The inverse scattering transform: Tools for the nonlinear fourier analysis and filtering of ocean surface waves

Surface wave data from the Adriatic Sea are analysed in the light of new data analysis techniques which may be viewed as a nonlinear generalization of the ordinary Fourier transform. Nonlinear Fourier analysis as applied herein arises from the exact spectral solution to large classes of nonlinear wave equations which are integrable by the inverse scattering transform (IST). Numerical methods are discussed which allow for implementation of the approach as a tool for the time series analysis of oceanic wave data. The case for unidirectional propagation in shallow water, where integrable nonlinear wave motion is governed by the Korteweg-deVries (KdV) equation with periodic/quasi-periodic boundary conditions, is considered. Numerical procedures given herein can be used to compute a nonlinear Fourier representation for a given measured time series. The nonlinear oscillation modes (the IST ‘basis functions’) of KdV obey a linear superposition law, just as do the sine waves of a linear Fourier series. However, the KdV basis functions themselves are highly nonlinear, undergo nonlinear interactions with each other and are distinctly non-sinusoidal. Numerical IST is used to analyse Adriatic Sea data and the concept of nonlinear filtering is applied to improve understanding of the dominant nonlinear interactions in the measured wavetrains.