A fast convolution approach to the transformation of surface gravity waves: Linear waves in 1DH

The transformation of irrotational surface gravity waves in an inviscid fluid can be studied by time stepping the kinematic and dynamic surface boundary conditions. This requires a closure providing the normal surface particle velocity in terms of the surface velocity potential or its tangential derivative. A convolution integral giving this closure as an explicit expression is derived for linear I D waves over a mildly sloping bottom. The model has exact linear dispersion and shoaling properties. A discrete numerical model is developed for a spatially staggered uniform grid. The model involves a spatial derivative which is discretized by an arbitrary-order finite-difference scheme. Error control is attained by solving the discrete dispersion relation a priori and model results make a perfect match to this prediction. A procedure is developed by which the computational effort is minimized for a specific physical problem while adapting the numerical parameters under the constraint of a predefined tolerance of damping and dispersion error. Two computational examples show that accurate irregular-wave transformation on the kilometre scale can be computed in seconds. Thus, the method makes up a highly efficient basis for a forthcoming extension that includes nonlinearity at arbitrary order. The relation to Boussinesq equations, mild-slope wave equations, boundary integral equations and spectral methods is briefly discussed. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.