This paper describes the results of more than 4000 long-term (up to thousands of peak wave periods) numerical simulations of nonlinear gravity surface waves performed for the investigation of properties and estimation of statistics of extreme (“freak”) waves. The method of solution of two-dimensional potential wave equations based on conformal mapping is applied to the simulation of wave behavior assigned by different initial conditions, defined by the Joint North Sea Wave Observation Project and Pierson–Moskowitz spectra. It is shown that nonlinear wave evolution sometimes results in the appearance of very big waves. There are no predictors for the appearance of extreme waves; however, the height of dimensional waves is proportional to the significant wave height. The initial generation of extreme waves can occur simply as a result of linear group effects, but in some cases the largest wave suddenly starts to grow. It is followed sometimes by a strong concentration of wave energy around a peak vertical. It takes place typically for one peak wave period. It happens to an individual wave in physical space, with no energy exchange with surrounding waves taking place. A probability function for steep waves has been constructed. Such type of function can be used for the development of operational forecast of freak waves based on a standard forecast provided by a three-dimensional generation wave prediction model (WAVEWATCH or wave modeling).
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
July 2009
Research Article|
July 14 2009
Freak waves: Their occurrence and probability Available to Purchase
D. Chalikov
D. Chalikov
a)
P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology,
Russian Academy of Sciences
, Saint-Petersburg Branch, Saint-Petersburg 199053, Russia
Search for other works by this author on:
D. Chalikov
a)
P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology,
Russian Academy of Sciences
, Saint-Petersburg Branch, Saint-Petersburg 199053, Russia
a)
Telephone: +7-812-230-7293. Electronic mail: [email protected].
Physics of Fluids 21, 076602 (2009)
Article history
Received:
December 27 2008
Accepted:
June 01 2009
Citation
D. Chalikov; Freak waves: Their occurrence and probability. Physics of Fluids 1 July 2009; 21 (7): 076602. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3175713
Download citation file:
Pay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Citing articles via
Phase behavior of Cacio e Pepe sauce
G. Bartolucci, D. M. Busiello, et al.
Chinese Academy of Science Journal Ranking System (2015–2023)
Cruz Y. Li (李雨桐), 李雨桐, et al.
Direct numerical simulations of immiscible two-phase flow in rough fractures: Impact of wetting film resolution
R. Krishna, Y. Méheust, et al.
Related Content
Laboratory evidence of freak waves provoked by non-uniform bathymetry
Physics of Fluids (September 2012)
Freak waves in weakly nonlinear unidirectional wave trains over a sloping bottom in shallow water
Physics of Fluids (December 2013)
Modulation effect of uniform flow on three-dimensional freak wave generation in arbitrary water depth
Physics of Fluids (April 2024)
Statistics of unidirectional wave groups with and without freak waves observed in the Norwegian Sea
Physics of Fluids (October 2024)