Abstract
Abstract. Densely populated coastal areas of the North Sea are particularly vulnerable to severe wave conditions, which overtop or damage sea defences leading to dangerous flooding. Around the shallow southern North Sea, where the coastal margin is lying low and population density is high, oceanographic modelling has helped to develop forecasting systems to predict flood risk. However, coastal areas of the deeper northern North Sea are also subject to regular storm damage, but there has been little or no effort to develop coastal wave models for these waters. Here, we present a high spatial resolution model of northeast Scottish coastal waters, simulating waves and the effect of tidal currents on wave propagation, driven by global ocean tides, far-field wave conditions, and local air pressure and wind stress. We show that the wave–current interactions and wave–wave interactions are particularly important for simulating the wave conditions close to the coast at various locations. The model can simulate the extreme conditions experienced when high (spring) tides are combined with sea-level surges and large Atlantic swell. Such a combination of extremes represents a high risk for damaging conditions along the Scottish coast.
Highlights
Due to its semi-enclosed morphology and shoaling bathymetry, the North Sea experiences extreme wave conditions, in particular during winter periods (Woolf et al, 2002)
The oceanography of the North Sea as a whole has been intensively studied since the 1830s (Whewell, 1830; Proudman and Doodson, 1924; Dietrich, 1950; Huthnance, 1991; Otto et al, 1990), and the region was one of the earliest to be subjected to computational hydrodynamic modelling (Flather, 1987; Davies et al, 1985), high-resolution modelling activity has been largely concentrated in areas with potential for wave and tidal energy extraction (Adcock et al, 2013; Bryden and Couch, 2006; Baston and Harris, 2011; Shields et al, 2011, 2009)
Without the Wave–current interactions (WCIs) included in the model, small or no differences were estimated for significant wave height, but larger differences were seen for mean wave period (Tm01 = 2π m0/m1): the calculated root mean square error (RMSE) for the uncoupled model was 0.97 s in Aberdeen, 1.24 s in the Firth of Forth and 1.83 s in the Moray Firth
Summary
Due to its semi-enclosed morphology and shoaling bathymetry, the North Sea experiences extreme wave conditions, in particular during winter periods (Woolf et al, 2002). The coastal waters are dominated by strong tidal currents and wind-driven residuals, are exposed to wave trains entering the North Sea from the north, and generated by storm events in the central and southern North Sea. the oceanography of the North Sea as a whole has been intensively studied since the 1830s (Whewell, 1830; Proudman and Doodson, 1924; Dietrich, 1950; Huthnance, 1991; Otto et al, 1990), and the region was one of the earliest to be subjected to computational hydrodynamic modelling (Flather, 1987; Davies et al, 1985), high-resolution modelling activity has been largely concentrated in areas with potential for wave and tidal energy extraction (Adcock et al, 2013; Bryden and Couch, 2006; Baston and Harris, 2011; Shields et al, 2011, 2009). The latter is the base for a governmentally supported marine monitoring site with a > 15-year time series of high-resolution data on a wide range of environmental parameters (Bresnan et al, 2009)
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