On the balance between growth and dissipation in an extreme depth-limited wind sea in the southern North Sea

Bouws gave a discussion of a severe storm in the southern North Sea on Jan. 3, 1976, near Texel, one of the Frisian Islands. This storm was characterized by a remarkable steadiness of wind and wave parameters. The steadiness of the wave parameters was apparently the result of depth limitations, which prevented further wave evolution. Here, the various terms in the energy balance equation for wave growth in shallow water are estimated. The relative importance of wind input, surface dissipation, bottom dissipation, advection, and nonlinear transfer is discussed. For a certain choice of dissipation parameters, a good balance can be obtained. This is in agreement with the steadiness of the observed wave conditions.