scholarly journals A multi-decadal wind-wave hindcast for the North Sea 1949–2014: coastDat2

Author(s):  
Nikolaus Groll ◽  
Ralf Weisse

Abstract. Long and consistent wave data are important for analysing wave climate variability and change. Moreover, such statistics are also needed in coastal and offshore design and for addressing safety-related issues at sea. Using the third-generation spectral wave model WAM a multi-decadal wind-wave hindcast for the North Sea covering the period 1949–2014 was produced. The hindcast is part of the coastDat database representing a consistent and homogenous met-ocean data set. It is shown that despite not being perfect, data from the wave hindcast are generally suitable for wave climate analysis. In particular comparisons of hindcast data with in situ and satellite observations show on average a reasonable agreement while a tendency towards overestimation of the highest waves could be inferred. Despite these limitations, the wave hindcast still provides useful data for assessing wave climate variability and change as well as for risk analysis, in particular when conservative estimates are needed. Hindcast data are stored at the World Data Center for Climate (WDCC) and can be freely accessed using the https://doi.org/10.1594/WDCC/coastDat-2_WAM-North_Sea (Groll and Weisse, 2016) or via the coastDat web-page http://www.coastdat.de.

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 955-968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolaus Groll ◽  
Ralf Weisse

Abstract. Long and consistent wave data are important for analysing wave climate variability and change. Moreover, such wave data are also needed in coastal and offshore design and for addressing safety-related issues at sea. Using the third-generation spectral wave model WAM a multi-decadal wind-wave hindcast for the North Sea covering the period 1949–2014 was produced. The hindcast is part of the coastDat database representing a consistent and homogeneous met-ocean data set. It is shown that despite not being perfect, data from the wave hindcast are generally suitable for wave climate analysis. In particular, comparisons of hindcast data with in situ and satellite observations show on average a reasonable agreement, while a tendency towards overestimation of the highest waves could be inferred. Despite these limitations, the wave hindcast still provides useful data for assessing wave climate variability and change as well as for risk analysis, in particular when conservative estimates are needed. Hindcast data are stored at the World Data Center for Climate (WDCC) and can be freely accessed using the doi:10.1594/WDCC/coastDat-2_WAM–North_Sea Groll and Weisse(2016) or via the coastDat web-page http://www.coastdat.de.


Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Wiese ◽  
Emil Stanev ◽  
Wolfgang Koch ◽  
Arno Behrens ◽  
Beate Geyer ◽  
...  

The effects of coupling between the atmospheric model of the Consortium for Small-Scale Modelling-Climate Limited-area Modelling (CCLM) and the wind wave model (WAM) on the lower atmosphere within the North Sea area are studied. Due to the two-way coupling between the models, the influences of wind waves and the atmosphere on each other can be determined. This two-way coupling between these models is enabled through the introduction of wave-induced drag into CCLM and updated winds into WAM. As a result of wave-induced drag, different atmospheric parameters are either directly or indirectly influenced by the wave conditions. The largest differences between the coupled and reference model simulation are found during storm events as well as in areas of steep gradients in the mean sea level pressure, wind speed or temperature. In the two-way coupled simulation, the position and strength of these gradients vary, compared to the reference simulation, leading to differences that spread throughout the entire planetary boundary layer and outside the coupled model area, thereby influencing the atmosphere over land and ocean, although not coupled to the wave model. Ultimately, the results of both model simulations are assessed against in situ and satellite measurements, with a better general performance of the two-way coupled simulation with respect to the observations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 208
Author(s):  
Valentina Vannucchi ◽  
Stefano Taddei ◽  
Valerio Capecchi ◽  
Michele Bendoni ◽  
Carlo Brandini

A 29-year wind/wave hindcast is produced over the Mediterranean Sea for the period 1990–2018. The dataset is obtained by downscaling the ERA5 global atmospheric reanalyses, which provide the initial and boundary conditions for a numerical chain based on limited-area weather and wave models: the BOLAM, MOLOCH and WaveWatch III (WW3) models. In the WW3 computational domain, an unstructured mesh is used. The variable resolutions reach up to 500 m along the coasts of the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian seas (Italy), the main objects of the study. The wind/wave hindcast is validated using observations from coastal weather stations and buoys. The wind validation provides velocity correlations between 0.45 and 0.76, while significant wave height correlations are much higher—between 0.89 and 0.96. The results are also compared to the original low-resolution ERA5 dataset, based on assimilated models. The comparison shows that the downscaling improves the hindcast reliability, particularly in the coastal regions, and especially with regard to wind and wave directions.


Geophysics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
pp. 1446-1454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Side Jin ◽  
G. Cambois ◽  
C. Vuillermoz

S-wave velocity and density information is crucial for hydrocarbon detection, because they help in the discrimination of pore filling fluids. Unfortunately, these two parameters cannot be accurately resolved from conventional P-wave marine data. Recent developments in ocean‐bottom seismic (OBS) technology make it possible to acquire high quality S-wave data in marine environments. The use of (S)-waves for amplitude variation with offset (AVO) analysis can give better estimates of S-wave velocity and density contrasts. Like P-wave AVO, S-wave AVO is sensitive to various types of noise. We investigate numerically and analytically the sensitivity of AVO inversion to random noise and errors in angles of incidence. Synthetic examples show that random noise and angle errors can strongly bias the parameter estimation. The use of singular value decomposition offers a simple stabilization scheme to solve for the elastic parameters. The AVO inversion is applied to an OBS data set from the North Sea. Special prestack processing techniques are required for the success of S-wave AVO inversion. The derived S-wave velocity and density contrasts help in detecting the fluid contacts and delineating the extent of the reservoir sand.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1407-1415 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. Bitner-Gregersen ◽  
L. Fernandez ◽  
J. M. Lefèvre ◽  
J. Monbaliu ◽  
A. Toffoli

Abstract. A coupling of a spectral wave model with a nonlinear phase-resolving model is used to reconstruct the evolution of wave statistics during a storm crossing the North Sea on 8–9 November 2007. During this storm a rogue wave (named the Andrea wave) was recorded at the Ekofisk field. The wave has characteristics comparable to the well-known New Year wave measured by Statoil at the Draupner platform 1 January 1995. Hindcast data of the storm at the nearest grid point to the Ekofisk field are here applied as input to calculate the evolution of random realizations of the sea surface and its statistical properties. Numerical simulations are carried out using the Euler equations with a higher-order spectral method (HOSM). Results are compared with some characteristics of the Andrea wave record measured by the down-looking lasers at Ekofisk.


2007 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 146-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander V. Boukhanovsky ◽  
Leonid J. Lopatoukhin ◽  
C. Guedes Soares

1997 ◽  
Vol 1997 (1) ◽  
pp. 923-923
Author(s):  
Tim Lunel ◽  
Peter Wood ◽  
Louise Davies

ABSTRACT The North Sea field tests described in the paper have provided a quantitative data set on dispersant efficiency that can be used to calibrate laboratory dispersant tests. Comparisons of efficiency figures from the EXDET, IFP, Swirling Flask, and WSL tests with the field dispersant efficiency figures indicate that the WSL test comes closest to replicating the observed dispersion, in terms of both the percentage of oil dispersed and the oil droplet size of the dispersion. This paper, with the accompanying presentation in the Sea Empress session of the conference, demonstrates that a combination of quantitative field tests and the WSL test can be used to guide responders in decisions of whether to use dispersants in response to an oil spill. The WSL test and the field trials indicated that dispersants were likely to be effective against both the Forties Blend crude oil and the weathered oil. These predictions were confirmed by the successful dispersant operation at the Sea Empress incident.


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