Mercredi 13 mars à 11h00, salle des séminaires IRPHE
Abstract : Processes on the upper ocean are dominated by wind, waves, and currents. The interaction between these is very complex due to the different scales at play, possible presence of stratification, wave-induced turbulence etc. A particularly intriguing phenomenon are so-called rogue waves, which are known to have a devastating impact on marine structures, ships, and coastal littorals if occurring in shallow water. These extreme events will eminently intensify in the North Pacific and Southern Ocean. When considering the wave dynamics only, freak waves can occur as a result of modulation instability. The talk will focus on recent theoretical, numerical, and experimental research activities underlining the critical role of the wave nonlinearity in the modeling and prediction of extreme wave events in different environmental configurations. These studies pave the way for future research activities, which will be briefly elaborated upon and include for instance directional interactions with currents and the development of innovative methods to mitigate such extreme hydrodynamic disasters off- and on-shore.