A preliminary investigation of rogue waves off the Jiangsu coast, China

Abstract

Abstract. Due to the potential disasters induced by rogue waves, research in this field has increased rapidly in the last 2 decades. However, there are still a lot of open questions left, including some classic ones, such as whether the rogues waves are just rare events or not. One of the key reasons is that not enough of the observed rogue waves have been investigated. China has a wide sea area, but none of the research has addressed the observed rogue waves. In the present study, 1 year of observed wave data from Jiangsu coastal area, China, are analyzed. It is found that rogue waves are present, although the wave heights are not very large; furthermore, the probability of their occurrence is similar to the Rayleigh distribution prediction, due to the local silty coastal topography. The characteristics of rouge waves are investigated and the results indicate that a new type of rogue wave may exist.