Ocean swell within the kinetic equation for water waves
arXiv:1607.05313 · doi:10.5194/npg-24-237-2017
Abstract
Effects of wave-wave interactions on ocean swell are studied. Results of extensive simulations of swell evolution within the duration-limited setup for the kinetic Hasselmann equation at long times up to seconds are presented. Basic solutions of the theory of weak turbulence, the so-called Kolmogorov-Zakharov solutions, are shown to be relevant to the results of the simulations. Features of self-similarity of wave spectra are detailed and their impact on methods of ocean swell monitoring are discussed. Essential drop of wave energy (wave height) due to wave-wave interactions is found to be pronounced at initial stages of swell evolution (of order of 1000 km for typical parameters of the ocean swell). At longer times wave-wave interactions are responsible for a universal angular distribution of wave spectra in a wide range of initial conditions.
Submitted to Journal of Geophysical Research 18 July 2016