Using the SWAN Wave Model and Satellite Altimeter Data to Study the Influence of Climate Change at the Coast

This paper describes the development and application of a technique for using satellite altimeter measurements as boundary data to drive the nearshore spectral wave model, SWAN. The aim was to assess the impact in coastal areas of extreme events or changes in offshore climatology and to extend the usefulness of satellite altimetry further inshore.

For the purpose of verifying the technique, three test areas where both bathymetry and some in situ data were available were chosen. The technique could, potentially, be applied to any coastal location where there is bathymetric information although, as the results reported in this paper show, intelligence must be used in adapting the methodology for different sites. It is also necessary to have information on the local wind field from either models or measurements.

The experiments at the three test areas demonstrated that there is not a simple relationship between the offshore wave height climate and the inshore climate in a particular region. Important complicating factors are bathymetry, tidal range and incident wave angle. As was most clearly demonstrated in the Carmarthen Bay test area, bathymetric complexity leads to high spatial variation in the amount of wave energy dissipated close to the coast. In the study of extreme wave events described in this paper the exact value of the local wind field was not found to be critical.

This work was a first trial combining wave climatology derived from satellite altimetry with a third generation coastal wave model so was necessarily experimental. The general trends and patterns of spatial variation obtained are encouraging but there remains significant, unquantifiable uncertainty in the results. Better observations of nearshore waves, improved understanding of the joint probability distribution of water level and waves as well as more knowledge of future climate change would all improve accuracy.     

Wind and Wave Data Analysis for the Aegean Sea - Preliminary Results

In this paper, a statistical analysis on wind and wave buoy measurements and wind and wave model forecasts obtained during a two-year period (1999-2001) is presented with reference to four characteristic near-shore sites of the Aegean Sea. The measurements are a main product of the "POSEIDON" system aiming at the monitoring and forecasting of the state of the Greek seas, operated by the National Centre for Marine Research (NCMR). Although the two-year period is rather short for a thorough analysis of the local wind and wave climate, yet the obtained results, presented herein for the first time, reveal some interesting features of the corresponding wave and wind characteristics. Comparisons between the measurements and the forecast results are also performed at the locations under consideration. It is found that (i) wind speeds obtained from the POSEIDON weather forecasting system are, in general, in agreement with the measurements, except for high wind speeds which are systematically underestimated, (ii) the WAM model can successfully follow the monthly and over year trend of the evolution of wind and wave characteristics, but face significant problems for efficient sea-state forecasting. Finally, the overall pattern of the wind/wave climate for the entire Aegean Sea as obtained from the models is presented by means of the spatial distribution of the mean annual wind and sea-state intensity.     

A Regional Ocean Reanalysis System for Coastal Waters of China and Adjacent Seas

A regional ocean reanalysis system for the coastal waters of China and adjacent seas has been developed by the National Marine Data and Information Service(NMDIS).It produces a dataset package called CORA (China ocean reanalysis).The regional ocean model used is based on the Princeton Ocean Model with a generalized coordinate system(POMgcs).The model is parallelized by NMDIS with the addition of the wave breaking and tidal mixing processes into model parameterizations.Data assimilation is a sequential three-dimensional variational(3D-Var) scheme implemented within a multigrid framework.Observations include satellite remote sensing sea surface temperature(SST),altimetry sea level anomaly(SLA),and temperature/salinity profiles.The reanalysis fields of sea surface height,temperature,salinity,and currents begin with January 1986 and are currently updated every year. Error statistics and error distributions of temperature,salinity and currents are presented as a primary evaluation of the reanalysis fields using sea level data from tidal gauges,temperature profiles,as well as the trajectories of Argo floats.Some case studies offer the opportunity to verify the evolution of certain local circulations.These evaluations show that the reanalysis data produced provide a good representation of the ocean processes and phenomena in the coastal waters of China and adjacent seas.     

ASCAT近岸风场产品与近岸浮标观测风场对比

利用美国西海岸7个近岸浮标2012年全年和中国近岸8个气象浮标2012年1—6月的风场观测数据,检验了卫星散射计ASCAT近岸风场产品中的风速和风向在近岸海域的精度。检验结果表明:在美国西海岸近岸海域,ASCAT近岸风场产品中的风速与浮标的风速一致性高,但ASCAT近岸风场产品中风向的精度受离岸距离、风速和风向等因素的影响,在离岸近的海域ASCAT近岸风场产品与浮标观测风场的一致性较差。统计发现,将低风速 (不超过3 m·s-1) 剔除可明显提高ASCAT近岸风场产品在近岸海域的精度。另外,ASCAT近岸风场产品的风向精度在不同风向上存在差异,表现为从陆地吹向海洋风向精度较小,而从海洋吹向陆地风向精度较高。在中国近岸海域,受地形影响,渤海海域ASCAT近岸风场产品与气象浮标观测的风向差异大,在其他近岸海域的ASCAT近岸风场产品和气象浮标的观测风场的对比结果与美国西海岸风场的对比结果特征相似。     

Wave Climate in the Caspian Sea Based on Wave Hindcast

The results of wind wave hindcast for the Caspian Sea for the period of 1979–2017 are presented. The WAVEWATCHIII wave model and wind forcing from the NCEP/CFSR reanalysis are used. The modeling is performed on the unstructured grid with the spacing to 1 km in the coastal zone. Mean and extreme values of wave height, length, and period are provided. It is shown that the maximum height of waves of 3% probability of exceedance is 11.7 m. The interannual variability of wave parameters is analyzed. No unambiguous trend towards increase or decrease in the storm activity was revealed over the hindcasting period.     

湛江港邻近海域台风浪的模拟研究

对第三代近岸海浪数值模式SWAN及包含的物理过程进行了简要介绍，利用该模式对影响南海湛江港海域的二次台风浪过程进行了模拟研究：由藤田台风风场模型同化相应时刻的台风要素、NCAR/NCEP网格点资料、单站观测资料后，提供模式所需风场；利用自嵌套的方式，提供模式波谱边界条件；两次模拟结果与实际海浪观测资料相符较好，可以为该海域台风浪的模拟预报提供较为重要的参考。     

On the Dependence of the Equilibrium Range of Sea Wave Spectra with Wave Age

Donelan and Pierson have proposed a semiphysical model of the equilibrium sea wave spectrum, based upon a parameterization of wave growth and dissipation terms. Their model is applicable for fully developed seas only. In the framework of Donelan and Pierson's approach, this paper explores the dependence of the equilibrium spectrum upon wave age. To this end, we examine how the dissipation through wave breaking is expected to vary with wave age, according to the approach proposed by Longuet-Higgins in 1969. The constraint imposed by Longuet-Higgins' theory requires an increase of the equilibrium spectrum F(k,0) in the wind direction with increasing inverse wave age U/C_p. This is in accordance with Banner's empirically deduced statement that F(k,0) is proportional to (U/C_p)^0.5 in the equilibrium range. Our inferred F(k,0) tends to increase more or less linearly with U/C_p (we find F(k,0) proportional to 1 + 0.25(U/C_p - 0.83), rather than through a power law. If a power law is fitted we obtain F(k,0) approximately proportional to (U/C_p)^0.35 for the range 0.83 < U/C_p > 5. Finally, the roughness length of the air-sea interface is inferred from our modelled spectrum through integration of the form drag over wave number under rough conditions. This shows a wave age dependence that is compatible with measurements of wind stress performed in the field at various wave ages.     

Determination of parameters of low-frequency internal waves in the coastal zone of a fringing sea using field measurements and basing on the nonlinear theory

A method is presented to determine the quadratic nonlinearity parameter and amplitude of low-frequency internal gravity waves in the coastal zone of a fringing sea, based upon their propagation rate dependence on local value of pycnocline vertical displacement produced by the waves. To test the method, the internal wave field observations in the coastal zone of the Sea of Japan are used. The testing results show that the internal wave parameters calculated using the proposed method and the experimental data are in a good agreement with those calculated from theoretical formulas.     

Shoreline evolution under climate change wave scenarios

This paper investigates changes in shoreline evolution caused by changes in wave climate. In particular, a number of nearshore wave climate scenarios corresponding to a ??present?? (1961?C1990) and a future time-slice (2071?C2100) are used to drive a beach evolution model to determine monthly and seasonal statistics. To limit the number of variables, an idealised shoreline segment is adopted. The nearshore wave climate scenarios are generated from wind climate scenarios through point wave hindcast and inshore transformation. The original wind forcing comes from regional climate change model experiments of different resolutions and/or driving global climate models, representing different greenhouse-gas emission scenarios. It corresponds to a location offshore the south central coast of England. Hypothesis tests are applied to map the degree of evidence of future change in wave and shoreline statistics relative to the present. Differential statistics resulting from different global climate models and future emission scenarios are also investigated. Further, simple, fast, and straightforward methods that are capable of accommodating a great number of climate change scenarios with limited data reduction requirements are proposed to tackle the problem under consideration. The results of this study show that there are statistically significant changes in nearshore wave climate conditions and beach alignment between current and future climate scenarios. Changes are most notable during late summer for the medium-high future emission scenario and late winter for the medium-low. Despite frequent disagreement between global climate change models on the statistical significance of a change, all experiments agreed in future seasonal trends. Finally, a point of importance for coastal management, material shoreline changes are generally linked to significant changes in future wave direction rather than wave height.     

Estimation of the Spatial Distribution of Methane Concentration in the Area of the Barents and Kara Seas in Summer in 2016–2017

The problem of estimation of average fields of air pollutant concentration based on local measurement data is stated: the problem of the passive location of the atmosphere by wind, or the problem of the fluid location of the atmosphere. The definitions of new functions are given: the average effective field of concentration and the average effective field of sources. The system of integral equations these functions obey is also presented. The results of numerical estimates of quasi-two-dimensional average fields of methane concentration in the area of the Barents and Kara seas retrieved from data on surface concentrations measured on Belyi Island in the summer of 2016 and 2017 are analyzed. A typical feature of the resulting fields is their mosaic pattern, as well as the higher values of methane concentration on the continent and in the coastal zone.     

Wave interpretation of major Baltic inflows

The water dynamics in the straits between the North and Baltic seas during two major Baltic inflows that took place in the January of 1993 and 2003 is investigated using satellite altimetry data. It is found that the water mass surge to the eastern coast of the North Sea occurs before the beginning of the major Baltic inflow, and the sea level difference between the two seas is ~60 cm. Low-frequency fluctuations in the sea level and its wave parameters are studied. The wavelet analysis and the frequency-directed spectral analysis reveal the wave nature of the mechanisms leading to major Baltic inflows. The empirical characteristics of the obtained low-frequency waves are compared with the theoretical dispersion relations for the gradient-vorticity waves. Sea level variations during major Baltic inflows in the Danish Straits are identified as baroclinic Rossby waves. The analysis of cyclonic activity in the Northern Hemisphere demonstrated that stationary cyclones were observed during the inflows; this proves the feasibility of the resonance mechanism of the generation of major Baltic inflows.     

华南冬季强降水及高、低纬两支波列的协同影响

采用1979～2015年ERA-Interim再分析资料和中国756个站点的逐日降水观测资料,利用百分位法定义了华南冬季强降水事件,通过K-均值聚类方法分析发现中国冬季强降水的中心主要集中在5个地区:长江中下游地区、华南中西部、华南东南部、淮河流域以及中国西南部。为了揭示华南南部大范围强降水的成因,对比分析了由西南地区自西向东移动至东南沿海的东移型强降水事件与西南地区局地型强降水事件。结果表明,南支槽槽前的暖湿气流与冷空气活动的强弱对峙是触发以及维持这两类强降水的关键。在局地型强降水中,活跃的冷空气活动抑制了南支槽的发展和东扩,强降水局限于西南地区;对于东移型强降水,由于冷空气活动偏弱,南支槽槽前西南暖湿气流东扩,降水落区随之东移。高纬度波列与南亚急流波列的协同作用是影响冷、暖气流相对强弱的关键环流系统。当高纬度波列与南亚急流波列同步发展时,冷、暖空气均较强形成强烈对峙,强降水主要局限在西南地区;当高纬度波列活动超前于南亚急流波列,冷空气活动与南支槽的加深错开,强降水可持续并东移,影响较大范围。     

Precipitation in the Anatolian Peninsula: sensitivity to increased SSTs in the surrounding seas

Effects of the increased sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the surrounding seas of the Anatolian Peninsula on the precipitation it receives are investigated through sensitivity simulations using a state-of-the-art regional climate model, RegCM3. The sensitivity simulations involve 2-K increases to the SSTs of the Aegean, eastern Mediterranean and Black seas individually as well as collectively. All the simulations are integrated over a 10-year period between 1990 and 2000. The model simulations of this study indicate that the precipitation of the peninsula is sensitive to the variations of the SSTs of the surrounding seas. In general, increased SSTs lead to increases in the precipitation of the peninsula as well as that of the seas considered. The statistically significant increases at 95% confidence levels largely occur along the coastal areas of the peninsula that are in the downwind side of the seas. Significant increases do also take place in the interior areas of the peninsula, especially in the eastern Anatolia in winter. The simulations reveal that eastern Mediterranean Sea has the biggest potential to affect the precipitation in the peninsula. They also demonstrate that taking all three seas into account simultaneously enhances the effect of SSTs on the peninsula’s precipitation, and extends the areas with statistically significant increases.     

Drag of the sea surface

It is shown how the drag of the sea surface can be computed from the wind speed and the sea state. The approach, applicable both for fully developed and for developing seas, is based on conservation of momentum in the boundary layer above the sea, which allows one to relate the drag to the properties of the momentum exchange between the sea waves and the atmosphere.The total stress is split into two parts: a turbulent part and a wave-induced part. The former is parameterized in terms of mixing-length theory. The latter is calculated by integration of the wave-induced stress over all wave numbers. Usually, the effective roughness is given in terms of the empirical Charnock relation. Here, it is shown how this relation can be derived from the dynamical balance between turbulent and wave-induced stress. To this end, the non-slip boundary conditions is assigned to the wave surface, and the local roughness parameter is determined by the scale of the molecular sublayer.The formation of the sea drag is then described for fully developed and developing seas and for light to high winds.For the Charnock constant, a value of about 0.018–0.030 is obtained, depending on the wind input, which is well within the range of experimental data.It is shown that gravity-capillary waves with a wavelength less than 5 cm play a minor role in the momentum transfer from wind to waves. Most of the momentum is transferred to decimeter and meter waves, so that the drag of developing seas depends crucially on the form of the wave spectrum in the corresponding high wavenumber range.The dependence of the drag on wave age depends sensitively on the dependence of this high wavenumbertail on wave age. If the tail is wave-age independent, the sea drag appears to be virtually independent of wave age. If the tail depends on wave age, the drag also does. There is contradictory evidence as to the actual dependence. Therefore, additional experiments are needed.The investigation was in part supported by the Netherlands Geosciences Foundation (GOA) with financial aid from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).     

A tide in the operational model for short-range forecast of current velocity and sea level in the Barents and White seas

The operational model for the short-range forecast of velocity of currents and the sea level of the Barents and White seas is introduced into the automatic system of operational data processing of Hydrometcenter of Russia and works in the operational mode. The tidal block of the model is verified using eight major harmonics of the tide in the Barents and White seas. It is revealed that the model simulates adequately the large-scale features of tidal circulation in the Barents Sea. The model verification is based on the comparison between the diagnostic computation of the total sea level and the observational data on the sea level from the automatic buoy station. Demonstrated is a good agreement between the total sea level computations and the observations in the area of Teriberka settlement. The model takes account of the ice presence and simulates the ice effects on the currents. It is established that the ice presence affects significantly the amplitude and phase of tidal waves, especially in coastal regions.     

Pseudo-global warming projections of extreme wave storms in complex coastal regions: the case of the Adriatic Sea

This numerical work aims to better understand the behavior of extreme Adriatic Sea wave storms under projected climate change. In this spirit, 36 characteristic events—22 bora and 14 sirocco storms occurring between 1979 and 2019, were selected and ran in evaluation mode in order to estimate the skill of the kilometer-scale Adriatic Sea and Coast (AdriSC) modelling suite used in this study and to provide baseline conditions for the climate change impact. The pseudo-global warming (PGW) methodology—which imposes an additional climatological change to the forcing used in the evaluation simulations, was implemented, for the very first time, for a coupled ocean–wave–atmosphere model and used to assess the behavior of the selected storms under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 and RCP 8.5 greenhouse gas projections. The findings of this experiment are that, on the one hand, the AdriSC model is found capable of reproducing both the Adriatic waves associated with the 36 storms and the northern Adriatic surges occurring during the sirocco events and, on the other hand, the significant wave heights and peak periods are likely to decrease during all future extreme events but most particularly during bora storms. The northern Adriatic storm surges are in consequence also likely to decrease during sirocco events. As it was previously demonstrated that the Adriatic extreme wind-wave events are likely to be less intense in a future warmer climate, this study also proved the validity of applying the PGW methodology to coupled ocean–wave–atmosphere models at the coastal and nearshore scales.

     

A numerical modelling study of coastal flooding

Summary A coastal ocean model capable of modelling tides, storm surge and the overland flow of floodwaters has been further developed to include the flux of water from tributaries and the forcing from wave breaking that leads to wave setup in the nearshore zone. The model is set up over the Gold Coast Broadwater on the east coast of Australia. This complex region features a coastal lagoon into which five tributaries flow and is subject to flooding from extreme oceanic conditions such as storm surge and wave setup as well as terrestrial runoff. Weather conditions responsible for storm surge, waves and flooding include cyclones of both tropical and mid-latitude origin. Two events are modelled. The first is an east coast low event that occurred in April 1989. This event verified well against available observations and analysis of the model simulations revealed that wave setup produced a greater contribution to the elevated water levels than the storm surge. The second case to be modelled was tropical cyclone Wanda, responsible for the 1974 floods. Modelled water levels in the Broadwater were reasonably well captured. Sensitivity experiments showed that storm surge and wave setup were only minor contributors to the elevated sea levels and their contribution was confined to the earlier stage of the event before the runoff reached its peak. The contribution due solely to runoff exhibited a tidal-like oscillation that was 180° out-of-phase with the tide and this was attributed to the greater hydraulic resistance that occurs at high tide. A simulation of this event with present day bathymetry at the Seaway produced sea levels that were 0.3–0.4 m lower than the simulation with 1974 bathymetry highlighting the effectiveness of deepened Seaway channel to reduce the impact of severe runoff events in the Broadwater. Received October 16, 2001 Revised December 28, 2001     

Sunshine duration hours over the Greek region

Summary In this study, the temporal and spatial distribution of bright sunshine hours and relative sunshine duration over Greece are presented. The datasets used for this study were obtained from the archives of the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (HNMS). Furthermore, mean annual and seasonal duration of bright sunshine has been estimated from empirical formulae, which depend on the following parameters: (i) percentage of land cover around each station (radius of 20 km), (ii) distance of each station from the nearest coast, (iii) height above sea level for each station location, (iv) latitude of each station, (v) longitude of each station. Differences between measured and estimated bright sunshine hours are accounted for. In general a good relationship exists between estimated and observed sunshine values. The annual march of sunshine is simple with a maximum in July and a minimum in January or December. The spatial distribution of the annual and seasonal bright sunshine duration shows minimum values in the interior mountain areas of the Greek region (Western Macedonia, Epirus, Central Greece), increasing gradually towards the coasts of the Ionian and Aegean seas as well as from north to south. The highest sunshine values occur at the southeastern islands of the Aegean Sea and above the southern coasts of Crete, followed by Attica (Athens area) and the surrounding coastal areas, the islands of the eastern Aegean Sea and the southwestern coastal and island parts of the Ionian Sea.     

基于WRF的高原低涡内波动特征及空心结构的初步研究

本文采用美国新一代非静力中尺度数值模式WRFV3.1.1版本对2006年8月14日的1次高原低涡过程进行了3重嵌套的数值模拟,分析模拟输出的高时空分辨率资料,发现涡度散度在各层次上均存在着正负值区域的相临交替分布,体现出一定的波动性,并随时间的变化而旋转,由此对高原低涡中的涡旋波的产生和发展进行详细分析,发现高原低涡中同时具有产生涡旋Rossby波与惯性重力波的条件,进一步粗略计算了涡旋波切向的移速介于涡旋Rossby波与惯性重力波的理论移速之间。由分析结果得出结论认为,在低涡中心区域,由于较高的涡度径向梯度,同时有较强的辐合辐散,波动表现出以涡旋Rossby波与惯性重力波混合的特性为主;低涡外围区域中涡度径向梯度大大减弱,失去了产生涡旋Rossby的条件,显现为惯性重力波的特性。同时高原低涡生命期相对较短,波动在圆周上的传播条件不均匀,这说明可能大多高原低涡螺旋形态的发展并不均匀或并不完整,较难形成如同海上热带气旋般比较均匀和完整的螺旋云带。另外,模拟也发现,在低涡成熟阶段,低涡呈现暖心结构,中心区域垂直运动较弱,表现为相对平静的眼区域。      

On a bora event simulated by the Eta Model

Summary ¶This study presents a numerical simulation of the bora wind as it occurs in form of a severe wind blowing down coastal mountains and over the Adriatic Sea. A typical cyclonic bora event, occurring during the period January 3–6, 1995, is simulated using a nested limited area model. An integration, with horizontal resolution of about 14km, and a nested one, with higher resolution, about 5.5km, are presented. The 1997 version of the Eta Model is used for both the lower resolution and the higher resolution runs. Numerous details of the simulation are found to be in good agreement with the understanding as well as the observational knowledge of the bora, thus supporting confidence in the realism of the results. In particular, features of the simulated flow are seen strongly indicative of some basic characteristics of the hydraulic model of the phenomenon, such as the mountain wave breaking and the upstream flow acceleration. Moreover, the increase in horizontal resolution, in combination with an improvement of the coastal SST information, led to a still improved realism of the low-level wind representation over the Adriatic Sea.Received December 31, 2001; revised March 25, 2002; accepted July 19, 2002 Published online: February 20, 2003