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The research presented in this dissertation focuses on understanding the dynamics of waves and currents in the presence of wave breaking. The simplest approach, direct numerical simulation of the ocean dynamics, is computationally prohibitive--waves typically have periods of tens of seconds, while currents vary on times from hours to days. This work uses a multi-scale asymptotic theory for the waves and currents (Craik and Leibovich, 1976; McWilliams et al., 2004}, similar to Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes, in order to avoid resolving the wave field. The theory decomposes the total flow into the mean flow (current) and fluctuations (waves), then takes a moving time average of the total flow equations to determine the wave forcing on the current. The main challenge is extending this theory to include a physical model for dissipative wave effects, notably breaking, in terms of the wave age, wind speed, and bottom topography. Wave breaking is difficult to observe, model, and predict, because it is an unsteady, non-linear process that takes place over disparate scales in both space and time. In the open ocean, white-capping often covers less than 2% of the surface, yet still plays an important role in the flux of mass, momentum, heat, and chemicals between the atmosphere and ocean. The first part of this dissertation proposes a stochastic model for white-capping events, and examines the stability of the ensemble average of these events. Near the shore, the decreasing ocean depth causes waves to overturn and break. Over time, this drives currents that erode sediment from beaches and deposit it around coastal structures. These currents are often so strong that their effect on the wave field, and thus their own forcing, is significant. A detailed analysis of this phenomena makes up the second part of this dissertation.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2005.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2002. / "Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering."--Cover. "June 2002." Funding was provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under grant NAG5-7194, and by the Office of Naval Research under grant N00014-98-10881. Includes bibliographical references (p. 134-138).

Thesis (M. S.)--Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Zinn, Ben T.; Committee Member: Book, Wayne; Committee Member: Glezer, Ari; Committee Member: Neumeier, Yedidia; Committee Member: Seitzman, Jerry.

Thesis (M.S.)--Naval Postgraduate School, 1980. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-91).

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2006. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-86). Also available on the World Wide Web

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1988. / "Funding was provided by the Office of Naval Research through contract Numbers N00014-84-C-0134, N00014-85-C-0001, and N00014-87-K-0001." "October 1988." Includes bibliographical references (p. 357-367).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1988. / Supervised by Mark Cane and Philip Richardson. "January 1988." Funding provided by the National Science Foundation, grant numbers OCE 82-08744, and OCE 85-14885. Includes bibliographical references (p. 339-351).

Thesis (M.Eng.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2003. / Bibliography: leaves 115-120. Also available online.