• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.258-265
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• 2015

Over the last 20 years, freak waves have attracted many researchers because of their unexpected behaviors and damages on offshore structures and vessels in the ocean and coastal waters. Despite many researches on the causes, mechanisms and occurrence of freak waves, we have not reached consensus on the results of the researches. This paper presents the occurrence probability of freak waves based on the analysis of wave records measured at coastal waters of Donghae harbor in the East Sea. Three freak waves were found which satisfied conditions of m and $H_S{\geq}2.5m$ and $H_m/H_S{\geq}2$. The occurrence probabilities of freak waves were estimated from extreme distributions by Mori, Rayleigh and Ahn, and found to be on the orders of O($10^{-1}$), O($10^{-2}$), and O($10^{-3}$), respectively. The occurrence probabilities of freak waves measured from waves records were estimated between O($10^{-2}$) and O($10^{-3}$), which were located between predictions by Rayleigh and Ahn's extreme probability distributions. However, we need more analysis of wave records obtained from diverse field conditions in order to verify the accuracy of the estimation of occurrence probability of freak waves.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.112-120
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• 2010

In this paper time series wave data measured continuously for 24 hours during a storm in Yura Sea Area are used to investigate statistical characteristics of nonlinear waves. The exceedance probability of wave height is compared using the Rayleigh distribution and the Edgeworth-Rayleigh (ER) distribution. Wave data which show stationary state for 10 hours contain 4600 waves approximately. The Gram-Chalier distribution fits the probability of wave elevation better than the Gaussian distribution. The Rayleigh ($H_{rms}$) distribution follows the exceedance probability of wave height in general and predicts the probability of freak waves well. The ER distribution overpredicts the exceedance probability of wave heights and the occurrence of freak waves. If wave data measured for 30 minute period which contains 250 waves are used, the ER distribution can predict the occurrence probability of freak waves well. But it overpredicts the probability of overall wave height If no freak wave occurs, the Rayleigh ($H_{rms}$) distribution agrees well with wave height distribution for the most of wave height ranges. The wave height distribution of freak waves of which height are less than 10 m shows similar tendency compared with freak waves greater than 10 m. The value of $H_{max}/H_{1/3}$ is related to the kurtosis of wave elevation. It seems that there exists threshold value of the kurtosis for the occurrence of freak waves.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.61-67
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• 2009

In this paper time series wave data which contain a freak wave is investigated. Various wave characteristics are compared between wave data with a freak wave and without. Among 24 hour wave data measured in the Yura Sea, two adjacent 30 min wave data with and without a freak wave are examined intensively. It is seen that the highest waves do not have the longest wave period. The wave period of the longest period waves is a little longer than the average wave period and much shorter than the significant wave period. Although the sea state is quite high, the Rayleigh distribution fits well to the probability of wave height. The characteristics of the wave spectra do not change much, but the nonlinearity increases for the wave data with a freak wave. The significant wave height without a freak wave is larger than that with a freak wave. Hence, the higher significant wave height does not always increase the probability of the occurrence of the freak waves.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.138-145
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• 2011

In this paper time series wave data are simulated by the Monte Calo method using random numbers to generate random phases of the wave signal. The simulated wave signasl are used to study the characteristics of freak waves. Various sea states are represented by combinations of the significant wave height $H_s$ defined in the spectrum method and the significant wave steepness $S_s$. For a fixed value of $S_s$, the probability of the occurrence of the freak wave is decreased as $H_s$ increases. For a fixed value of $H_s$ the probability of the occurrence of the freak wave increases as $S_s$ increases. The average value of the maximum wave height increase as $S_s$ increases, but the average height of freak wave remains the same and the value approaches two times of $H_s$. For the fixed value of $S_s$, average kurtosis of wave elevation increases as $H_s$ increases, but for a fixed $H_s$, the average kurtosis decreases as $S_s$ increases. The average of abnormality index(AI) is around 2.11 irregardless of $H_s$ and $S_s$. The maximum value of AI lies between 2.5 - 3.0. Therefore it is conjectured that AI maximum due to linear focusing is 3.0.