Wave Height Distribution for Nonlinear Swell Waves in Deep an Depth-Limited Wave Conditions

This paper presents initial results from an on-going study on the influence from wave nonlinearity on the wave height distribution in deep- and depth-limited nonlinear wave conditions. A fully nonlinear VOF model, IH-2VOF, is applied to model the propagation of irregular waves on a sloping sea bed from deep to shallow water, including the effects of wave breaking. Different wave nonlinearities are evaluated in the model and the effects of the wave nonlinearity, described by the so-called Ursell-number, on the wave height distributions along the sloping sea bed are evaluated. The widely used Battjes & Groenendijk (2000) shallow water wave height distribution is concluded in the present study to significantly underpredict the low-exceedance wave heights in case of very nonlinear waves. A modification of the Battjess & Groenendijk (2000) distribution is suggested in order to include the effects of wave nonlinearity.