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Artificial waves are man-made waves usually created on a specially designed surface or in a pool.
Artificial waves are created in one or two ways. First, if the wave is created on a designed surface, water is shot over the surface at a high speed to create a wave. These waves are ridden with a short board about the length of a wakeboard where the rider is strapped on to the board to prevent the board from flying out under the rider's feet. The second method an artificial wave is created is in a wave pool. Much like sliding back and forth in a bathtub, water is pushed out of an opening with enough force to create a wave-like shape. Riders can ride this type of wave on a regular surfboard.
Dr Peter Killen was the first to develop a continuously breaking, oblique, stationary wave for the study of wave riding. The work was published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics in 1976.
Artificial reefs can also be placed into natural wave environments to enhance the quality of the incoming breaking wave for surfing. Wave focusing areas can build up wave power and height prior to breaking and breaking surfaces then trip the wave up to make it break, the surfing surface then carries the breaking wave along an angle that maximises its value for surfing.
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