Abstract
The study presents a newly generated hindcast database of metocean conditions for the region of the North Sea by parametrising the newly introduced ST6 physics in a nearshore wave model. Exploring and assessing the intricacies in wave generation are vital to produce a reliable hindcast. The new parametrisations perform better, though they have a higher number of tuneable options. Parametrisation of the white capping coefficient within the ST6 package improved performance with significant differences ≈±20–30 cm. The configuration which was selected to build the database shows a good correlation ≈95 % for H m 0, has an overall minimal bias with the majority of locations being slightly over-estimated ±0.5–1 cm. The calibrated model was subsequently used to produce a database for 38 years, analysing and discussing the metocean condition. In terms of wave energy resource, the North Sea has not received attention due to its perceived “lower” resource. However, from analysing the long-term climatic data, it is evident that the level of metocean conditions, and subsequently wave power, can prove beneficial for development. The 95th percentile indicates that the majority of the time H m 0 should be expected at 3.4–5 m, and the wave energy period T e at 5–7 s. Wave power resource exceeds 15 kW/m at locations very close to the coast, and it is uniformly reduced as we move to the Southern parts, near the English Channel, with values there being ≈5 kW/m, with most energetic seas originating from the North East. Results by the analysis show that in the North Sea, conditions are moderate to high, and the wave energy resource, which has been previously overlooked, is high and easily accessible due to the low distance from coasts. The study developed a regional high-fidelity model, analysed metocean parameters and properly assessed the energy content. Although, the database and its results can have multiple usages and benefit other sectors that want to operate in the harsh waters of the North Sea.
Highlights
The marine environment is host to a variety of human activities, and its investigation can contribute in design parameters for a plethora of applications spanning from coastal infrastructure, to energy, ship design, tourism and more
We are aware that using the ERA-Interim dataset will reduce the maxima performance if no calibration of the whitecapping coefficient is made [29,45]; so as a final qualitative metric, we examined the ability of modelled data to be close to maximum wave height value
If we were only interested in obtaining higher maxima values, we would have opted for using Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) data which have shown a better maximum peak performance with means over-estimations and larger scattering in the North Sea [29]
Summary
The marine environment is host to a variety of human activities, and its investigation can contribute in design parameters for a plethora of applications spanning from coastal infrastructure, to energy, ship design, tourism and more. Reguero et al [4] examined the global wave conditions, making the observation that wave power has increased potentially due to anthropogenic emissions. Atmosphere 2019, 10, 551 wave height (Hm0 ) and period(s) display differences since their 1948 levels, and will tend to alter in the years to come This is not universally distributed along the globe; further exploration regional analysis must be undertaken to determine the metocean characteristics accurately. Long-term high fidelity spatio-temporal data are very important for analysis on wave conditions [5], wave power resource [6], extreme value analysis [1,7], and climate characteristics [3,8], etc
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