breaking. An increase
in increases the rate of energy dissipation. In contrast, an increase
in 1 reduces the amount of steepness related breaking. Also,
increasing 2 reduces the amount of depth-related wave breaking.

Wind data
To a certain extent the input wind data may be altered somewhat
during calibration. The reason for this is that wind information is
usually available over land and MUST be adjusted to obtain corresponding over-water wind speeds. The procedure suggested in the
Shore Protection Manual can be used for this purpose. However,
there would be some uncertainty regarding the correct over-water
wind speeds due to the influence of islands, thermal stratification,
etc. Thus, one may within reasonable limits adjust the wind speeds
during calibration. However, a consistent procedure should be used
during calibration and for the production runs.

3.6

Running the Production Simulations

As you have calibrated and verified the model you can get on to the real
work, that is doing your actual investigation. This will, in some cases,
only include a few runs.

21

Getting Started

3.7

Presenting the Results

Throughout a modelling study you are working with large amounts of data
and the best way of checking them is therefore to look at them graphically.
Only in a few cases, such as when you check your bathymetry along a
boundary or you want to compare simulation results to measurements in
selected locations, should you look at the individual numbers. Much
emphasis has therefore been placed on the capabilities for graphical presentation in MIKE 21 and it is an area which will be expanded and focused
on even further in future versions.
Essentially, one plot gives more information than scores of tables and if
you can present it in colours, your message will be even more easily
understood.
A good way of presenting the model results is using contour plots of the
calculated wave parameters, e.g. the significant wave heights and the
mean wave periods, and in form of vector plots showing the mean wave
directions.
Plotting in MIKEZero is carried out by using the Plot Composer tool.

22

MIKE 21 NSW

General

EXAMPLES

4.1

General
One of the best ways of learning how to use a modelling system like
MIKE 21 is through practice. Therefore, we have included some applications which you can go through yourself and which you can modify if you
like in order to see what happens if this or that parameter is changed.
The specification and data files for the examples are included with the
installation of MIKE 21. For each example a folder is provided. The folder
names are as follows (but might have been changed at your installation;
please ask your system administrator if you cannot find the directories):
Refraction and shoaling test:
C:\Program Files\DHI\MikeZero\Examples\MIKE_21\NSW\plane
Wave breaking test:
C:\Program Files\DHI\MikeZero\Examples\MIKE_21\NSW\bar
Grdyb:
C:\Program Files\DHI\MikeZero\Examples\MIKE_21\NSW\gd
Caravelas:
C:\Program Files\DHI\MikeZero\Examples\MIKE_21\NSW\caravelas

4.2

A Simple Example: Refraction and Shoaling Test

4.2.1

Purpose
The purpose of the present section is to guide you through the first example of a very simple MIKE 21 NSW application.
Please note that, in this section, words shown in boldface correspond to
input you have to type on your keyboard or on a dialog.

4.2.2

Defining the problem

This first example has been chosen as a fairly simple one, so that it is possible to check the results analytically.

23

Examples

The problem is:

!

the refraction and shoaling of regular wave trains propagating onto a

plane beach

The test conditions are:

!

the model area is 400 m perpendicular to the beach and 2000 m along
the beach. The beach has a constant slope of 1:20.

at the offshore boundary the significant wave height is 1 m and the

mean wave period is 5 s. The direction of wave approach is 240 N
(coming from) with a directional spreading index of 128. The model
orientation is 0 (angle from North to y-axis clockwise). Thus the angle
between the mean wave direction and the x-axis is 30.

Additional information required by MIKE 21 NSW is:

4.2.3

24

the grid spacing is selected to be 4 m in the direction perpendicular to

the beach and 20 m in the direction along the beach.

the grid spacing is selected to be 10 in the -direction and there are 13

discrete directions.

Setting up the model

You start MIKE 21 NSW by selecting File -> New in the MIKEZero environment. A dialog box appears (Figure 4.1). You then select MIKE 21
and a list of MIKE 21 modules appears as shown in the figure. MIKE 21
NSW is the Nearshore Spectral Waves module. It can be selected by
either double-clicking the name or pressing OK after high-lighting it.

MIKE 21 NSW

A Simple Example: Refraction and Shoaling Test

Figure 4.1

Starting the MIKE 21 NSW editor from the MIKE Zero environment

You are then presented with the following start-up page for the MIKE 21
NSW editor (Figure 4.2).

Figure 4.2

MIKE 21 NSW editor

25

Examples

To get help for the items on the dialog pages you are working with, you
can press F1 any time.
The MIKE 21 NSW parameters are grouped under five main headings:
!

Basic Parameters

Boundary Conditions

Solution Parameters

Model Parameters

Output

For each one, a description of the contents is given to the right while the
actual parameters are entered on sub-dialogs.
First, you must select the bathymetry to work with (Figure 4.3). This is
done on the Bathymetry dialog page where the path to the bathymetry file
(dfs2 file) must be specified. For the present example, the bathymetry
bathy.dfs2 is included with the installation as explained in Section 4.1 in
the subfolder plane.

Figure 4.3

Selecting the bathymetry

The next dialog Bathymetric Parameters shows the origin of the

bathymetry (latitude, longitude), the orientation of the bathymetry and the
value representing land. These parameters are taken from the specifications given in the bathymetry file and can not be changed in MIKE 21
NSW.

26

MIKE 21 NSW

A Simple Example: Refraction and Shoaling Test

The final dialog under the Basic Parameters heading is the Simulation
Period dialog. When specifying the Time Description, you can either
specify Stationary or Quasi-stationary simulation. Stationary is used if
you are simulating only one wave event corresponding to one offshore
wave boundary condition (and/or wind condition), while Quasi-stationary should be used if simulating several sets of wave events corresponding to a time series of offshore wave boundary conditions.
For a stationary simulation you specify the Simulation start time, which
is the calendar time for the situation you are going to simulate, given as
day/month/year and time. For a Quasi-stationary simulation you also
specify the Time step interval (in seconds) and the Number of time
steps. For this example, you can use the defaults for all specifications on
this dialog.
You then proceed to Boundary Conditions. In order to specify the boundary wave conditions at the offshore boundary (i.e. along x = 0) you select
Offshore (Figure 4.4). Here you can specify the Type of Boundary Conditions and the Boundary Data Type. For this example you specify Version 1. Next you select Constant values for Boundary Data Type and
specify the following values:
Significant wave height Hm0:
Mean wave period Tm:
Mean wave direction MWD:
Directional spreading index n:
Max. deviation from MWD,
MDWD:

1.0 m
5.0 s
240.0 deg. N
128
30

27

Examples

Figure 4.4

Selecting the offshore boundary conditions

The next boundary condition dialog is called Lateral. Here you specify
boundary conditions at the lateral boundaries (model north and model
south). For each lateral boundary, the boundary condition can be specified
as either Symmetrical or Absorbing. The physical meaning of these
boundary conditions is given under the entry Lateral Boundary Conditions
in the On-line Help and in the Reference Manual (see section 5.3.2 Lateral
boundary conditions (p. 54)). For this example you specify Symmetrical
boundary conditions at both boundaries.
The next main group of parameters is Solution Parameters where the
number of Discrete Directions and the Numerical Parameters are
selected. At the Discrete Directions page, the Number of grid points in
the theta direction and the Grid spacing in degrees are selected. Note that
the grid in the theta direction is set up in such a way that the x-axis corresponds to theta = 0 and there are equal numbers of grid points on both
sides of theta = 0. Hence, specifying 13 discrete directions with a grid
spacing of 10 implies that the model includes waves propagating at -60
to +60 w.r.t. the x-axis. For this example you accept the default values.
Next you select the Numerical Parameters dialog. Here you can select
the type of Discretisation of the Convective Term and the parameters of
the Nonlinear Iteration. An explanation of these terms is given in the Online Help and in the Reference Manual. (see section 5.4.2 Numerical
parameters (p. 57)). For this example, you should accept the default specification.
Now proceed to Model Parameters. This is where you select the physical
specifications for your model. Here you can Include or Exclude: Bottom

28

MIKE 21 NSW

A Simple Example: Refraction and Shoaling Test

Dissipation, Wave Breaking, wave generation by wind (Wind Description) and Wave-Current Interaction and specify the Surface Elevation
(Figure 4.5).
For this example you Exclude all the processes (the default).

Figure 4.5

Model parameters: selecting the surface water elevation

On the Surface Elevation dialog page, you specify the surface water elevation relative to the reference level used in the bathymetry. Usually you
will need to use this facility when carrying out simulations in e.g. tidal
areas, in which case you specify the tidal water levels relative to the reference datum. This is not necessary for this example, so you accept the
default.
Finally, you select the Output specifications. For this example, you specify the Number of Output Areas as 1 (Figure 4.6) and click with the
mouse just below the row of headings starting with Type. You can now
specify the output Type (select Integral Wave parameters), the output
Data File (specify the name as res), a descriptive title for the file (e.g.
Refraction and Shoaling Test) and which parameters to output. For these
parameters, use the defaults.

29

Examples

Figure 4.6

Specifying the output file name and the type of output

After finishing the model input, you select File -> Save As.. and specify
plane as the file name.

4.2.4

Running the simulation

Finally, you can run the simulation by selecting Run -> Start simulation... from the MIKEZero environment. When the simulation has finished (the time required will depend on your computer: a status window
box pops up where the simulation can be followed) you should check the
plane.log file which is saved in the same folder as your plane.nsw specification file.

4.2.5

Presenting the results

In order to see the refraction and shoaling of the waves on the plane beach,
you can extract and plot the values of the mean wave direction and the significant wave height, respectively, at a line perpendicular to the beach (for
details on how to do this please refer to your MIKE 21 Short Introduction
and Tutorial). In Figure 4.7 the two line plots are shown. The model
results are in very good agreement with the analytical solution.

30

MIKE 21 NSW

More Examples

Figure 4.7

4.3

More Examples

4.3.1

Wave breaking test

Wave parameters along a line perpendicular to the plane beach,

mean wave direction, MWD and significant wave height, Hm0

Purpose of the test

This test is included to illustrate the phenomenon of wave breaking.
Defining and limiting the wave problem
This example describes what happens when regular wave trains propagate
perpendicular to a beach having a 1D bar profile, see Figure 4.8. The 1D
bar profile and the incoming wave conditions are taken from Battjes and
Janssen (1978):
Energy loss and set-up due to wave breaking of random waves, Proceedings of the 16th International Coastal Eng. Conf., Hamburg (1978), pp.
569-587.

Figure 4.8

Bar profile

31

Examples

The model area is 24 m perpendicular to the beach and 60 m along the

beach. The grid spacing is 0.4 m in the direction perpendicular to the
beach and 2 m in the direction along the beach. The grid spacing in the direction is 9 deg and there are 11 discrete directions.
The default wave breaking option where breaking parameters , 1 and 2
are specified directly and constant for the whole model area is used.
Values are selected as = 1.0, 1 = 1.0 and 2 = 0.8.
At the incoming boundary the significant wave height, Hm0, is 0.147 m
and the mean wave period, Tm, is 2.012 s.
Model results

Figure 4.9

Model results. Spatial variation of significant wave height (left) and

mean wave period (right) across the bar profile

List of data and specification files

The following data file (within the folder of bar) is supplied with MIKE
21 NSW:
Name:
Description:

bathy.dfs2
Wave Breaking Test, bathymetry

The following specification file was used for running the simulation:
File:
Task:
Description:

bar.nsw
Model: MIKE 21 Nearshore Spectral Waves
Wave breaking test simulation

Please note that in order not to overwrite the specification file you should
copy it to your own working folder or rename it.

32

MIKE 21 NSW

More Examples

4.3.2

Grdyb
Purpose of the study
The purpose of the study was to simulate the sedimentation and wave climate in the Grdyb area. Grdyb is a navigation channel between Skallingen and Fan at the entrance to Esbjerg harbour. It is situated in the
Danish part of the Wadden Sea. Of special interest was the study of the
effects of the morphological changes that had taken place during the previous 20 years in the Grdyb area.
The Danish National Harbour Administration, Esbjerg and the Danish
Coast Authority have kindly made the wave study available for inclusion
in this manual. It should be noted that only part of the work that was carried out is described here.
Defining and limiting the wave problem
As a part of the study, a field campaign was carried out measuring the offshore wave conditions and the wave conditions at three locations near
Grdyb. Also the wind conditions and the water levels were measured.
A simulation is carried out for the situation on 4 March 1991 at 4.00
(GMT). Here, at the offshore measuring station, the significant wave
height was 2.1 m, the mean wave period was 5.2 s, the mean wave direction was 255 (true North) and the directional spreading could be approximated by cos5(). Further, the wind speed was 9.3 m/s, the wind direction
255 (true North) and the water level was +1.03 m DNN (Danish Ordnance Datum).
A grid spacing of 200 m and 1600 m was chosen in the x-and y-direction,
respectively. In the -direction the grid spacing was chosen as 10 deg and
13 discrete directions are used.
The model setup is illustrated in Figure 4.10.

33

Examples

Figure 4.10

2D and 3D view of the model bathymetry used in the Grdyb example. Please notice that the arrow indicates the offshore wave direction

Setting-up the model

At the model west boundary (x=0) the offshore wave conditions are
applied. At the model north (y=ymax) and south (y=0) boundary the wave
conditions of the incoming waves are unknown. Therefore symmetrical
boundary conditions are applied here.
For wave heights below 2.5 m the bottom friction in the model area is
dominated by ripples. The bottom friction is therefore specified using a
constant Nikuradse roughness parameter of 0.02 m for the entire model
area.

34

MIKE 21 NSW

More Examples

Model results

Figure 4.11

Model results for waves coming from 255 . Spatial variation of

significant wave height (upper) and mean wave period (lower)

Exercise: Changing the offshore wave direction

Now suppose you want to simulate the wave field for an offshore wave
and wind direction of 220 (true North). Try to run the model with these
values (change to 220 n the Offshore page and the Wind Description
page, and specify a new output file name). Then open the output file in the
MIKEZero environment and inspect the first column of the mean wave
directions (MWD). Is the wave direction at the offshore boundary 220?
The reason for the discrepancy is that the waves are propagating into the
model at an angle of 50 with the x-axis. The directional distribution at the
boundary is specified as 50 30, i.e. 20-80. But since the discretisation
in the -direction is specified as 0 60, the energy between 60 and 80

35

Examples

is lost and the spectrum becomes unsymmetric. See also the Example:
(p. 53).
Try rotating the bathymetry 30anti-clockwise, run the simulation again
and see what happens. A suggestion for a rotation-specification file is
included among the example files. Simply double-click on the file and it
will open.
List of data and specification files
The following data file (all within the folder of gd) is supplied with MIKE
21:
Name:
Description:

bathy.dfs2
Bathymetry

The following specification file was used for running the simulation:
File:
Task:
Description:

gd.nsw
Model: MIKE 21 Nearshore Spectral Waves
Graadyb simulation

Please note that in order not to overwrite the specification file you should
copy it to your own working folder or rename it.

4.3.3

Caravelas
Purpose of the study
The purpose of the study was to investigate the sediment transport conditions due to waves and currents near a tidal inlet at Caravelas, Brazil. Of
special interest were the expected sedimentation of a planned navigation
channel and the stability of the tidal inlet. It should be noted that only a
small part of the work carried out is described here.
The MIKE 21 NSW wave simulations were done as a part of a 2D modelling study including MIKE 21 NHD (with three grids) for simulation of
the hydrodynamics and MIKE 21 ST for simulation of the non-cohesive
sediment transport due to currents and waves. The wave simulations were
done in two steps: first in a coarse, regional model and then in a fine, local
model. Simulations in both grids for one wave event are included here.
Defining and limiting the wave problem
As a part of the study, offshore wave and wind data from a global wave
model were analysed and used as boundary conditions for the regional
wave model. The tide in the area was significant (spring range > 3m) so

36

MIKE 21 NSW

More Examples

the simulation was carried out for a spring tidal cycle lasting approximately 12 hours.
At the offshore boundary of the regional wave model, the significant wave
height was 1.5 m, the mean wave period was 4.59 s, the mean wave direction was 90 (i.e. coming from east) and the directional spreading could be
approximated by cos6(). The wind speed was 8.05 m/s and the wind
direction was 90 N.
For the regional model, a grid spacing of 100 m and 400 m was chosen in
the x- and y-direction, respectively. For the local model the corresponding
grid spacings were 5 m and 20 m. In both grids, the grid spacing in the direction was 10 and 13 discrete directions were used.
The default wave breaking option where breaking parameters , 1 and 2
are specified directly and constant for the whole model area is used. Values are selected as = 1.0, 1 = 1.5 and 2 = 0.8. 1 was increased from its
default value because wind-generation of waves was included. See also
Remarks and hints (p. 61).
The two model areas are shown in Figure 4.12.

37

Examples

Figure 4.12

38

2D view of the regional (upper) and local (lower) model

bathymetries used in the Caravelas example. The navigation channel is not included (baseline bathymetry)

MIKE 21 NSW

More Examples

Setting up the model

At the offshore boundary of the regional model the offshore wave conditions were applied. At the two lateral boundaries the wave conditions of
the incoming waves were unknown, thus symmetry boundary conditions
were applied here. From the results of the regional model, wave parameters were extracted along a line coinciding with the offshore boundary of
the local model. The results, in form of a dfs1 file, were used as boundary
conditions (Version 2) for the local model. Figure 4.13 shows the variation
of Hm0, Tm and MWD along this line at a time with mean water level.

Figure 4.13

Variation of Hm0, Tm and MWD along the offshore boundary of the

local model, at mean water level

For both model areas, a dfs0 file with water level variations throughout the
spring tidal cycle was specified under Surface Elevation. Since wind was
included in the models, the breaking parameter 1 is increased to 1.5 to
avoid too much steepness related wave breaking in the simulations.
Model results
Figure 4.14 shows the wave field outside the tidal inlet. Diffraction is not
included in MIKE 21 NSW so the wave field behind the barrier island is
not correct.

39

Examples

Figure 4.14

Example of model results, local area. Significant wave height (contours) and mean wave directions (arrows) at mean water level

List of data and specification files

The following data files (all within the folder of Caravelas) are supplied
with MIKE 21:

40

Name:
Description:

bathy-reg.dfs2
Bathymetry, regional model area

Name:
Description:

bathy-loc.dfs2
Bathymetry, local model area

Name:
Description:

springtide.dfs0
Water levels, spring tide

Name:
Description:

bc-wave.dfs1
Boundary conditions for local wave model
extracted from the results of the regional model

MIKE 21 NSW

More Examples

The following specification files were used for running the simulations:
Name:
Task:
Description:

regional.nsw
Model: MIKE 21 NSW Nearshore Spectral Waves
Caravelas simulation, regional model area

Name:
Task:
Description:

local.nsw
Model: MIKE 21 NSW Nearshore Spectral Waves
Caravelas simulation, local model area

Name:
Task:

extraction.tst
MikeZero Toolbox, extraction, profile series from
2D files
Extraction of boundary conditions from regional
model

Description:

Please note that in order not to overwrite the specification files you should
copy them to your own working folder or rename them.

41

Examples

42

MIKE 21 NSW

Introduction

REFERENCE MANUAL

5.1

Introduction
It is the intention that you use this manual when you are doing model
applications with MIKE 21 NSW and need to know how various input,
output, etc. are specified or defined. The sections are organised in the
order in which they appear in the MIKE 21 NSW editor (Figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1

MIKE 21 NSW editor

The Reference Manual entries are also available in the integrated On-line
Help for MIKE 21 NSW.
The On-line Help can be activated in several ways, depending on the
user's requirement:
1 F1-key seeking help on a specific activated dialog:
To access the help associated with a specific dialog page, press the F1key on the keyboard after opening the editor and activating the specific
property page. See Figure 5.2.

43

Reference Manual

2 Open the On-line Help system for browsing manually after a specific help page:
Open the On-line Help system by selecting Help in the main menu bar.
3 Seeking help from model set-up editors:
From the 'Overview' tree in an open model set-up editor, a click on the
top-level section names will reveal the On-line Help for that section in
upper right field of the editor window.

Figure 5.2

On-line Help system for MIKE 21 NSW

It is assumed in the following that you are familiar with the operation of
MIKE 21 under the MIKEZero platform.

5.2

Basic Parameters
In the Basic Parameters group you specify the bathymetry and the simulation period for your simulation.

44

MIKE 21 NSW

Basic Parameters

5.2.1

Bathymetry
Providing MIKE 21 NSW with a suitable model bathymetry is essential
for obtaining reliable results from your model. Setting up the bathymetry
requires more than just specifying an array of accurate water depths covering the area of interest. It also includes the appropriate selection of the
area to be modelled and the grid spacings.
The bathymetry is specified as a dfs2 file (*.dfs2).
Selection of the model area
In MIKE 21 NSW an Eulerian finite difference technique is applied for
discretisation of the basic partial differential equations. A rectangular grid
with constant grid spacing in the x, y, -space is used (Figure 5.3). The
resulting system of non linear algebraic equations are solved using a oncethrough marching procedure in the x-direction (Figure 5.4). This procedure restricts the angle between the x-axis and the direction of wave propagation to less than 90.
In practice this angle must be less than about 60 due to stability considerations, see Stability criterion (p. 55). Due to the marching procedure it is
essential that the x-axis of the grid is aligned with the dominant direction
of wave propagation in the model area. When more than one incident
wave direction is being considered, it may be necessary to set up a separate bathymetry for each wave direction to be investigated.
In MIKE 21 NSW, boundary conditions in form of wave parameters
model west must be specified for the incoming waves at the offshore
boundary (x = 0). Typically, no information is available regarding the
wave conditions at the lateral boundaries (y = ymax and y = 0, model north
and model south). In this case, a symmetry boundary condition is usually
applied indicating that the depth contours are assumed to be straight and
parallel at these boundaries. Alternatively, absorbing boundary conditions
can be applied.
The wave field near the model north and south boundaries will only be
correct in simple cases. Therefore, it is important in a real application that
the area of interest lies well inside the model area.
The wave field propagating into the area of interest should enter the model
through the offshore boundary.
In general, the offshore boundary and the model north and south boundaries should be placed in areas where the wave field is reasonably uniform.

45

Reference Manual

46

Figure 5.3

Computational grid

Figure 5.4

Marching procedure in (x,y,)-space

MIKE 21 NSW

Basic Parameters

Selecting the grid spacing

It is important that the grid spacings in the x-y plane are selected to provide adequate resolution of the bathymetry and the wave field under consideration. Furthermore, the grid spacings in the x-y plane must also be
selected with respect to stability considerations. See also 5.4.1 Discrete
directions (p. 54).
Remarks and hints
Please note that

5.2.2

5.2.3

The depth given to a grid point represents not only the depth right at
that point, but the area surrounding the grid point.

Bed levels are specified as negative values when they are below the
bathymetry datum, and positive values when they are above it.

Calculations are only performed in grid points for which the total water
depth is larger than 0.05 m.

Bathymetric parameters
For the bathymetry, the following area information is specified through
the data file (viewed with Data Utility in the MIKEZero environment):
!

The orientation of your model. This is defined as the angle between

true north and the y-axis of the model measured clockwise. A mnemonic way of remembering this definition is by thinking of NYC,
which normally means New York City, but which for our purpose
means from North to the Y-axis Clockwise. This parameter is used
internally in MIKE 21 NSW for calculating directions with respect to
the +x-axis so it is important that is correct.

The origin of your model area (latitude, longitude).

The value assigned to true land points in your bathymetry.

Simulation period
MIKE 21 NSW can be run in two modes: stationary and quasi-stationary.
Stationary is used if you are simulating only one wave event corresponding to one offshore wave boundary condition, while quasi-stationary is
used if you are simulating several sets of wave events corresponding to a
time series of offshore wave boundary conditions.
It is very important to note, however, that each of these wave events are
mutually independent.

47

Reference Manual

For the quasi-stationary case, the simulation period is specified using the
simulation start date and time, the number of time steps and the time interval (in seconds) between each time step.
Please note that when running MIKE 21 NSW in quasi-stationary mode,
the input data files must cover the entire simulation period (but they may
exceed that period and can have different time step intervals).

5.3

Boundary Conditions
MIKE 21 NSW solves two coupled partial differential equations and, like
all other differential equations, one need to specify boundary conditions at
all open boundaries. The boundary conditions are divided into Offshore
Wave Conditions and Lateral Boundary Conditions.

5.3.1

Offshore wave conditions

The offshore boundary is the boundary at x = 0 (the model west boundary). MIKE 21 NSW solves the governing equations row by row beginning from the offshore boundary.
At the offshore boundary, the incoming wave conditions are specified.
Three types of boundary conditions are possible:
!

Version 1 (Hm0, Tm, MWD, n, DMWD)

The incoming wave energy is specified using the significant wave
height Hm0, mean wave period Tm, mean wave direction MWD,
directional spreading index n, and the maximum deviation from
MWD, DMWD.

Version 2 (Hm0, Tm, MWD, DSD)

The incoming wave energy is specified using Hm0, Tm, MWD and
the directional standard deviation, DSD. This option is mandatory if
a transfer boundary data extracted from an encompassing MIKE 21
NSW simulation is to be used.

Land Boundary
Use this option ONLY if all points at the offshore boundary are
true land points in the bathymetry file. In this case, the waves in the
study area will be local wind-generated waves.

Specification of offshore wave parameters

The wave parameters (Version 1 or 2) can be specified as constant values
(Version 1 only), as a dfs0 (time series) data file or as a dfs1 (line series)

48

MIKE 21 NSW

Boundary Conditions

data file. When using a dfs1 data file, the wave parameters must be given
at all grid points along the boundary, including land points (the wave
parameters can be zero here).
A transfer data file can be prepared from a previous model simulation
using the profile or time series extraction tool if the basic results from
MIKE 21 NSW have been stored. This transfer file can be specified in the
new MIKE 21 NSW simulation using a Version 2 boundary type and specifying a dfs1 data file.
The units for the wave parameters are given in the table below in case of
SI-units.
Table 5.1

Units for output wave parameters, SI

Parameter

Units

Significant wave height, Hm0

meters

Mean wave period, Tm

seconds

Mean wave direction, m (MWD)

degrees with respect to

true North (coming
from), clockwise

Max. deviation from mean wave

direction, d (DMWD)

degrees

Directional spreading index, n

(dimensionless)

Directional standard deviation,

(DSD)

degrees

For the definitions of these parameters, see section 5.6 Output (p. 64).
In the case where boundary data is specified as Version 2, the maximum
deviation from MWD is internally fixed to 90 and an equivalent spreading index to the specified DSD is calculated internally in MIKE 21 NSW,
see Table 5.2.

49

Reference Manual

Table 5.2

50

Spreading index, n and equivalent directional standard deviation

Spreading Index, n

DSD (deg)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

39.15
32.52
28.36
25.45
23.28
21.58
20.20
19.05
18.08
17.24
16.52
15.87
15.30
14.78
14.31
13.88
13.49
13.13
12.80
12.49

40
60
80
100

8.94
7.33
6.36
5.70

MIKE 21 NSW

Boundary Conditions

The relationship between n and DSD can be obtained from the following
expressions:

DSD = =

2 1/2

2(1 (a + b )

(5.1)

a =

cos D ( ) d

(5.2)

0
2

b =

sin D ( ) d

(5.3)

Directional distribution
Given the wave parameters, the directional distribution of the wave energy
at the boundary is given by:

E ( i ) = E1 D ( i )

i = l,ndir

(5.4)

Here ndir is the number of discrete directions, E1 = Hm02/16 is the total

energy of the discrete energy spectrum and the directional distribution
function D is defined by:
n

D ( i ) = cos ( m i )

m i d

(5.5)

D ( i ) = 0

m i > d

(5.6)

where is a normalization factor and m is the maximum wave angle. d

must be less or equal to 90. The directional distribution function D() for
selected values of the directional spreading index is shown in Figure 5.5.

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Figure 5.5

Directional spreading function D() for n = 2,4,6,8 and 64, with n =

64 giving the narrowest directional distribution of the five shown

Remarks and hints

! Limits on wave periods:
Only waves with an input wave period between 0.2 s and 30 s can
be simulated using MIKE 21 NSW.
!

Directional distribution at offshore boundary:

Note that depending on the specified wave parameters and the discretisation in the -direction, the mean wave direction at the boundary for the discrete energy spectrum may not be exactly identical to
the specified mean wave direction, and that the discrete energy
spectrum of the boundary may become unsymmetric. In the following example, the chosen parameters will result in the discrete directional distribution of the wave energy shown in Figure 5.6.

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MIKE 21 NSW

Boundary Conditions

Example:
No. of grid points in the -direction: 13
Grid spacing in the q-direction:
10
Significant wave height:
1m
Mean wave direction:
27.5
Max. deviation from mean direction:60
Directional spreading index:
2

Figure 5.6

Unsymmetric spectrum at model offshore boundary

The discretisation in the -direction is always centred around = 0

(measured relative to the model x-axis). In this example, varies from 60 to +60. When a directional spectrum is then specified on the offshore
boundary with MWD = 27.5 +/- 60 (max. deviation from mean direction
is 60), the energy at directions between 60 and 87.5 will be cut off,
leaving the spectrum unsymmetric.
It is seen from Figure 5.6 that the spectrum is unsymmetric. The mean
wave direction of the discrete spectrum is 21.1. If the max deviation from
mean wave direction is reduced to 30, the mean wave direction of the discrete spectrum become 25.4 which is much closer to the specified mean
wave direction at the offshore boundary.

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5.3.2

Lateral boundary conditions

For the lateral boundaries (model north and model south), you will have to
choose one of the following types of boundary conditions:
!

Symmetrical
The derivatives normal to the boundary of the dependent variables,
the zeroth and first moment of the action spectrum, are set equal to
zero. Basically, this is synonymous with assuming that the contours
are locally straight and parallel near the boundary.

Absorbing
This condition ensures that the incident waves at the boundary are
fully absorbed. At the downwave lateral boundary, incident waves
propagate out of the model without any reflection, while at the
inflow lateral boundary no waves can propagate into the model
area.

5.4

Solution Parameters
In the Solution Parameters group you specify the grid spacings in -space
and some numerical parameters for the solution.

5.4.1

Discrete directions
Grid spacings
In MIKE 21 NSW constant grid spacings in the x- and y-direction and in
the -direction is used. The grid spacings must be chosen to provide adequate resolution of the bathymetry, the wind field and the current field in
the x,y-plane and the wave field in the x,y,-space.
Furthermore, if the results of the wave simulation is to be used in the simulation of wave-induced currents, it is important that a sufficient number
of grid points be used in the surf zone (zone between the breaker line and
the shoreline). This is necessary since the wave-induced currents are
related to gradients in radiation stresses which depend on the rate of wave
dissipation.
Thus, it is important to resolve the wave energy decay process if the
results are to be used for calculating wave-induced currents. A good ruleof-thumb is to use a minimum of 8-10 grid points in the surf zone. In the
On-line Help, a Wave Calculator is included that can be used to calculate
wave characteristics for linear waves (see the index of the On-line Help).

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MIKE 21 NSW

Solution Parameters

The grid spacings must also be selected to satisfy the Stability criterion
(p. 55) for the numerical scheme applied in MIKE 21 NSW.
Selecting the grid spacings
The grid spacing in the x-y plan is determined from the specification of
the bathymetry. The grid spacing in the -direction is specified on the Discrete Directions dialog together with the number of discrete directions.
When you specify the discretisation in the -direction, it is important to
note that = 0 corresponds to the x-direction and that the grid in -space
is symmetrical with respect to = 0.
Hence, if 13 discrete directions with an interval of 10 is selected, the discrete directions become = 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 0, -10, -20, 30, -40, -50, -60.
Stability criterion
Using central differencing in the y-direction and upwinded differencing in
the -direction the stability criterion is (see Abbott, 1979)

C gy x
C x
------------------- + -------------------
C gx y
C gx

(5.7)

where Cgx and Cgy are the components in the x- and y-direction, respectively, of the group velocity, and C is the propagation speed representing
the change of action in -space. In practice, it is difficult to use this criterion because Cgx, Cgy and C are not known in advance. For the case without currents, the following two approximations can be used (see
Holthuijsen et al, 1989)

x
1 d 1
------- cos --- ------

d n

(5.8)

y
------ 2 tan
x

(5.9)

where d is water depth and n is the coordinate normal to the spectral wave
direction .
The second requirement implies that when y/x = 4, the sector of discrete directions must be less than about 120.

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The first requirement above can be simplified into:

1 d 1 d
------- tan --- ------ --- -----x
d x d y

(5.10)

This can also be further simplified assuming nearly straight and parallel
contours as:

1 d
------- tan --- -----x
d x

(5.11)

In deep waters, when d is very large and d/x is very small, it is easy to
satisfy the requirement for . In very shallow waters, say d=0.5m, with a
typical beach slope of 1/50 and wave directions within 5 to the x-axis,
4 for x=20m.
If the stability criterion is not satisfied at a grid point in the x,y,-space the
propagation speed c is reduced to meet the stability criterion. If the first
term of the stability criterion is larger than one, the zeroth and first
moment is set to zero. At the end of the computation the number of times
the stability criterion was not satisfied and the number of times the propagation speed c has been corrected are listed in the run statistics in the .log
file.
Remarks and hints
The selection of the appropriate grid spacing in -space depends on the
directional distribution of the energy. For swell waves with a narrow
directional distribution of the energy a relatively small grid spacing is
needed, e.g. = 2-5. For wind waves with a wider directional distribution of the energy a grid spacing of about 10 is usually sufficient.
The selection of the appropriate number of discrete grid points in -space
for a given grid spacing depends on the directional changes of the waves
in the model area. For most applications a section of discrete directions of
120 is acceptable.
Note that due to the stability considerations a small grid spacing and a
large section of discrete directions (large number of discrete directions)
require a small grid spacing in the x-direction. As usual, the choice of the
grid spacings is a compromise between high accuracy and low computational costs.

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MIKE 21 NSW

Solution Parameters

5.4.2

Numerical parameters
Non-linear iteration
The source terms due to the bottom friction and the wave breaking are
introduced implicitly. The terms are nonlinear and therefore a nonlinear
iteration is performed in each grid point in the x-y plane. The successive
substitution method is applied. The nonlinear iteration is stopped when the
2-norm of the residual vector becomes less than a specified value and/or
when the number of iterations becomes larger than a specified value.
The maximum number of iteration steps and the stop criterion is specified
on the Numerical Parameters dialog.
In general the defaults values for maximum number of iterations and the
stop criterion are a good choice. In the .log file the number of iteration
failures are printed. If there are more than a few iteration failures, the
maximum number of iterations should be increased to e.g. 200.
Numerical scheme
Four different types of discretisation of the convective terms in the y- and
-direction can be applied:
1 Upwind Differencing (UD)
2 Central Differencing (CD)
3 Linear Upwinded Differencing (LUD)
4 Quadratic Upwinded Differencing (QUD)
The first-order upwind differencing is only a first-order scheme with
inherent numerical diffusion. The quadratic upwind differencing and the
central differencing are higher order schemes. However, these schemes
may introduce a significant oscillation in the solution at locations with
large gradients in the wave field. The type of discretisation of the convective terms in the y- and - direction is specified on the Numerical Parameters dialog.
In general, the best results are obtained using upwind differencing (1) in
both the y- and -direction. Especially, if the purpose of the wave modelling is to obtain radiation stresses for longshore currents, the upwind differencing should be applied.

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5.5

Model Parameters
The model parameters in MIKE 21 NSW include physical input data (e.g.
surface elevation, wind and current) as well as parameters controlling the
dissipation processes (wave breaking and bottom friction).

5.5.1

Bottom dissipation
The wave friction coefficient - the friction factor cfw or the Nikuradse
roughness parameter kN - can be specified either as a constant for the
entire model area or as a two-dimensional map read from a data file (dfs2).
The current friction factor cfc is specified as a constant for the entire model
area.
The effect of bottom dissipation on the mean wave period can also be
included. Here the assumption is that the dissipation of energy due to bottom friction is concentrated on the low frequency side of the frequency
spectrum. Hence, the bottom dissipation has the effect that the mean wave
period is reduced.
General description
Bottom friction is the process by which the wave looses (dissipates) some
of its energy due to the effect of friction at the sea bottom. This effect is
cumulative and the amount of energy dissipated increases with distance,
wave height, wave period and decreasing water depth.
The formulation in MIKE 21 NSW of dissipation of energy due to bottom
friction is based on the quadratic friction law. The energy dissipation for
unidirectional random waves with Rayleigh distributed wave heights (one
single frequency, ) is given by Dingemans (1983) as:

dE
1 C fw H rms 3
------- = ---------- -------- --------------------dt
8 g sinh ( kd )

(5.12)

where E = H2rms/8, is the frequency, Hrms is the root mean square wave
height, k is the wave number, d is the water depth and cfw is the wave friction factor. The dissipation expression above has been extended by
Holthuijsen et al. (1989) to include directional distribution of wave energy
and influence of currents. This extended formulation is used in MIKE 21
NSW.

58

MIKE 21 NSW

Model Parameters

The friction factor cfw = fw/2 can be specified directly or calculated using
the empirical expression (see Jonsson, 1966; Swart, 1974)

f w = 0.24
f w = exp ( 5.977 + 5.213 ( ab k N )

0.194

ab kn < 2

(5.13)

ab kN 2

(5.14)

where kN is the Nikuradse roughness parameter and ab is the amplitude of

the particle motion at the bottom.
Remarks and hints
The bottom friction in areas dominated by sand depends on the grain size
of the sediment and the presence of bed forms. For more details see for
example Nielsen (1979), and Roudkivi (1988). For the case where there is
no bed form, the Nikuradse roughness parameter kN can be estimated by
(Nielsen, 1979)

k N = 2.5 d 50

(5.15)

where d50 is the median grain size. In the presence of ripples kN can be
much larger than this value and should be estimated including the ripple
characteristics. The bed roughness can be further increased due to the
presence of vegetation. In general, it is quite difficult to assess this parameter, thus it is used as a calibration factor.

5.5.2

Surface elevation
For wave simulations in tidal areas, it is important that the correct water
depths should be used in the wave simulation. This will ensure that the
changes in wave conditions due to varying water depths resulting from the
tides are properly modelled. You can specify the correct surface elevations
in your study area in the Surface Elevation dialog.
The surface elevation can be specified as a constant for the entire model
area, as a two-dimensional map read in from a data file (dfs2) or as a timeseries (dfs0, only for the quasi-stationary mode).
The surface elevation is specified with reference to the datum used for
preparing the bathymetry and uses the same sign convention as the bathymetric data.
As an example, take a bathymetry created using LAT as datum. You wish
to run a simulation for mean sea level (MSL). The MSL is 1.2m above

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Reference Manual

LAT, so you specigy +1.2m as surface water level. At a point where the
bathymetry bed level is -17.1m, the total water depth becomes -(-17.1m)
+1.2m = 18.3m.

5.5.3

Wave breaking
Wave breaking is the process by which waves loose (dissipate) energy
when the waves have grown too steep (i.e. reach a limiting steepness) and
hence become unstable, or when the waves are too high to be supported by
the water depth (i.e. reach a limiting H/d).
The formulation in MIKE 21 NSW of wave breaking due to large wave
steepness and limiting water depth is based on the formulation of Battjes
and Janssen (1978). They introduced the following expression for the rate
at which the energy is dissipated due to wave breaking

dE

------- = ------ Q b H m2
dt
8

(5.16)

where

1 Qb
H rms 2
---------------- = -----------
ln ( Qb )
Hm

(5.17)

Here E is the total energy, is the frequency, Hrms is the rms-value of the
wave height, Hm is a maximum allowable wave height, Qb is the fraction
of breaking waves and is an adjustable constant. Q controls the rate of
dissipation, and the maximum wave height is calculated by

Hm = 1 k

tanh ( 2 kd/ 1 )

(5.18)

where k is the wave number, d is the water depth and 1 and 2 are two
wave breaking parameters. 1 controls the steepness condition and 2 controls the limiting water depth condition. By increasing 1, steepness
related breaking is reduced.
Four different ways of specifying the wave breaking parameters are
included:
!

60

The parameters , 1 and 2 are specified directly as constant values for

the entire area. This is the default option and applies in most cases.

MIKE 21 NSW

Model Parameters

Battjes and Stive (1985). Here 2 is specified as a function of deep

water wave parameters. and 1 are specified directly as constant values.

Nelson (1987). Here 2 is a function of the local bed slope. Steepness

related breaking are excluded (1 is not used). is specified directly as
a constant value.

The parameters , 1 and 2 are specified as a two-dimensional map.

This dfs2-file must have only one time-step and contain three items.

The effect of wave breaking on the mean wave period can also be
included. Here, the assumption is that the dissipation of energy due to
wave breaking is concentrated on the low frequency side of the frequency
spectrum. Hence, the wave breaking has the effect that the mean wave
period is reduced.
Remarks and hints
Battjes and Janssen (1978) used the following values for the three wave
breaking constants

= 1.0

1 = 0.88

2 = 0.8

(5.19)

In MIKE 21 NSW the default value for 1 is 1.0 while for and 2 the
default values are those used by Battjes and Janssen. The value for 1 was
suggested by Holthuijsen et al. (1989).
In a subsequent paper, Battjes and Stive (1985) found an expression for 2
by calibrating the dissipation model against measurements. They
obtained:

2 = 0.5 + 0.4 tanh ( 33 S 0 )

(5.20)

where S0 is the deep water wave steepness calculated as Hrms,0/L0p. Hrms,0

(= Hm0 / 2) is the deep water root mean square wave height and L0p is the
deep water wave length based on peak frequency. In Battjes & Stive
(1985), = 1.0 and 1 = 0.88.
Nelson (1987) suggested a dependance of depth-induced breaking on the
local bed slope according to

1
2 = 0.55 + 0.88 exp 0.012 -----------
tan

(5.21)

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Reference Manual

where tanq is the bed slope. The expression is valid for tan 0 , i.e.
decreasing water depth in the direction of wave propagation.
In MIKE 21 NSW when tan < 0 , tan = 0 is used. The local mean wave
direction is used when calculating the bed slope relative to wave propagation direction.
Please note that steepness-induced breaking (white capping) is disabled in
this case, hence it is applicable in relatively shallow water only.
A two dimensional map of breaking coefficients can be useful in certain
cases, e.g.:
!

When you need to reduce steepness-related breaking in deeper waters

in order to grow waves properly when wind is included (see comment
below) but do not want to change the breaking in shallow water.

When you wish to tune the model to reproduce desired losses over
abrupt (submerged) structures. That can also be done using the bed
roughness, but it is mostly happening through breaking. Also, when
you use bed roughness you may or may not want to have Tm reduced
over the structure. Since you often want to include the effect of bed
roughness on Tm in the rest of the model, the option to dissipate energy
over the structure via breaking but leaving Tm unaffected here, is useful.

If you have an inshore wave recorder and need to build your wave climate based on this, you can then back-refract and back-shoal the wave
record to the offshore boundary and when actually running the simulation, breaking can be switched off between the boundary and the wave
recorder location while keeping wave breaking between the recorder
and the shore. Of course, this assumes that it is the surf zone which is
of interest in the simulation.

In applications with wind forcing included 1 = 1.0 will often give too
much steepness-induced wave breaking because it is included in the
empirically based wind-growth formulas as well. It can then be recommended to increase 1 to e.g. 1.5, thereby reducing the steepness-induced
breaking.
If at all possible, it is strongly recommended to calibrate the model
against measurements.
Experience has shown that in general the best results are obtained if the
effect of breaking on the mean wave period is excluded.

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MIKE 21 NSW

Model Parameters

5.5.4

Wave-current interaction
General description
In the presence of a mean current the wave action and not the wave energy
is constant along rays. The main effect of the current on the waves is that
the current velocity has to be taken into consideration in calculating the
propagation speed of the wave action. Furthermore, the effect of the current on bottom dissipation, wave breaking and wind generation is also
taken into account in MIKE 21 NSW.
Specifying the current field
The current field - the x-component Ucx and y-component Ucy - can be
specified as constants for the entire model area or specified from a data
file, either as a two-dimensional map (dfs2) or as a time-series (dfs0, the
latter only for the quasi-stationary mode).
Wave blocking
Wave blocking is not included in MIKE 21 NSW. An error message is
issued when an opposing current is too strong for the waves to exist and
the simulation is aborted.

5.5.5

Wind-wave generation
Wind-wave generation is the process by which the wind transfers energy
into the water body for generating waves. The formulation of the wave
generation by wind is based on empirical expressions.
It is assumed that
!

the directional spreading of the energy from the wind follows a cos2 distribution

the average frequency is independent of the direction.

MIKE 21 NSW includes the following five wind formulations, see Johnson (1998) for further explanations and comparisons:
!

SPM73/HBH. Based on expressions derived from the Shore Protection

Manual (1973) formulation for the wave growth for fetch-limited sea
states in deep water with coefficients as fitted by Holthuijsen, Booij
and Herbers (1989).

SPM84. Based on expressions derived from the Shore Protection Manual (1984) formulation for the wave growth for fetch-limited sea states
in deep water using a power fit for the growth equations. This is the
formulation exclusively used in MIKE 21 NSW version 2.72 and earlier.

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Kahma and Calkoen. Based on the Kahma and Calkoen (1994) formulation for fetch-limited wave growth in deep water using a power fit for
the growth equations.

SPM73. Based on the Shore Protection Manual (1973) using a power

fit for the growth equations instead of tuning as done for SPM73/HBH.

JONSWAP. Same as SPM84, but using U10 instead of Ua. Ua is the

adjusted wind speed as defined in the Shore Protection Manual.

The wind field can be specified as wind velocity components along the
grid axes, or as wind speeds and directions. The wind field can be specified as constant for the entire model area or specified from a data file,
either as a two-dimensional map (dfs2) or as a time-series (dfs0, the latter
only for the quasi-stationary mode).
The wind direction is defined with respect to true North (coming from).
Input wind speeds should be given as U10 and conversion to Ua, whenever
needed, is done internally in MIKE 21 NSW.

5.6

Output
Two types of output data can be obtained from a MIKE 21 NSW simulation. These are:
!

Integral wave parameters

Spectral wave parameters at specified points

MIKE 21 NSW allows you to save results from up to four output areas
within the full area of your model. These areas can overlap, include a part
of the model area or include the whole model area. For each output area
selected MIKE 21 NSW gives you the option of specifying the frequency
in space and time at which the results are to be saved.
MIKE 21 NSW also allows you to select the items to be stored for each
output area. The results from the different output areas are stored in separate files.
Items
For integral wave parameters it is possible to select the four integral wave
parameters, the x- and y-components of the vector showing the mean
wave direction, the three radiation stress components or a combination of
these three types of output.

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MIKE 21 NSW

Output

Output area
For integral wave parameters this is defined in both the x- and y-direction
by the first and last grid point to be stored and the frequency by which the
results is stored. In the case of spectral wave parameters, you specify the
number of output points and the coordinates.

5.6.1

Integral wave parameters

The basic results from MIKE 21 NSW consist of two-dimensional arrays
containing the following integral wave parameters:
1 The significant wave height Hm0
2 The mean wave period Tm
3 The mean wave direction m
4 The directional standard deviation
The significant wave height Hm0 is defined by

H m0 = 4 E 1

(5.22)

where the total wave energy E1 is

2

E1 =

E ( ) d

(5.23)

The mean wave period Tm is defined by

T m = 2 1

(5.24)

where
2

E ( , ) d d
0 0
1 = -------------------------------------------------2

(5.25)

E ( , ) d d
0 0

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The mean wave direction m and the directional standard deviation are
defined by

m = arc tan ( b/a )

=

(5.26)

2 1/2

2(1 (a + b )

(5.27)

where
2

1
a = ------
E1

cos E ( )d

(5.28)

0
2

1
b = ------
E1

sin E ( )d

(5.29)

The mean wave direction in these expressions is defined relative to the

model x-axis measured positive anti-clockwise. MIKE 21 NSW converts
to (coming from) before writing to the output file.
Results from MIKE 21 NSW can also be obtained in form of two-dimensional arrays containing the x- and y-components of a vector U = (u,v)
defined by

u = H m0 cos m

(5.30)

v = H m0 sin m

(5.31)

A vector plot of U can be used to show the mean wave direction in the
model area.

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MIKE 21 NSW

Output

MIKE 21 NSW can provide resulting maps of radiation stresses Sxx, Sxy
and Syy which are defined by

1
S xx = --- g ( F u + Fp )
2

(5.32)

1
S xy = --- g Fuv
2

(5.33)

1
S yy = --- g ( F v + F p )
2

(5.34)

In the output file, the radiation stresses are divided by .

Here Fu, Fuv, Fv and Fp are defined by
2

Fu =

cos

( 1 + G )E ( ) d

(5.35)

( 1 + G )E ( ) d

(5.36)

sin cos ( 1 + G )E ( ) d

(5.37)

0
2

Fv =

sin

0
2

F uv =

0
2

Fp =

G E ( ) d

(5.38)

where G is given by

2kd
G = -----------------------sinh ( 2kd )

(5.39)

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It should be noted that the computed significant wave heights used in

MIKE 21 NSW is the energy-based wave height Hm0 and not H1/3 from
zero-crossing analysis. Thus, when comparing model calculations with
measurements, care must be taken to compare the same parameters. This
is so, since H1/3 is usually greater than Hm0, especially near breaking. See
for example Thompson and Vincent (1985).

5.6.2

Spectral wave parameters

MIKE 21 NSW allows you to save results of the distribution of wave
energy with discrete directions E() at a number of user-selected points in
the study area. The maximum number of points is 4, and the points are
specified using their grid coordinates.

5.6.3

Disk space
The disk space used by your simulation depends mainly upon the amount
of output data you request to be stored on the disk for further processing.
During a simulation, two other small files in addition to the data files containing the results are created. Please note that MIKE 21 NSW does not
check that there is sufficient disk space available for the output files.
Small files
!

The specification file contains the simulation specifications. This file

will be placed in your present working folder and have a file extension
of .nsw. It will only take up approximately 6-8 Kbytes.

The log file describes the model setup, statistics of the data files used
and created during the simulation and a message for each time step
completed. The file extension of this file which will also be placed in
your present working folder is .log. It will only take up approximately
12-16 Kbytes.

Result files
MIKE 21 NSW allows you to save results from up to four different output
areas. These are stored in separate disk files.
Two types of output data are possible.
For integral wave parameters, the disk space required by a single output
data file per time step stored can be calculated using the following formula
Disk space (bytes) = 1052 + 4(Ni((Jlast-Jfirst)/Jfreq+1)((Klast-Kfirst)/Kfreq+1))
where Ni is the number of items to be stored and J and K denote the grid
points in the x- and y-direction, respectively. In addition, general file

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MIKE 21 NSW

Output

information is also stored in the data file but this will only take up a few
bytes extra.
For output data file containing spectral wave parameters, the disk space
required per time step can be calculated using:
Disk space (bytes) = 1052 + 4 (ndir) (npts)
where ndir is the number of discrete directions and npts is the number of
grid points at which spectral wave output is required. The spectral output
data file will usually require only a small amount of disk space.
The disk space is calculated automatically on the Output page of MIKE 21
NSW.

5.6.4

CPU time
At the end of the simulation the CPU time for your wave simulation is
printed in the .log file.
The nonlinear source terms are introduced implicitly. Hence, a nonlinear
iteration is performed at each grid point. Therefore the CPU time depends
on the number of iterations needed to satisfy the stopping condition for
this iteration.

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MIKE 21 NSW

References

SCIENTIFIC DOCUMENTATION
The scientific documentation for MIKE 21 NSW is included in the installation folder, e.g. c:\MIKEZero\Manuals\MIKE 21\NSW. The documentation here is in the form of ready-to-read-and-print Adobe Acrobat
Documents (.pdf files). A reference list is included in that document and is
included below for quick access:

6.1

References
Abbott M.B. (1979). Computational Hydraulics, Pitman, London.
Battjes, J.A., and Janssen J.P.F.M. (1978). Energy loss and set-up due to
breaking of random waves, Proc. 16th Int. Conf. on Coastal Eng., Hamburg, pp. 569-587.
Battjes, J.A. and Stive, M.J.F. (1985). Calibration and verification of a disipation model for random breaking waves, J. of Geophysical Research,
Vol. 90, No. C5, pp. 9159-9167
Dingemans, M.W. (1983). Verification o numerical wave equatin models
with field measurements, CREDIZ verification Haringuliet. Delft Hydraulics Lab., Rep. No. W488, Delft. p. 137.
Holthuijsen, L.H, Booij, N. and Herbers, T.H.C. (1989). A Prediction
Model for Stationary, Short-crested Waves in Shallow Water with Ambient Currents, Coastal Engineering, Vol. 13, pp. 23-54.
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limited areas using the method of Holthuijsen, Booij and Herbers. J. of
Coastal Research. Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 917-932.
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Conf. on Coastal Engrg., ASCE, Vol. I, pp. 127-148.
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Dymamics and Modelling of Ocean Waves by Komen et al., pp. 174-182.
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71

Scientific Documentation

Nielsen P. (1979). Some Basic Concepts of Wave Sediment Transport,

Institute of Hydrodynamics and Hydraulic Engineering (ISVA), Technical
University of Denmark, Serie Paper No. 20.
Roudkivi A. J. (1988). The Roughness Heights under Waves, Journal of
Hydraulic Research, Vol. 26 No. 5.
Svendsen, I.A. and Jonsson, I.G. (1980) Hydrodynamics of Coastal
Regions, Technical University of Denmark.
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Whitham, G.B. (1979) Linear and nonlinear waves, John Wiley & Sons,
New York.

72

MIKE 21 NSW

INDEX

73

Index

74

MIKE 21 NSW

Index

NSW
A

Items

Absorbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Absorbing boundary condition . . . . 45

Iteration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57, 69

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

L
B
Bottom dissipation .
Bottom friction . . . .
Boundary conditions
Breaking parameters

.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.

. 19, 58
. 19, 20
. . . 18
. 21, 60

C
Calibration factors . . . . . . . . . . . 20
CPU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 69
Current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19, 63

D
Datum . . . . . . . . .
Differencing . . . . . .
Directional distribution
Directional spreading
function . . . . . . .
index . . . . . . . .
Directional standard
deviation (DSD) . . .
Disk space . . . . . . .
DMWD . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . 47, 59
. . . . . . . . . 57
. . . . . . . 51, 58
. . . . . . . . . 52
. . . . .21, 48, 49
. . . . .49, 50, 66
. . . . . . . 17, 68
. . . . . . . 48, 49

E
Energy spectrum . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Land boundary . . . . . . . . . . 18, 48

Linear wave calculator . . . . . . . . 54

M
Maximum deviation . .
Mean wave direction .
Mean wave period . .
Median grain size . . .
Model north . . . . . .
Model north/south/west
Model south . . . . . .
Model west . . . . . . .
MWD . . . . . . . . . .

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. . 48,
49, 52,
. . 48,
. . . .
. . . .
18, 34,
. . . .
. . . .
. . 48,

49
66
58
59
18
45
28
34
49

N
Nikuradse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Nikuradse roughness parameter . . 58
Numerical scheme . . . . . . . . . . 57

O
Offshore wave conditions
Opposing current . . . .
Orientation . . . . . . . .
Origin . . . . . . . . . . .
Output . . . . . . . . . .
Output area . . . . . . .

.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.

20,
. .
26,
26,
. .
. .

48
63
47
47
64
65

F
Frequency spectrum . . . . . . . . . . 13
Friction factor . . . . . . . . . . . . 19, 58

Grid spacing . . . . . . 16, 45, 47, 53, 54

Radiation stresses . . . . . . 14, 57, 67

Ripples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Quasi-stationary . . . . . . . . . . 27, 47

H
Hrms

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58, 61

I
Integral wave parameters . . .29, 64, 65

S
Significant wave height . . . . . . 48, 68
Spectral wave parameters . . . . . . 68
SPM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

75

Index

Stability criterion . . . . . . . . .
Stationary . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stop criterion . . . . . . . . . . .
Surface elevation . . . . . . . . .
Symmetrical boundary condition

.
.
.
.
.

. .
27,
. .
19,
28,

55
47
57
59
54

T
True land

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47, 48

U
Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

V
Version 1
Version 2

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 48
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

W
Water depth . . . . . . .
Wave blocking . . . . .
Wave breaking . . . . .
Wave calculator . . . .
Wave steepness . . . .
Wave-induced currents
Wind direction . . . . .
Wind formulation . . . .
Wind speed . . . . . . .

76

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. 18,
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .

47,
16,
31,
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
19,

59
63
60
54
60
14
64
63
64

MIKE 21 NSW