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Dissipative models of swell propagation across the Pacific
Author(s) -
Zaug Camille R.,
Carter John D.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
studies in applied mathematics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.164
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1467-9590
pISSN - 0022-2526
DOI - 10.1111/sapm.12423
Subject(s) - swell , dissipative system , dissipation , nonlinear system , amplitude , physics , statistical physics , classical mechanics , geology , oceanography , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics
Ocean swell plays an important role in the transport of energy across the ocean, yet its evolution is not well understood. In the late 1960s, the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation was derived as a simplified model for the propagation of ocean swell over large distances. More recently, a number of dissipative generalizations of the NLS equation based on a simple dissipation assumption have been proposed. These models have been shown to accurately model wave evolution in a laboratory setting, but their validity in modeling ocean swell has not previously been examined. We study the efficacy of the NLS equation and four of its generalizations in modeling the evolution of swell in the ocean. The dissipative models perform significantly better than conservative ones and are overall reasonable models for swell amplitudes, indicating dissipation is an important physical effect in ocean swell evolution. The nonlinear models did not outperform their linearizations, indicating linear models may be sufficient in modeling some aspects of ocean swell evolution over large distances.