Extreme waves in random crossing seas: laboratory experiments and numerical simulations

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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/189054

Title: Extreme waves in random crossing seas: laboratory experiments and numerical simulations
Author(s): Toffoli, A.; Bitner-Gregersen, E. M.; Osborne, A. R.; Serio, M.; Monbaliu, J.; Onorato, M.
Abstract: We present an experimental and numerical investigation on the statistical properties of the surface elevation in crossing sea conditions. Experiments are performed in a very large wave basin (70 m x 50 m x 3 m) and numerical results are obtained using a higher order method for solving the Euler equations. Both experimental and numerical results indicate that the number of extreme events depends on the angle between the two interacting systems. This outcome is supported by recent theoretical investigations which have highlighted that the instability of wave packets may be triggered by the nonlinear interactions between coexisting, non-collinear wave systems.
Publication type: Journal article
Source: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 38 (Mar 2011), paper no. L06605
Publication year: 2011
FOR Code(s): 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences; 0404 Geophysics
Keyword(s): Evolution; Freak waves; Instability; Surface gravity-waves; Water-waves
Publisher: American Geophysical Union
ISSN: 0094-8276
Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011gl046827
Peer reviewed