Abstract
Abstract. This paper aims to extend and update the survey of extreme wave events in Ireland that was previously carried out by O’Brien et al. (2013). The original catalogue highlighted the frequency of such events dating back as far as the turn of the last ice age and as recent as 2012. Ireland's marine territory extends far beyond its coastline and is one of the largest seabed territories in Europe. It is therefore not surprising that extreme waves have continued to occur regularly since 2012, particularly considering the severity of weather during the winters of 2013–2014 and 2015–2016. In addition, a large number of storm surges have been identified since the publication of the original catalogue. This paper updates the O’Brien et al. (2013) catalogue to include events up to the end of 2017. Storm surges are included as a new category and events are categorised into long waves (tsunamis and storm surges) and short waves (storm and rogue waves). New results prior to 2012 are also included and some of the events previously documented are reclassified. Important questions regarding public safety, services and the influence of climate change are also highlighted. An interactive map has been created to allow the reader to navigate through events: https://drive.google.com/open?id=19cZ59pDHfDnXKYIziYAVWV6AfoE&usp=sharing.
Highlights
The study of extreme wave events in the ocean has become a popular area of research in recent years
15 min–2.5 h ple, kh is generally large for short waves, a rogue wave was measured by a Waverider buoy at Killard (Fig. 13) in 39 m depth with a corresponding kh value of 0.74
By cross referencing the Irish Coastal Protection Strategy Study (ICPSS) archive with technical reports issued by county or city councils found on the National Flood Hazard Mapping portal (The OPW, 2016) or newspaper articles obtained from the Irish Newspaper Archives, we identified those storm surge events that generated coastal flooding in excess of 0.5 m
Summary
The study of extreme wave events in the ocean has become a popular area of research in recent years. Aside from sea farers, extreme waves impact coastal communities and are of great interest to wave energy companies. The purpose of this paper is to extend and update the work of O’Brien et al (2013), a catalogue of extreme waves around the island of Ireland. O’Brien et al (2013) documented extreme wave events extending as far back as 14 680 BP and as recent as 2012, including storm waves, rogue waves and tsunamis. Our study includes new events that have been identified prior to 2012, recategorises events from the previous catalogue (O’Brien et al, 2013) and extends this catalogue out to 2017. O’Brien et al.: Extreme wave events in Ireland waves are discussed in Sects. 6–9: boulder deposits, climate change, public awareness and services, respectively
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