Rogue Waves 151 Final Presentation Veronica Heintz

 Arise seemingly out of nowhere  Significantly higher than any other waves in the surrounding area  The accepted ratio: 2-3:1  Vastly different than Tsunami waves  Tsunamis caused by earthquakes on the seafloor, not visible on the surface of deep water Definition

 Until recently, rogue waves were thought to be just tall tales of sailors  No proof since they are so unpredictable  “100 year waves” because of the probability of occurring  New Year’s Day, 1995-Daupner Platform (North Sea) wave height instrument was detecting waves ~ 5-7m (16-23ft), and suddenly registered a single wave almost 20m (66f)  ESA used two satellites with radar to measure how frequent rogue waves are  Results: Analysis of images of worldwide oceans during a 3 week period showed 10 waves of 25m (82ft) or higher Myths?

 8 feet- The height of the ceiling in an average room in your house  feet- The height of a typical two story house  50 feet- The height of each letter in the “HOLLYWOOD” sign  111 feet- The height from of the Statue of Liberty from the tip of her head to her feet. Context

 Caught on Video

 Constructive Interference  Swells pass through others and occasionally their crests and troughs coincide and reinforce each other Causes: 3 Main Explanations

 Strong Currents + Opposing Winds  Ocean currents cause waves to "pile up" when waves run into them head on  Random currents and waves coming from more than one direction can act like a lens, focusing the waves to produce larger amplitude waves  Gulf Stream (Bermuda Triangle), Agulhas current off the coast of South Africa Causes: 3 Main Explanations

 Nonlinear Effects of Water Waves  Nonlinear water surface waves can be modeled after the nonlinear Schrödinger equation This equation is a classical field equation used to model plane waves (never describes the evolution of a quantum state)  Relation to optics  Nonlinear effects in optical fibers are also modeled the same way: In optical fibers, “the material properties are tuned to respond to the intensity of the incoming light to create a self-focusing effect, balancing the dispersive spreading of the light wave. This gives rise to optical solitons, light pulses that can cross large distances in a fiber without information loss” (5) Causes: 3 Main Explanations

Take Away Message This is an extremely fascinating phenomenon that possibly explains countless tragedies through human history. Research done to understand rogue waves and where they come from has the potential to save lives!

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