Revisiting the hydrodynamic modulation of short surface waves by longer waves
The manuscript presents a careful re-examination of how long gravity waves modulate the kinematics and energetics of much shorter surface waves. It addresses the classical hydrodynamic modulation problem, important for remote sensing, interpretation of in situ wave measurements and spectral wave modelling, and situates the work within the literature of crest-action conservation and related Hamiltonian and Schrödinger approaches to wave-wave interactions.\N\NThe authors employ a mixed analytical-numerical programme anchored in linearised crest and action conservation for deep water, coupled with a weakly nonlinear evaluation of the long-wave forcing at the instantaneous free surface rather than at mean level. This entails deriving modulation of the short-wave wavenumber from the crest balance, computing effective gravity by distinguishing Eulerian and Lagrangian frames and projecting accelerations in a curvilinear coordinate attached to the long-wave surface, and inferring amplitude, steepness, intrinsic frequency and celerity from standard dispersion relations. The exposition is clear and systematic, and the arguments proceed via an explicit derivation of closed-form steady solutions for \(k\), \(g_{\mathrm{eff}}\), \(a\) and \(ak\), followed by finite difference, Runge-Kutta integration of the full nonlinear crest-action system to assess fidelity and limits of the approximations.\N\NThe principal findings are that the steady analytical solutions obtained here predict significantly stronger short-wave modulation than the early linear theory of \textit{M. S. Longuet-Higgins} and \textit{R. W. Stewart} [J. Fluid Mech. 10, 529--549 (1961; Zbl 0096.42003)], and are close to prior nonlinear numerical solutions over a practical range of long-wave steepness. \N\NIn particular, the steepness increase on long-wave crests decomposes quantitatively as \(5/8\) from wavenumber convergence, \(1/4\) from wave-action convergence and \(1/8\) from effective-gravity reduction; more than half of the steepening is thus captured by wavenumber modulation alone. The numerical integrations show that agreement between the steady analytical formulae and the full nonlinear system is very good at \(\varepsilon_L\lesssim0.2\), begins to depart for \(\varepsilon_L\approx0.15\) -- \(0.2\), and differs markedly for very steep long waves where inhomogeneities of group speed and gravity become important. Stationarity is demonstrated to be a stricter requirement than homogeneity for action conservation, with practical criteria articulated in terms of \(k/k_L\) and \(\varepsilon_L\); for moderate scale separation the homogeneity condition is easily met, while stationarity may fail for large \(\varepsilon_L\), rendering action conservation inapplicable. Sensitivity tests indicate that, once \(k/k_L\gg1\), the modulation amplitude is largely insensitive to the precise wavenumber ratio.\N\NA notable contribution is the clarification of the unsteady growth reported by \textit{C. Peureux} et al. [J. Geophys. Res. Oceans 126, No. 1, Article ID e2020JC016735, 16 p. (2021; \url{doi:10.1029/2020JC016735})]: the present calculations show that indefinite growth of short-wave action and steepness is a non-generic outcome tied to homogeneous short-wave initial conditions under a sudden onset of long-wave forcing. When the long-wave amplitude is ramped up smoothly, or when the short-wave field is initialised in a phase-locked state, the modulation locks to the long-wave crests and the instability vanishes; diagnostics of the action balance indicate that the apparent instability in the sudden-onset case arises from a transient imbalance between propagation and inhomogeneity tendencies.\N\NIn closing, the study's significance lies in providing compact, steady, weakly nonlinear formulae that match full crest-action dynamics where those dynamics are valid, together with quantitative criteria delineating when action conservation can be relied upon. The results sharpen physical understanding of the respective roles of wavenumber convergence, action convergence and effective gravity, and they help reconcile disparate reports of steady versus unsteady behaviour. The work has clear implications for interpreting remote-sensing signatures and for improving spectral wave models, where incorporating hydrodynamic modulation beyond cumulative slope effects may be warranted within the identified regime; for steeper long waves, the demonstration that stationarity fails cautions against uncritical use of action-conserving frameworks. It will be of interest to researchers in surface gravity-wave theory, air-sea interaction and wave remote sensing, as well as to practitioners developing phase-averaged and phase-resolved wave forecasts.
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