Rogue Wave Morphology in Broadband Nonbreaking Seas

TL;DR

This study reveals that rogue waves in broadband non-breaking seas are spatially asymmetric with unequal adjacent trough depths, affecting rogue wave height estimates and challenging traditional symmetric models.

Contribution

It provides the first statistical evidence of trough asymmetry in rogue waves and quantifies its impact on height calculations, prompting a reassessment of existing models.

Findings

Rogue waves exhibit spatial asymmetry in broadband non-breaking seas.

Considering trough asymmetry increases rogue wave height estimates by about 10%.

Trough asymmetry is observed across sea states 4 to 6 on the Douglas Sea Scale.

Abstract

Here, we show through a statistical analysis that rogue waves in broadband non-breaking seas are spatially asymmetric. In addition to the top-down asymmetry due to nonlinear effects, we show that the two troughs adjacent to the rogue wave crest are generally of different depths, which is unlike the conventional picture of rogue waves with symmetric fore and aft troughs often obtained from model equations. The rogue-wave trough asymmetry is demonstrated for sea states 4 to 6 on Douglas Sea Scale. Considering the deepest trough leads to approximately 10% increase in the calculation of the mean rogue-wave height compared to previous results for rogue waves reported with symmetric troughs. This implies that estimates of rogue-wave trough-crest amplitudes based on model equations should be re-assessed upward for all realistic oceanic conditions.