Calibration of SWAN Model for Wave Simulation in Bohai Sea

Abstract

It is necessary to obtain a further understanding of the behaviors and characteristics of water waves in the Bohai Sea for the coastal engineering construction and environment protection in this area. The SWAN (Simulating Waves Nearshore) model, a third-generation wave spectral model on the basis of wave action conservation has been applied to study the water waves in the Bohai Sea by several researchers, and encouraging results have been obtained. However, the calibrated parameter for a wave process at an individual station does not have universal applicability for other stations, which causing problems to anyalyze the wave characteristics in the Bohai Sea. Thus, in this study how to calibrate the SWAN model in the Bohai Sea was analyzed carefully in terms of five sets of short-term wave data and one set of long-term wave data at Tanggu. It was found that wind, whitecapping, bottom mechanisms of wave source function and tide current are the four main factors in the process of wave development. A set of optimized parameters suitable for both long-term and short-term wave processes in the Bohai Sea is suggested through the sensitivity analyses of these elements. Comparisons between the simulated results and the field measured data show that the validated model can provide more accurate results for both long-term and short-term simulations and can be used to study the wave characteristics in the Bohai Sea.