Preface 



This report illustrates the evolution of directionally distributed, shallow- 

 water waves at times of high energy as measured with a high-resolution direc- 

 tional wave gauge. The work was motivated by the need for a complete de- 

 scription of storm wave fields incident on the nearshore to augment under- 

 standing and modeling of nearshore processes which affect coastal engineering 

 projects. This effort was authorized by Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of 

 Engineers (HQUSACE), under Civil Works Research Work Unit 32484, 

 Directionality of Waves in Shallow Water, Coastal Flooding Program. Funds 

 were provided through the Coastal Engineering Research Center (CERC), 

 U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station (WES), under the pro- 

 gram management of Ms. Carolyn M. Holmes, CERC. Messrs. John H. 

 Lockhart, Jr., John G. Housley, Barry W. Holliday, and David A. Roellig 

 were HQUSACE Technical Monitors. 



This report was prepared by Dr. Charles E. Long at CERC's Field Re- 

 search Facility (FRF) in Duck, NC, under the direct supervision of 

 Mr. William A. Birkemeier, Chief, FRF, and Mr. Thomas W. Richardson, 

 Chief, Engineering Development Division, CERC; and under the general 

 supervision of Dr. James R. Houston and Mr. Charles C. Calhoun, Jr., Di- 

 rector and Assistant Director, CERC, respectively. 



Data processing software was written by Dr. Joan M. Oltman-Shay of 

 Quest Integrated, Inc., Seattle, WA. Physical maintenance of the directional 

 gauge was done by the FRF dive team consisting of Messrs. Birkemeier, Mi- 

 chael W. Leffler, H. Carl Miller, Eugene W. Bichner, and Brian L. 

 Scarborough. Gauge calibration was maintained by Mr. Kent K. Hathaway, 

 FRF. Data acquisition and storage were done by Mr. Clifford F. Baron, 

 FRF. Considerable assistance in data processing was provided by students 

 contracted through the Cooperative Education Program: Ms. Wendy L. Smith 

 of Old Dominion University, Mmes. Juliana Admadji and Janna Pemberton of 

 Florida Institute of Technology, and Ms. Judy Roughton of College of the 

 Albemarle, Elizabeth City, NC. Dr. R. T. Guza, Scripps Institution of 

 Oceanography, and Mr. Lockhart provided several useful suggestions after 

 reviewing a preliminary draft of this manuscript. The efforts of all of these 

 individuals are appreciated. 



At the time of publication of this report, Director of WES was Dr. Robert 

 W. Whalin. Commander was COL Bruce K. Howard, EN. 



