NONLINEAR TRANSFORMATION OF WAVES IN FINITE WATER DEPTH

The formulation of a nonlinear frequency domain parabolic mild-slope m odel is detailed. The resulting model describes two-dimensional wave t ransformation and nonlinear coupling between frequency components. Lin ear dispersion and transformation characteristics are dictated by full y-dispersive linear theory, an improvement over weakly-dispersive Bous sinesq theory. Both the present model and a weakly-dispersive nonlinea r frequency domain model are compared to laboratory data for both two- dimensional wave transformation and pure shoaling. It is found that, i n general, data-model comparisons are enhanced by the present model, p articularly in instances where the wave condition is outside the shall ow water range. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.