Wave Hindcasting in the Southeastern Coast of Iran

Wind-wave characteristics are one of the most important factors in the design of coastal and marine structures. Hence, accurate estimation of wave parameters is crucial. In this paper, we examined the performance of a third-generation spectral wave model, MIKE 21 SW, in estimating wave parameters in the Iranian southeastern coasts over 1 year in 2016 using unstructured triangular mesh. The simulated wave conditions at the southern open boundary and the wind field variable in time and space of the Weather Research and Forecasting model with a spatial resolution of 0.1 and a temporal resolution of 1 hr were used for evaluating the model. To improve the model's performance, it was calibrated and validated by adjusting white-capping coefficients. The output data including significant wave height (Hs), peak wave period (Tp), and mean wave direction were compared with the data measured by acoustic Doppler current profiler at three stations of Pasabandar, Pozm, and Meydani on the southeastern coast of Iran. The results revealed that the scatter index for Hs at three stations after calibration was 0.232, 0.363, and 0.684, respectively. Moreover, the results for mean wave direction were 0.149, 0.181, and 0.288, respectively. The mean model errors for Hs were 0.003 m, 0.233 m, and 0.399 m, respectively, and this error was typically calculated for Tp and mean wave direction at Pasabandar station 0.12 s and 3.80°, respectively. The finding shows a more accurate prediction of Hs estimation with an appropriate correlation coefficient in three stations with a low bias and upstream. Comparison of the period of modeling waves with measurement data shows the appropriate accuracy of modeling results. According to the climate modeling results, waves from the north wind (Shamal wind) with periods of less than 8 s and waves from the southwest (Monsoon) with periods of more than 10 s are well distinguishable.