Wave Climate

A special issue of Climate (ISSN 2225-1154).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2022) | Viewed by 26398

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands
Interests: air-sea interaction; wave climate; climate change

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Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XJ, UK
Interests: climate change impacts; ocean climate variability; extreme events; ocean renewable energies; coastal disasters, and coast/shore
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,


The aim of this Special Issue is to gather recent advances in the field of wave climate: in the monitoring of the present wave climate but also in how climate change can impact the future wave climate.

Wind waves are a key element of the climate system, modulating the exchanges of momentum, heat, and mass across the air–sea interface. However, they also play a striking role in coastal and offshore engineering and environmental issues, for example, in determining the rates of coastal erosion and along coast sediment budgets. In the open ocean, waves frequently represent a major hazard to any offshore operation or structure, or to shipping activity, despite being able to be utilized as a source of renewable energy. Changes in wave climate are therefore of central importance for almost all aspects of coastal and offshore activities. A greater understanding of the wind wave climate, in the present time and in the future, is therefore of greater importance for a sustainable development. Studies of interest to this Special Issue shall include but are not limited to: regional and global wave climate studies (present and future), extreme wave analysis, wave energy, and wind modelling (reanalyses and hindcasts) studies.

 

Dr. Alvaro Semedo
Dr. Bahareh Kamranzad
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Wave climate
  • Wave reanalysis and hindcasts
  • Extreme waves
  • Wave climate change
  • Wave energy

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 7619 KiB  
Article
Wave Climate along Calabrian Coasts
by Giandomenico Foti, Giuseppe Barbaro, Giovanni Besio, Giuseppina Chiara Barillà, Pierluigi Mancuso and Pierfabrizio Puntorieri
Climate 2022, 10(6), 80; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli10060080 - 28 May 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3440
Abstract
The wave climate is highly variable temporally and spatially, depending mainly on the atmospheric conditions and on fetch extensions. Wave climate is one of the main causes of coastal erosion processes, together with anthropogenic pressure and with coastal and river sedimentary balance. Therefore, [...] Read more.
The wave climate is highly variable temporally and spatially, depending mainly on the atmospheric conditions and on fetch extensions. Wave climate is one of the main causes of coastal erosion processes, together with anthropogenic pressure and with coastal and river sedimentary balance. Therefore, a detailed spatial and temporal knowledge of wave climate is very important in managing coastal areas and in planning coastal defense works. This paper describes an analysis of the wave climate carried out along the Calabrian coasts in over 50 areas, each of them covering an average of 15 km of coastline. For each area, over 40 years of wave data were analyzed to calculate over 20 parameters, representative of annual and seasonal average and maximum wave conditions. The large number of areas is related to the geomorphological and climatic complexity of Calabria. This analysis mainly highlighted that the two Ionian and Tyrrhenian coasts are very different from the wave climate point of view. Indeed, the Ionian coast is heavier in ordinary wave conditions, while the Tyrrhenian coast is heavier in extreme wave conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wave Climate)
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21 pages, 8013 KiB  
Article
Brazil Wave Climate from a High-Resolution Wave Hindcast
by Camila de Sa Cotrim, Alvaro Semedo and Gil Lemos
Climate 2022, 10(4), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli10040053 - 31 Mar 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3697
Abstract
A detailed climatology of ocean wind waves in the South Atlantic Ocean, based on ERA-5 reanalysis and in a higher-resolution wave hindcast (ERA-5H), both developed by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, is presented. The higher resolution of the wave fields in [...] Read more.
A detailed climatology of ocean wind waves in the South Atlantic Ocean, based on ERA-5 reanalysis and in a higher-resolution wave hindcast (ERA-5H), both developed by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, is presented. The higher resolution of the wave fields in the ERA-5H (22 km) allowed for a better description of the wind sea and swell features compared to previous global and regional studies along the Brazilian coast. Overall, it is shown that swell waves are more prevalent and carry more energy in the offshore area of the study area, while wind sea waves dominate the nearshore regions, especially along the northern coast of Brazil. The influence of different climate indices on the significant wave heights patterns is also presented, with two behavioral groups showing opposite correlations to the North Atlantic Oscillation and Southern Annular Mode than to the Southern Oscillation Index. The analysis of the decadal trends of wind sea and swell heights during the ERA-5H period (1979–2020) shows that the long-term trends of the total significant wave height in the South Atlantic Ocean are mostly due to swell events and the wave propagation effect from Southern Ocean storms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wave Climate)
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23 pages, 5780 KiB  
Article
Parameterization-Driven Uncertainties in Single-Forcing, Single-Model Wave Climate Projections from a CMIP6-Derived Dynamic Ensemble
by Rajesh Kumar, Gil Lemos, Alvaro Semedo and Faisal Alsaaq
Climate 2022, 10(4), 51; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli10040051 - 24 Mar 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3984
Abstract
This study is focused on the impact of different parameterizations in the state-of-the art wave model WAVEWATCH3 (WW3) in describing the present climate and future wave climate projections. We have used a Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6)-derived single-wind forcing (from EC-EARTH) [...] Read more.
This study is focused on the impact of different parameterizations in the state-of-the art wave model WAVEWATCH3 (WW3) in describing the present climate and future wave climate projections. We have used a Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6)-derived single-wind forcing (from EC-EARTH) to produce a dynamic wind-wave climate ensemble for its historic (1995–2014) and future (2081–2100) periods. We discuss the uncertainty due to the wave model (intra-model uncertainty) in simulating the present and future wave climate. The historical wave climate runs were compared against the ERA5 reanalysis and found to be in good agreement for the significant wave height. This gives a good degree of confidence to investigate the intra-model uncertainty in WW3 using the available physics packages such as ST2, ST3, ST4, and ST6. In general, for the historic period, ST3 and ST4 physics packages perform better in the tropics whereas ST6 performs better in the extratropics, based on M-Score performance assessment. The study also reveals that the extratropical South Indian Ocean and tropical eastern South Pacific areas exhibit a larger amount of uncertainty, mainly induced by the ST2 physics package. The results of this study shed new light on the impacts associated with the use of multiple physics parameterizations in wave climate ensembles, an issue that has not received the necessary attention in scientific literature. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wave Climate)
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25 pages, 7915 KiB  
Article
Wave Analysis for Offshore Aquaculture Projects: A Case Study for the Eastern Mediterranean Sea
by Flora E. Karathanasi, Takvor H. Soukissian and Daniel R. Hayes
Climate 2022, 10(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli10010002 - 2 Jan 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4103
Abstract
The investigation of wave climate is of primary concern for the successful implementation of offshore aquaculture systems as waves can cause significant loads on them. Up until now, site selection and design (or selection) of offshore cage system structures on extended sea areas [...] Read more.
The investigation of wave climate is of primary concern for the successful implementation of offshore aquaculture systems as waves can cause significant loads on them. Up until now, site selection and design (or selection) of offshore cage system structures on extended sea areas do not seem to follow any specific guidelines. This paper presents a novel methodology for the identification of favorable sites for offshore aquaculture development in an extended sea area based on two important technical factors: (i) the detailed characterization of the wave climate, and (ii) the water depth. Long-term statistics of the significant wave height, peak wave period, and wave steepness are estimated on an annual and monthly temporal scale, along with variability measures. Extreme value analysis is applied to estimate the design values and associated return periods of the significant wave height; structures should be designed based on this data, to avoid partial or total failure. The Eastern Mediterranean Sea is selected as a case study, and long-term time series of wave spectral parameters from the ERA5 dataset are utilized. Based on the obtained results, the most favorable areas for offshore aquaculture installations have been identified. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wave Climate)
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31 pages, 6315 KiB  
Article
Sea State Decadal Variability in the North Atlantic: A Review
by Antoine Hochet, Guillaume Dodet, Fabrice Ardhuin, Mark Hemer and Ian Young
Climate 2021, 9(12), 173; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli9120173 - 1 Dec 2021
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4319
Abstract
Long-term changes of wind-generated ocean waves have important consequences for marine engineering, coastal management, ship routing, and marine spatial planning. It is well-known that the multi-annual variability of wave parameters in the North Atlantic is tightly linked to natural fluctuations of the atmospheric [...] Read more.
Long-term changes of wind-generated ocean waves have important consequences for marine engineering, coastal management, ship routing, and marine spatial planning. It is well-known that the multi-annual variability of wave parameters in the North Atlantic is tightly linked to natural fluctuations of the atmospheric circulation, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation. However, anthropogenic climate change is also expected to influence sea states over the long-term through the modification of atmospheric and ocean circulation and melting of sea ice. Due to the relatively short duration of historical sea state observations and the significant multi-decadal variability in the sea state signal, disentangling the anthropogenic signal from the natural variability is a challenging task. In this article, the literature on inter-annual to multi-decadal variability of sea states in the North Atlantic is reviewed using data from both observations and model reanalysis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wave Climate)
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17 pages, 15522 KiB  
Article
Increasing Trend on Storm Wave Intensity in the Western Mediterranean
by Khalid Amarouche and Adem Akpınar
Climate 2021, 9(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli9010011 - 8 Jan 2021
Cited by 37 | Viewed by 4880
Abstract
Annual trends in storm wave intensity over the past 41 years were evaluated during the present study. Storm wave intensity is evaluated in terms of total storm wave energy (TSWE) and storm power index (SPI) of Dolan and Davis (1992). Using an accurate [...] Read more.
Annual trends in storm wave intensity over the past 41 years were evaluated during the present study. Storm wave intensity is evaluated in terms of total storm wave energy (TSWE) and storm power index (SPI) of Dolan and Davis (1992). Using an accurate long-term wave hindcast developed using a calibrated SWAN model, all storm wave events occurring over the past 41 years were characterized in terms of significant wave height (Hs) and total storm duration. Thus, both SPI and TSWE was computed for each storm wave event. The Theil–Sen slope estimator was used to estimate the annual slopes of the SPI and TSWE and the Mann–Kendall test was used to test the trend significance with different confidence levels. The present study is spatially performed for the western Mediterranean Sea basin considering 2308 grid points in a regular grid of 0.198° resolution in both directions. Results allow as to define five hotspots covering a large area, experienced a significant increasing slope in both SPI and TSWE (annual maxima and average). The confidence level in this area exceed 95%, with a steep slope between 100 kWh·m−1·year−1 and 240 kWh·m−1·year−1 for annual max TSWE and between 28 m²·h·year−1 and 49 m²·h·year−1 for annual max SPI. Consideration of the present findings is strongly recommended for risk assessment and for sustainable development in coastal and offshore area and to identify areas sensitive to global climate change in the western Mediterranean Sea. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wave Climate)
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