In this paper, we take up the question of dynamic stability of genuinely two-dimensional ‘‘generalized’’ hexagonal traveling wave patterns on the surface of a three-dimensional ideal fluid (i.e., stability of Generalized Short-Crested Wave (GSCW) solutions of the water wave problem). We restrict ourselves to a study of spectral stability which considers the linearization of the water wave opera...

Short water surface waves generated by wind in a water tunnel have been measured by an optical technique that provides a synoptic picture of the water surface gradient over an area of water surface (Zhang & Cox 1994). These images of the surface gradient can be integrated to recover the shape of the water surface and find the two-dimensional wavenumber spectrum. Waveforms and two-dimensional st...