Hypothetically, could a ship detect an oncoming rogue wave using its radar?

I just finished watching the 2006 movie Poseidon, and this question just came back to mind. Rogue waves are extremely unpredictable, and you often don't see one coming. Though efforts are being made to try and detect them to give ships in the area advanced warning, such efforts are still in their infancy. But hypothetically, if a rogue wave were coming at a ship from a considerable distance away - say about 10 nautical miles out - could modern radar be able to detect their presence? I imagine that due to being at least twice the significant wave height as per scientific definition that they might show up as a blip if big and close enough.

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Commentaires

Intelligent-Pin35842026-01-17 03:51

Yes.

https://www.radartutorial.eu/01.basics/The%20Radar%20Range%20Equation.en.html

alexandicity2026-01-20 09:08

Unless I am missing something, that doesn't talk about the detectability of waves at all?

Intelligent-Pin35842026-01-20 19:33

That link doesn’t but the main difference would be in implementation details (which are very challenging). Here’s a paper that is specific to this topic:

Wang, T.-C.; Kiang, J.-F. Detection of Elusive Rogue Wave with Cross-Track Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging Approach. Sensors 2025, 25, 2781. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25092781

dsyzdek2026-01-17 07:08

However, I think some rogue waves are formed by constructive interference, so those just suddenly form with little or no warning.

MutedAdvisor94142026-01-17 16:48

Some, yes, but the big rollers just sort of circle the southern hemisphere in packs.

hypnofedX2026-01-17 18:08

Those aren't rogue waves. A rogue wave is significantly taller than anything around it; those are just regular waves with an extremely long wavelength.

MutedAdvisor94142026-01-17 18:20

True

Stampede_the_Hippos2026-01-21 02:23

I thought all of them were.

Ok_Celebration81342026-01-17 07:54

Detect? Yes. Do anything about it? No.

unknowingbiped2026-01-17 22:36

Turn into at least. No need for a USS Memphis ACR-10

TheEvilBlight2026-01-18 23:25

Didn’t realize the son of the CO was the skipper for Triton and the first around the world fully submerged cruise

hypnofedX2026-01-17 18:10

No; rogue waves appear only briefly and locally, usually due to constructive interference between wave packs. You don't see them "coming" because there isn't anything to see or detect with radar. People saying otherwise are thinking of tsunamis or some other type of wave which exists for more than a few moments.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue\_wave#Background](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_wave#Background)

Detection of rogue waves from a distance usually involves lasers mounted on a fixed (not floating) surface.

SenderShredder2026-01-19 18:18

New fear unlocked.
There’s also a type of rogue called a soliton that can form from that constructive interference (KvT model) The difference is solitons don’t dissipate and can travel far distances at extreme amplitudes.

https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/23/2053/2023/

JEharley1522026-01-20 07:04

Radar will pick up the “white-cap” on top’ but that’s all—it won’t tell you what it is, or how “tall” it is, or if it’s the beach—-fun story, I once signed on to deliver a boat from Cocoa, Florida to Seattle—passing Miami, (which is flat as a pancake), what was visible on the radar was mid-rise and high-rise buildings and highway overpasses—-

alexandicity2026-01-20 09:11

I guess that no: while seawater will weakly reflect the radar signal, waves don't have a good geometry to return a radar pulse to the source ship. Radar pulse that hit the wave would be predominantly reflected up and away, with only a smallish scatter back.

Some power will be returned, but not likely enough to pick out unless the system is specifically looking for it.

I am not a marine radar expert though, so happy to be corrected!