Maximum likelihood estimation of ocean wave spectra from general arrays of wave gauges

Abstract

The paper discusses estimation of directional ocean wave spectra from a spatial array of sensors by means of the Maximum Likelihood (ML) method. An iterative improvement of the ML estimate is proposed and illustrated on synthetic and real data. The wave data was obtained by an acoustic Doppler current meter in the Current Measurement Experiment (CUMEX) carried out by Esso Norge a.s at the Odin platform in the Norwegian Sea.