Estimation of ship roll parameters in random waves

The problem of estimating the parameters in an equation of roll motion from roll measurements only, taken in an irregular sea, is discussed. A single degree of freedom equation of motion is assumed, with a wide-band stochastic input and with a linear-in-the-parameters representation of both the damping and restoration terms. A method based on the Markov property of the energy envelope process, associated with the roll motion, is developed which enables all the relevant parameters to be estimated. The method is validated by applying it to some simulated data, for which the true parameters are known.