Robust estimation and representation of climatic wave spectrum

Abstract

The design and operation planning of marine facilities have to be developed taking into account dominant wave conditions and their variability over long periods of time. Climatic wave spectrum can be considered as a component of the long-term statistical characterization of wave conditions, which is paramount when dealing with the dynamic response of marine structures to wave loads. This study presents a methodology for robust estimation and representation of the climatic wave spectrum from a given set of measured wave spectra that is consistent with the statistical properties of the spectral density estimates at a given frequency. It provides information on location, spread, asymmetry, and extremes of the spectral density estimations by using robust and resistant methods for summarizing the data sets, and uses related graphical techniques for the efficient display of the information. The approach is exposed by analysing a large collection of measured wave spectra, used as a methodological example.