2024/08/01 by Yuchen He, Amin Chabchoub, He, Yuchen +1
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics (physics.ao-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn) #Ocean Waves and Remote Sensing #Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes #Underwater Acoustics Research
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2408.06373
openalex publication_date 2024/08/01 · openalex created_date 2024/09/11 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Rogue waves are known to occur on the ocean surface leading to significant damage to marine installations and compromising ship safety. Understanding the physical mechanisms responsible for extreme wave focusing is crucial in order to predict and prevent their formation and impact. Two intensively discussed wave amplification frameworks are the linear and nonlinear focusing mechanisms. These are also known as superposition principle and modulation instability, respectively. We report an experimental study investigating the formation mechanism in a unidirectional representative JONSWAP-type sea state and show that the nonlinear focusing mechanism can be sub-categorized into either a localized amplitude or a so far less-studied phase-related frequency modulation, or both being at play. The frequency modulation-type mechanism occurs at a lower probability, as suggested from the distribution of more than 200 extreme events, however, it cannot be underrated or disregarded.