Abstract
It has recently been shown that the Green's function in a wave field, which describes deterministic wave propagation from one location to another, can be retrieved by cross-correlating records of random waves measured at those two locations. This simple yet powerful approach, usually called random wave interferometry, has been successfully demonstrated in many different wave fields. This dissertation aims to explore the applicability of random surface gravity wave interferometry in a water wave field. Previous research, especially in ocean acoustics and seismology, is reviewed for better understanding of the theory and practice. Theoretical derivations of the basic result underlying water wave interferometry in both open and closed systems are presented. Following the specifications described in derivations, numerical simulations are performed in open and closed environments; these yield good agreement with theoretical predictions. A wave tank experiment is designed and conducted based on the closed system simulation; the Green's function retrieval in this experiment is also successful. Surface wave elevation data collected during two past major field experiments is analyzed using the random wave interferometry technique. However, results from these field experiment data are not as consistent with theoretical predictions. Possible reasons are discussed.