An Ocean Wave Parameter Calculator for the Palm OS

WaveCalc is an ocean wave calculator for the Palm OS. It will compute any wave parameter (other than amplitude) from any other. Just type in a value in any field and the other fields will be automatically updated. The gravity and capillary buttons at the bottom of the calculator indicate whether you have computed a gravity or a capillary wave. These buttons are normally controlled by WaveCalc because your selection of a value determines the type of wave. But it turns out that for a certain range of phase or group speeds, there can be two possible choices of frequency, wavelength, and the other parameters. One choice corresponds to a gravity wave and one corresponds to a capillary wave. If you select a speed within this ambiguous range, these buttons are no longer under program control and you can use them to select between the two different wave modes. For example, try selecting a phase speed of 0.4 m/s, and then clicking on the Gravity and Capillary buttons.

System Requirements:

WaveCalc runs under Palm OS 2.0 or later. WaveCalc needs MathLib.prc to be installed on the same Palm as WaveCalc. MathLib is a widely used library of mathematical routines. WaveCalc should work with any version of MathLib that is installed on your Palm.

Instructions:

The numerics in this version of the calculator have been improved slightly over that found in the JavaScript version, allowing you to compute the parameters for ridiculously fast capillary waves.

A help menu is available to provide some tips for using WaveCalc.

Cut and paste work into and out of other applications.

A radar menu allows you to preset the wavelength in WaveCalc based on the resonant Bragg wavelength for several popular radar bands assuming an incidence angle of 30 deg (radar wavelength = Bragg wavelength). An Other... item under the radar menu brings up another screen to compute the Bragg resonant wavelength for any radar frequency, wavelength or incidence angle. This may seem a bit out of place to hardcore oceanographers, but I work in a remote sensing group!

Download the WaveCalc application (v2.0)

This version of Wavecalc was developed using he Palm OS Developer Suite v1.2. The complete source code can be downloaded as a Zip file. The source code and program are provided without any warranty of any kind.

Download the WaveCalc source code (v2.0)

Please send bug reports or questions about the wave calculations to me at the address below.

Revision History:

Version 2.0 - released 24 Jan 2006: Converted code to Palm OS Developer Suite. Fixed bug to allow use on some newer Palm models. Eliminated Calculate button, program now recomputes automatically as you add new values.

Version 1.1 - released 13 Aug 2002: Fixed unlikely bug in output routine. Modified input fields to accept more than just numeric characters. This allows floating point numbers and negative numbers to be entered. It also fixed a problem with paste, which in the previous version would not replace selected text. Web site updated on June 6, 2003 to replace defective Zip files.

Version 1.0 - released 19 Jul 2002: Based on JavaScript version at http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/wavecalc.html