Editing Rogue wave (section)

== Background ==
[[File:Tsunami by hokusai 19th century.jpg|thumb|right|Although commonly described as a [[tsunami]], the titular wave in ''[[The Great Wave off Kanagawa]]'' by [[Hokusai]] is more likely an example of a large rogue wave.]]
Rogue waves are waves in open water that are much larger than surrounding waves. More precisely, rogue waves have a [[wave height|height]] which is more than twice the [[significant wave height]] (''H''{{sub|s}} or SWH). They can be caused when [[Current (fluid)|currents]] or [[wind]]s cause waves to travel at different speeds, and the waves [[Constructive interference|merge]] to create a single large wave; or when [[non-linearity|nonlinear effects]] cause energy to move between waves to create a single extremely large wave.

Once considered mythical and lacking hard evidence, rogue waves are now proven to exist and are known to be natural ocean phenomena. Eyewitness accounts from mariners and damage inflicted on ships have long suggested they occur. Still, the first scientific evidence of their existence came with the recording of a rogue wave by the [[Gorm Field|Gorm platform]] in the central [[North Sea]] in 1984. A stand-out wave was detected with a wave height of {{convert|11|m|abbr=on}} in a relatively low sea state.<ref name="MyUser_Soest.hawaii.edu_April_16_2016c" /> However, what caught the attention of the scientific community was the digital measurement of a rogue wave at the [[Draupner platform]] in the North Sea on January 1, 1995; called the "[[Draupner wave]]", it had a recorded maximum wave height of {{convert|25.6|m|abbr=on}} and peak elevation of {{convert|18.5|m|abbr=on}}. During that event, minor damage was inflicted on the platform far above sea level, confirming the accuracy of the wave-height reading made by a downwards pointing laser sensor.<ref name="haver2003freak">{{Cite report
 |author       = Haver, Sverre
 |date         = 2003
 |title        = Freak wave event at Draupner jacket January 1 1995
 |url          = http://www.ifremer.fr/web-com/stw2004/rogue/pres/Session_3.2/Haver_Draupner.pdf
 |publisher    = Statoil, Tech. Rep. PTT-KU-MA
 |access-date  = 2015-06-03
 |archive-date = 2015-11-07
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20151107183601/http://www.ifremer.fr/web-com/stw2004/rogue/pres/Session_3.2/Haver_Draupner.pdf
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref>

The existence of rogue waves has since been confirmed by video and photographs, [[satellite imagery]], radar of the ocean surface,<ref>{{Cite news
 | url        = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3917539.stm
 | publisher  = [[BBC News]]
 | title      = Freak waves spotted from space
 | date       = July 22, 2004
 | access-date = May 22, 2010}}</ref> stereo wave imaging systems,<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Benetazzo|first1=Alvise|last2=Barbariol|first2=Francesco|last3=Bergamasco|first3=Filippo|last4=Torsello|first4=Andrea|last5=Carniel|first5=Sandro|last6=Sclavo|first6=Mauro|date=2015-06-22|title=Observation of Extreme Sea Waves in a Space–Time Ensemble|journal=[[Journal of Physical Oceanography]]|volume=45|issue=9|pages=2261–2275|doi=10.1175/JPO-D-15-0017.1|issn=0022-3670|bibcode=2015JPO....45.2261B|hdl=10278/3661049|s2cid=128962800 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> pressure transducers on the sea-floor, and oceanographic research vessels.<ref name="MyUser_Glerl.noaa.gov_April_16_2016c"/> In February 2000, a British oceanographic research vessel, the [[RRS Discovery (1962)|RRS ''Discovery'']], sailing in the [[Rockall Trough]] west of Scotland, encountered the largest waves ever recorded by any scientific instruments in the open ocean, with an SWH of {{convert|18.5|m|ft}} and individual waves up to {{convert|29.1|m|ft}}.<ref name="Rockall">{{Cite journal|title=Were extreme waves in the Rockall Trough the largest ever recorded? |date=March 2006 |doi=10.1029/2005GL025238 |bibcode=2006GeoRL..33.5613H |volume=33 |issue = 5|pages=L05613 |journal=[[Geophysical Research Letters]] | last1 = Holliday | first1 = Naomi P.|doi-access=free }}</ref> In 2004, scientists using three weeks of radar images from [[European Space Agency]] satellites found ten rogue waves, each {{convert|25|m|ft}} or higher.<ref name="Laird1">{{Cite journal
| url     = https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA462573.pdf
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130408131805/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA462573
| url-status = live
| archive-date = April 8, 2013
| title   = Observed Statistics of Extreme Waves
| author  = Laird, Anne Marie
| journal = Doctoral Dissertation, Monterey, California Naval Postgraduate School
| date    = December 2006
| pages   = 2}}</ref>

A rogue wave is a natural ocean phenomenon that is not caused by land movement, only lasts briefly, occurs in a limited location, and most often happens far out at sea.<ref name="Econ1" /> Rogue waves are considered rare, but potentially very dangerous, since they can involve the spontaneous formation of massive waves far beyond the usual expectations of [[ship design]]ers, and can overwhelm the usual capabilities of ocean-going vessels which are not designed for such encounters. Rogue waves are, therefore, distinct from [[tsunami]]s.<ref name="Econ1" /> Tsunamis are caused by a massive displacement of water, often resulting from [[earthquake|sudden movement]]s of the [[ocean floor]], after which they propagate at high speed over a wide area. They are nearly unnoticeable in deep water and only become dangerous as they approach the shoreline and the ocean floor becomes shallower;<ref>{{Cite web
| url         = http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/?page=tsunami_science
| title       = Physics of Tsunamis
| date        = 27 January 2016
| website     = NOAA.gov
| access-date = 29 January 2016
| publisher   = [[United States Department of Commerce]]
| quote       = They cannot be felt aboard ships, nor can they be seen from the air in the open ocean.}}</ref> therefore, tsunamis do not present a threat to shipping at sea (e.g., the only ships lost in the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake|2004 Asian tsunami]] were in port.). These are also different from the wave known as a "[[hundred-year wave]]", which is a purely [[statistics|statistical]] description of a particularly high wave with a 1% chance to occur in any given year in a particular body of water.

Rogue waves have now been proven to cause the sudden loss of some ocean-going vessels. Well-documented instances include the freighter [[MS München|MS ''München'']], lost in 1978.<ref name="BBCFreak" /> Rogue waves have been implicated in the loss of other vessels, including the ''[[Ocean Ranger]]'', a [[semisubmersible]] mobile [[oil platform|offshore drilling unit]] that sank in Canadian waters on 15 February 1982.<ref name="(Canada)1985">{{Cite book
 | author     = Royal Commission on the Ocean Ranger Marine Disaster (Canada)
 | title      = Safety offshore Eastern Canada, summary of studies & seminars
 | url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=iv7bAAAAMAAJ
 | year       = 1985
 | publisher  = The Commission| isbn = 9780660118277
 }}</ref> In 2007, the United States' [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] (NOAA) compiled a catalogue of more than 50 historical incidents probably associated with rogue waves.<ref name="chron">{{Cite journal
 | last       = Liu
 | first      = Paul C.
 | year       = 2007
 | title      = A Chronology of Freaque Wave Encounters
 | journal    = Geofizika
 | volume     = 24
 | issue      = 1
 | pages      = 57–70
 | url        = http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/fulltext/2007/20070019.pdf
 | access-date = October 8, 2012}}</ref>