New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts

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Wave climate of the western Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, 1991-93

GRAHAM H. MACKY

National Institute of Water & Atmospheric
Research Ltd
P. O. Box 8602
Christchurch, New Zealand

GEOFF J. LATIMER
R. KEITH SMITH

National Institute of Water & Atmospheric
Research Ltd
P. O. Box 11-115
Hamilton, New Zealand

Abstract  Wave measurements were made for 3 years from a buoy moored in 34 m water depth off the Katikati inlet in the western Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. The significant wave heights were less than 1 m for 70% of the time, with a mean of 0.8 m, and a maximum of 4.3 m. The peak in the spectral density occurred each year at 0.09-0.10 Hz (10-11 s period). Wave steepness suggests that many of the measured waves originated close to the buoy. The year-to-year uniformity in averaged spectral density masks considerable short-term variability although there is some evidence of higher wave energy in winter. Most wave energy arrived from the north-east to east sector. Calculations of the longshore wave energy flux factor suggest that the direction of littoral drift fluctuates frequently, but during the 3 years studied there was a small nett drift in a north-west direction. Significantly less wave energy was measured at Katikati than in previous studies at Great Barrier Island and Hicks Bay. Our Katikati wave data may not be typical of the long-term climate, because they were obtained in El Niño conditions when fewer storms occur.

Keywords  short-period waves; wave spectra; buoy measurements; wave climate; sediment transport

New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1995, Vol. 29: 311-327

0028-8330/95/2903-0311 $2.50/0 (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand 1995

PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (973K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)

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