Experimental evidence of the transition between power law models in the high frequency range of the gravity wave spectrum

Abstract

The existence of a transition in the slope of the wind-generated gravity wave spectrum from a f−4 to a f−5 power law, at a given frequency in the high frequency range, is examined. Evidence of its existence and of the non-uniqueness of the wave spectrum slope in the equilibrium range is presented. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the statistical variability of the spectral estimates makes it difficult to obtain reliable results from limited sets of finite length wave records.