3D effects in the dynamics of oceanic rogue waves: A numerical study

TL;DR

This numerical study investigates how three-dimensional effects influence the formation of oceanic rogue waves, revealing that wave front orientation and spatial-temporal focusing significantly impact extreme wave development.

Contribution

The paper demonstrates the importance of three-dimensional fluid motion and wave front orientation in rogue wave formation through numerical simulations.

Findings

Optimal wave front angles for maximum rogue wave height are 18-28 degrees.

Three-dimensional effects significantly influence rogue wave formation.

Spatial-temporal focusing mechanism is simulated for various nonlinearities.

Abstract

Recent results of numerical simulations of fully nonlinear evolutionary equations for long-crested deep-water waves are discussed, where formation of extreme waves was observed. Several examples demonstrate that three-dimensionality of the fluid motion has an essential influence on the process of rogue wave formation. In particular, in the presence of elongate wave groups, the most tall extreme waves occur when in an initial state the wave fronts were oriented obliquely to the direction of the group. An "optimal" angle, resulting in the highest rogue waves, depends on initial wave amplitude and group width, and it is about 18-28 degrees in a practically important range of parameters. Besides that, the mechanism of spatial-temporal focusing on a random wave background has been simulated for several values of nonlinearity.