Directional spreading of waves in the nearshore zone

The directionality of waves inside a groin field near the German coastal zone of the island of Norderney is studied in the frequency domain. The maximum entropy method is adopted to estimate the directional spreading function. The various characteristics of the directional distribution of waves have been presented for the locations both inside and outside the groin field. The variation of directional spreading with depth and the importance of study of directional waves in coastal regions are discussed. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.