Description:
We revisit the classical but as yet unresolved problem of predicting the breaking strength of 2-D and 3-D gravity water waves.Our goal is to find a robust and local parameterization to predict the breaking strength of 2-D and 3-D gravity water waves. We use a LES/VOF model described by Derakhti & Kirby (2014) to simulate nonlinear wave evolution, breaking onset and post-breaking behavior for representative cases of focused wave packets or modulated wave trains. Using these numerical results, we investigate the relationship between the breaking strength parameter b and the breaking onset parameter B proposed by Barthelemy et al. (2018). While the results are potentially applicable more generally, in this paper we concentrate on breaking events due to focusing or modulational instability in wave packets over flat bottom topography and for conditions ranging from deep to intermediate depth, with depth to wavelength ratios ranging from 0.68 to 0.13.