Estimating near-shore wave statistics from regional hindcasts using downscaling techniques

Several downscaling techniques, comprising fully dynamical and statistical–dynamical methods applied to near-shore local wave climate, are tested and assessed in terms of wave statistics with respect to the added value that can be achieved compared to larger scale data. The techniques are applied for the example of Helgoland, a small island in the German Bight. It was found that an improved representation could generally be obtained from all downscaling techniques by comparing the near-shore wave climate. Based on a balance between the required computer resources and the improvements achieved, it is suggested, to this end, that a dynamical–statistical approach based on high-resolution coastal wave modeling and linear regression provides the optimal choice.