Advances in Coastal and Ocean Engineering, Volume 4

This volume consists of five excellent review papers. In the first paper, "A Review of Coastal Wave Modeling: The Physical and Mathematical Problems", N E Huang presents a summary of the state-of-the-art of wave modeling in deep waters. He points out several shortcomings in existing modeling approaches and expresses the urgent need for developing a statistical theory of surface waves in shallow waters. Huang believes that the statistical theory can be formulated as the soliton turbulence. He also points out other important issues in wave modeling, including the air-sea interaction processes, and the physics of the wave-current and dissipation processes. In the second paper A C Radder focuses his discussion on the "Hamiltonian Dynamics of Water Waves", He demonstrates that the Hamiltonian theory of surface waves can be formulated in terms of surface elevation and the velocity potential at the free surface as canonical variables. Several evolution equations, can be readily obtained. Radder also points out the need to develop a stochastic wave model in the shallow-water environment.