Wave profile measurement by wavelet transform

A new technique for measuring wave profiles by wavelet transform using the Mexican Hat wavelet as the mother wavelet is introduced. This technique has the potential to provide low cost, high resolution field measurements of wave profiles in the laboratory. The experiments to capture the video image of the wave profile were carried out in a wave flume. Then, the Mexican Hat wavelet was adopted to trace out the exact profiles of the waves from the captured video images. The series of tests on numerical data and video images show promise as means of detecting two-dimensional profiles of waves.