Environmental contours are used in structural reliability analysis of marine and coastal structures as an approximate means to locate the boundary of the distribution of environmental variables, and hence sets of environmental conditions giving rise to extreme structural loads and responses. Outline guidance concerning the application of environmental contour methods is given in recent design guidelines from many organisations.
Estimation of ocean environmental return values is critical to the safety and reliability of marine and coastal structures. For ocean waves and storm severity, return values are typically estimated by extreme value analysis of time series of measured or hindcast sea state significant wave height H S . For a single location, this analysis is complicated by the serial dependence of H S in time and its non-stationarity with respect to multiple covariates, particularly direction and season. Here, we report a non-stationary extreme value analysis of storm peak significant wave height H sp S , assumed temporally independent given covariates, incorporating directional and seasonal effects using a spline-based methodology incorporating an ensemble of models for different extreme value thresholds. Quantile regression is used to estimate suitable thresholds. For each threshold, a Poisson process is used to estimate the rate of occurrence of threshold exceedances, and a generalised Pareto model characterises the magnitude of threshold exceedances. Covariate effects are incorporated at each stage using penalised tensor products of B-splines to give smooth model parameter variation as a function of covariates. Optimal smoothing penalties are selected using cross-validation, and uncertainty is quantified using bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap resampling. We use the model to estimate environmental return values for a location in the Makassar Strait, in the South China Sea. Return values distributions for H sp S are estimated by simulation under the threshold ensemble model. Return values for H S are then estimated by simulating intra-storm trajectories of H S consistent with the characteristics of the simulated storm peak events using a matching procedure. Return values for maximum individual crest elevation C are estimated by marginalisation using a pre-specified conditional distribution for C given H S and other sea state parameters. Model validation is performed by comparing confidence intervals for cumulative distribution functions of H sp S and H S for the period of the data with empirical sample-based estimates.
Specification of realistic environmental design conditions for marine structures is of fundamental importance to their reliability over time. Design conditions for extreme waves and storm severities are typically estimated by extreme value analysis of time series of measured or hindcast significant wave height, HS. This analysis is complicated by two effects. Firstly, HS exhibits temporal dependence. Secondly, the characteristics of HSsp are non-stationary with respect to multiple covariates, particularly wave direction and season.
We develop directional-seasonal design values for storm peak significant wave height (HSsp) by estimation of, and simulation under a non-stationary extreme value model for HSsp. Design values for significant wave height (HS) are estimated by simulating storm trajectories of HS consistent with the simulated storm peak events. Design distributions for individual maximum wave height (Hmax) are estimated by marginalisation using the known conditional distribution for Hmax given HS. Particular attention is paid to the assessment of model bias and quantification of model parameter and design value uncertainty using bootstrap resampling. We also outline existing work on extension to estimation of maximum crest elevation and total extreme water level.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.