Relation between orbital velocities, pressure and surface elevation in non-linear nearshore water waves

Overview & Synopsis

The inability of the linear wave dispersion relation to characterize the dispersive properties of non-linear shoaling and breaking waves in the nearshore has long been recognised. Yet, it remains widely used with linear wave theory to convert between sub-surface pressure, wave orbital velocities and the free surface elevation associated with non-linear nearshore waves. Here, we present a non-linear fully dispersive method for reconstructing the free surface elevation from sub-surface hydrodynamic measurements. This reconstruction requires knowledge of the dispersive properties of the wave field through the dominant wavenumbers magnitude κ , representative in an energy-averaged sense of a mixed sea-state composed of both free and forced components. The present approach is effective starting from intermediate water depths - where non-linear interactions between triads intensify - up to the surf zone, where most wave components are forced and travel approximately at the speed of non-dispersive shallow-water waves. In laboratory conditions, where measurements of κ are available, the non-linear fully dispersive method successfully reconstructs sea-surface energy levels at high frequencies in diverse non-linear and dispersive conditions. In the field, we investigate the potential of a reconstruction that uses a Boussinesq approximation of κ , since such measurements are generally lacking. Overall, the proposed approach offers great potential for collecting more accurate measurements under storm conditions, both in terms of sea-surface energy levels at high frequencies and wave-by-wave statistics ( e.g. wave extrema). Through its control on the efficiency of non-linear energy transfers between triads, the spectral bandwidth is shown to greatly influence non-linear effects in the transfer functions between sub-surface hydrodynamics and the sea-surface elevation.