Wind Waves in the Northwestern Black Sea

The study presents the results of long-term monitoring of wind waves was carried out on the offshore fixed gas production platform in the northwestern part of the Black Sea in 1995–2011. The analysis of more than 31000 wave records provided reliable statistical characteristics of wind waves in the analyzed region. It was found that the maximum wave height reached 4.8 m in summer and 8.76 m in winter. The maximum hourly wave height exceeds significant wave height by 1.9 times in the vast majority of cases. The method of annual maxima revealed that in the Karkinit Bay the maximum wave height with the return period of 50 years is equal to 9.2 m.