Three‐Dimensional Surface Water Waves Governed by the Forced Benney–Luke Equation

Abstract

This paper studies the propagation of three‐dimensional surface waves in water with an ambient current over a varying bathymetry. When the ambient flow is near the critical speed, under the shallow water assumptions, a forced Benney–Luke (fBL) equation is derived from the Euler equations. An asymptotic approximation of the water's reaction force over the varying bathymetry is derived in terms of topographic stress. Numerical simulations of the fBL equation over a trough are compared to those using a forced Kadomtsev–Petviashvilli equation. For larger variations in the bathymetry that upstream‐radiating three‐dimensional solitons are observed, which are different from the upstream‐radiating solitons simulated by the forced Kadomtsev–Petviashvilli equation. In this case, we show the fBL equation is a singular perturbation of the forced Kadomtsev–Petviashvilli equation which explains the significant differences between the two flows.