A review of the central role of nonlinear interactions in wind—wave evolution

Abstract

Nonlinear wave-wave interactions play a central role in the development of wind-generated surface waves. A detailed review of com putational techniques which have been proposed for their evaluation is provided. Numerical experiments are used to determine the manner in which the nonlinear terms control spectral development with fetch, the directional spread of the spectrum and the high-frequency spectral tail. In addition, the nonlinear terms have a shape-stabilizing role, continually smoothing local perturbations in the spectrum and forcing it back to a ‘preferred’ shape.