Wave shoaling and the angular frequency is proportional to its local rate of change, Simplifying to one dimension and cross-differentiating it is now easily seen that the above definitions indicate simply that the rate of change of wavenumber is balanced by the convergence of the frequency along a ray; Assuming stationary conditions (formula_27), this implies that wave crests are conserved and the frequency must remain constant along a wave ray as formula_28. As waves enter shallower waters, the decrease in group velocity caused by the reduction in water depth leads to a reduction in wave length formula_29 because the nondispersive shallow water
Wave vector in directions other than that of wave propagation. The condition for the wave vector to point in the same direction in which the wave propagates is that the wave has to be homogeneous, which isn't necessarily satisfied when the medium is lossy. In a homogeneous wave, the surfaces of constant phase are also surfaces of constant amplitude. In case of inhomogeneous waves, these two species of surfaces differ in orientation. Wave vector is always perpendicular to surfaces of constant phase. For example, when a wave travels through an anisotropic medium, such as light waves through an asymmetric crystal or sound