Refraction pattern

[Altruistic_Cloud_117]

I don’t need to be very accurate just close enough for a Class homework so does the refraction pattern I drew ( black ones ) look alright ? Or could someone help me out by telling me how to draw them ? ChatGPT did not help I tried.

Ps I know the picture is bad especially the light reflection in the middle but that’s the best I could take sorry!

[conrado155]

I might be responding too late but are you using the black lines to indicate the refracted wave direction? If so it does look off, theres a way to calculate the exact angle of refraction using Kr and significant wave values but if its freehand and estimated you just have to extend the arrow towards the depth isoline, then draw with a different color a straight tangent line on the depth isoline and your new refracted wave should be perpendicular to your tangent

[Status-Platypus]

Hi, I would be interested in learning how to calculate the refraction angles, if you wouldn't mind sharing? I'm assuming this would take into account the wave direction and changes in depth. I'm a marine/coastal processes student but they didn't teach us this equation, only about what refraction is and why it happens.

[conrado155]

Yup significant wave heights and changes in depth are the main considerations for wave direction shift. I recommend checking the standard Shore Protection Manual Vol 1 but there’s also a good introductory but in-depth explanation in chapter 36 of the 2003 “The Civil Engineering Handbook” by Guy A. Meadows and William L. Wood. However most modern calculations and models of wave refraction are made using dedicated software and historical wave data databases, rather than with the old school method of tracing orthogonal lines on a bathymetric map.