The Draupner wave, also known as the New Year's wave or Draupner freak wave, was a rare freak wave that was the first to be detected by a

measuring instrument Instrumentation is a collective term for measuring instruments, used for indicating, measuring, and recording physical quantities. It is also a field of study about the art and science about making measurement instruments, involving the related ...

. The wave, determined to be in height, was recorded on 1 January 1995 at Unit E of the Draupner platform, a gas pipeline support complex located in the North Sea about southwest from the southern tip of Norway.

Background

The Draupner platform rig, located in the Norwegian North Sea and 16/11 offshore from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, was built to withstand a calculated 1-in-10,000-years wave with a predicted height of and was fitted with state-of-the-art sensors, including a laser rangefinder wave recorder on the platform's underside.

Accompanying storm

On 31 December, a low pressure system was located over

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, with a north-western motion. This system produced large waves over the North Sea, although none would be of significance. Early the next day, a polar low would form over the Norwegian portion of the North Sea, which produced heavy winds that would set up the formation of the Draupner wave.

Discovery

The wave itself was first detected at 15:24 UTC on 1 January 1995 by a downward-pointing

laser beam A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of rad ...

located on the Draupner S platform. The laser beam recorded a rogue wave with a maximum

wave height In fluid dynamics, the wave height of a surface wave is the difference between the elevations of a crest and a neighboring trough. ''Wave height'' is a term used by mariners, as well as in coastal, ocean and naval engineering. At sea, the ...

of . Peak elevation above still water level was . The reading was confirmed by the other sensors. The platform sustained minor damage in the event. In the area, the

significant wave height In physical oceanography, the significant wave height (SWH, HTSGW or ''H''s) is defined traditionally as the mean ''wave height'' (trough (physics), trough to crest (physics), crest) of the highest third of the ocean surface wave, waves (''H''1/ ...

at the time was about , so the Draupner wave was more than twice as tall and steep as its neighbors, with characteristics that fell outside any known wave model. The wave caused enormous interest in the scientific community.

Legacy

The wave, one of the largest ever documented in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, helped solidify the initial speculation that rogue waves did naturally occur, and as a result the wave would be heavily studied in the years following the event.

Notes and footnotes

Notes

Footnotes

Sources

* 1995 in science Waves Water waves Rogue wave incidents {{improve categories, date=January 2025 Physical oceanography