Environmental contours describing extreme sea states are generated as the input for numerical or physical model simulations as a part of the standard current practice for designing marine structures to survive extreme sea states. Such environmental contours are characterized by combinations of significant wave height (Hs) and energy period (Te) or peak period (Tp) values calculated for a given recurrence interval using a set of data based on hindcast simulations or buoy observations over a sufficient period of record. The use of the inverse first-order reliability method (I-FORM) is standard design practice for generating environmental contours. This thesis develops enhanced methodologies for data analysis prior to the application of the I-FORM, including the use of principal component analysis (PCA) to create an uncorrelated representation of the variables under consideration as well as new distribution and parameter fitting techniques. These modifications are shown to contribute to the development of more accurate and reasonable representations of extreme sea states for use in survivability analysis for marine structures.
","abstract_html":"<p>Environmental contours describing extreme sea states are generated as the input for numerical or physical model simulations as a part of the standard current practice for designing marine structures to survive extreme sea states. Such environmental contours are characterized by combinations of significant wave height (Hs) and energy period (Te) or peak period (Tp) values calculated for a given recurrence interval using a set of data based on hindcast simulations or buoy observations over a sufficient period of record. The use of the inverse first-order reliability method (I-FORM) is standard design practice for generating environmental contours. This thesis develops enhanced methodologies for data analysis prior to the application of the I-FORM, including the use of principal component analysis (PCA) to create an uncorrelated representation of the variables under consideration as well as new distribution and parameter fitting techniques. These modifications are shown to contribute to the development of more accurate and reasonable representations of extreme sea states for use in survivability analysis for marine structures.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Eckert-Gallup, Aubrey Celia"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Civil Engineering","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Civil Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Stone, Mark","Coonrod, Julie","Neary, Vincent","N/A"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-09-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-09-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:26:55Z","subjects":["Inverse FORM","Principal Component Analysis","Environmental Contours","Extreme Sea State Characterization","Civil and Environmental Engineering"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ce_etds/106"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ce_etds/106","href":"https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ce_etds/106","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1928/30330","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Stone, Mark","Coonrod, Julie","Neary, Vincent","N/A"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Eckert-Gallup, Aubrey Celia"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-07-25T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Civil Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis","Masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Civil Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Inverse FORM","Principal Component Analysis","Environmental Contours","Extreme Sea State Characterization","Civil and Environmental Engineering"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1928/30330","https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ce_etds/106"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Environmental contours describing extreme sea states are generated as the input for numerical or physical model simulations as a part of the standard current practice for designing marine structures to survive extreme sea states. Such environmental contours are characterized by combinations of significant wave height (Hs) and energy period (Te) or peak period (Tp) values calculated for a given recurrence interval using a set of data based on hindcast simulations or buoy observations over a sufficient period of record. The use of the inverse first-order reliability method (I-FORM) is standard design practice for generating environmental contours. This thesis develops enhanced methodologies for data analysis prior to the application of the I-FORM, including the use of principal component analysis (PCA) to create an uncorrelated representation of the variables under consideration as well as new distribution and parameter fitting techniques. These modifications are shown to contribute to the development of more accurate and reasonable representations of extreme sea states for use in survivability analysis for marine structures.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Modified inverse first-order reliability method (I-FORM) for predicting extreme sea states"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Stone, Mark","Coonrod, Julie","Neary, Vincent","N/A"],"dc:creator":["Eckert-Gallup, Aubrey Celia"],"dc:date.available":["2017-07-25T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Environmental contours describing extreme sea states are generated as the input for numerical or physical model simulations as a part of the standard current practice for designing marine structures to survive extreme sea states. Such environmental contours are characterized by combinations of significant wave height (Hs) and energy period (Te) or peak period (Tp) values calculated for a given recurrence interval using a set of data based on hindcast simulations or buoy observations over a sufficient period of record. The use of the inverse first-order reliability method (I-FORM) is standard design practice for generating environmental contours. This thesis develops enhanced methodologies for data analysis prior to the application of the I-FORM, including the use of principal component analysis (PCA) to create an uncorrelated representation of the variables under consideration as well as new distribution and parameter fitting techniques. These modifications are shown to contribute to the development of more accurate and reasonable representations of extreme sea states for use in survivability analysis for marine structures.
"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/1928/30330","https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ce_etds/106"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["Inverse FORM","Principal Component Analysis","Environmental Contours","Extreme Sea State Characterization","Civil and Environmental Engineering"],"dc:title":["Modified inverse first-order reliability method (I-FORM) for predicting extreme sea states"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Civil Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis","Masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Civil Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:26:55Z"}