Wave Height Trends off Central West Coast of India

Abstract

Kerkar, J.P.; Seelam, J.K., and Jena, B.K., 2020. Wave height trends off central west coast of India. In: Sheela Nair, L.; Prakash, T.N.; Padmalal, D., and Kumar Seelam, J. (eds.), Oceanic and Coastal Processes of the Indian Seas. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 89, pp. 97-104. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Wave height trends off three sites along 100 m and 20 m depth contours off the central west coast of India have been estimated using 46 years hindcast-wind-wave data simulated for the Indian Ocean region. The wind waves were simulated with NCEP/NCAR winds as input to a third generation spectral wind wave model. This study showed an increasing trend for the annual mean significant wave heights from south to north ranging between 0.25 and 0.36 cm/year. The wave heights during the southwest monsoon and fair weather periods were observed to have similar trends. The study also showed increasing trends in water depths of 20 m compared to that of 100 m water depth, wherein a maximum increase of 0.22 cm/year is observed.