Swell Propagation and Nearshore Wave Climate

: A detailed study of swell wave conditions in the southern Pacific Ocean has been performed with particular emphasis on the western Southern American coastline. This study was one part of an overall wave hindcasting investigation undertaken for the Servicio Hidrografico y Oceanografico de la Armada de Chile (SHOA) to define the inshore wave climate at various locations along the Chilean seaboard. Considerable costal infrastructure has been developed in Chile over the last two decades, and the impetus for this study was based on concerns with the lack of consistency utilized in the coastal engineering design process, beginning with, but not limited to, the definition of the wave conditions. The available wave records in Chile are of very limited duration, thus many designers rely on a variety of wave data sources ranging from ship observations to hindcast wave data of various types and flavors. One of the major issues identified was that engineering structures have often been developed using data with relatively simplistic wave definitions, employing integrated wave parameters, such as the characteristic wave height (Hm0), peak wave period (Tp) and the mean wave direction (MWD), As will be shown in this paper, the wave climate in Chile is complex and it is important that appropriately complex wave analysis techniques be employed.