Extreme Ocean Waves
Efim Pelinovsky • Christian Kharif Editors
Extreme Ocean Waves
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Editors Efim Pelinovsky Russian Academy of Sciences Inst. Appl. Physics Ul’yanov str. 46 Nizhny Novgorod Russia 603950
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Christian Kharif IRPHE Technopole de Chateau-Gombert 49 rue F. Joliot Curie 13384 Marseille BP 146 France
[email protected]
c 2008 JupiterImages Corporation Cover images ISBN 978-1-4020-8313-6
e-ISBN 978-1-4020-8314-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2008928129 c 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 springer.com
Preface
Extreme wave events occurring in seas and oceans almost every week are reported. There are a number of physical mechanisms that focus the water wave energy into a small area and produce the occurrence of extreme waves called freak or rogue waves. These events may be due to wave instability (modulation or Benjamin-Feir instability), chaotic behavior, dispersion (frequency modulation), refraction (presence of variable currents or bottom topography), soliton interactions, etc. These giant waves are a real danger to ships and platforms, causing accidents resulting in human loss. There are several examples of such events which occurred in 2007. The freak surge striking East Anglia and Kent (UK) on November 12 missed the high tide by minutes and forced the emergency services to evacuate more than 1,000 people from their homes. Strong waves struck a group of 15 picnickers who had waded far into the sea on October 15 at the Gadani beach about 40 km southwest of Karachi (Pakistan). On October 1, nine houses were destroyed and 77 families displaced when strong waves hit the coastal Davao City (Phillipine).