Hundred-year wave explained

A hundred-year wave is a statistically projected water wave, the height of which, on average, is met or exceeded once in a hundred years for a given location. The likelihood of this wave height being attained at least once in the hundred-year period is 63%.^[1] As a projection of the most extreme wave which can be expected to occur in a given body of water, the hundred-year wave is a factor commonly taken into consideration by designers of oil platforms and other offshore structures.^{[2] [3] [4]} Periods of time other than a hundred years may also be taken into account, resulting in, for instance, a fifty-year wave.^[5]

Various methods are employed to predict the possible steepness^[6] and period^[7] of these waves, in addition to their height.

See also

• Index of wave articles
• Significant wave height
• Shallow water equations
• Rogue wave

Notes and References

1. Book: Brooke, John. Engineering Committee on Oceanic Resources Working Group on Wave Energy Conversion. Wave Energy Conversion. Elsevier. 2003. 170. 0-08-044212-9. 2008-09-09.
2. Book: Goda , Y. . Random Seas and Design of Maritime Structures . 2000 . World Scientific . 978-981-02-3256-6 . pp. 421–422.
3. Book: Melchers , Robert E. . Modeling Complex Engineering Structures . Hough, Richard . ASCE Publications . 2007 . 978-0-7844-0850-6. p. 188.
4. Book: Holthuijsen , Leo H. . 2007 . Waves in oceanic and coastal waters . Cambridge University Press . 978-0-521-86028-4 . Cambridge. Ch. 4.
5. Book: Le Tirant, P.. Jacques Meunier. Association de recherche en géotechnique marine (France). Nissim Marshall. Anchoring of Floating Structures: Design Guides for Offshore Structures. Editions TECHNIP. 1990. 50. 2-7108-0572-3. 2008-09-09.
6. Book: Cruz, Joao. Ocean Wave Energy: Current Status and Future Perspectives. Springer. 2008. 16. 978-3-540-74894-6. 2008-09-09.
7. Book: Editions Technip. Association De Recherche Action Des. Sea Climatology. Editions TECHNIP. 1980. 7. 2-7108-0396-8. 2008-09-09.