NON-GAUSSIAN PROPERTIES OF SURFACE ELEVATION IN CROSSING SEA STATES IN SHALLOW WATER

The Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation, an extension of the Korteweg-de Vries equation in two horizontal dimensions, is used to study the statistical properties of shallow water waves in crossing sea states. Numerical simulations indicate that the interaction of two non-collinear wave trains generates steep and high amplitude peaks, thus enhancing the deviation of the surface elevation from the Gaussian statistics. © 2007 World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.