Efficient computational method for joint distributions of heights and periods of nonlinear ocean waves

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel method for efficient prediction of joint distributions of heights and periods of nonlinear ocean waves. The proposed novel method utilizes a transformed linear simulation which is based on a Hermite transformation model where the transformation is chosen to be a monotonic cubic polynomial, calibrated such that the first four moments of the transformed model match the moments of the true process. This proposed novel method is utilized to predict the joint distributions of wave heights and periods of a sea state with the surface elevation data measured at the Gulfaks C platform in the North Sea, and the novel method's accuracy and efficiency are favorably validated by using comparisons with the results from an empirical joint distribution model, from a linear simulation model and from a second-order nonlinear simulation model. Keywords: Joint distribution, Wave height and period, Transformed linear simulation, Hermite transformation