Abstract
We utilized data from the numerical wave model WAVEWATCH-III and examined the spatial variability of waves considering 30 nearshore locations in the eastern Arabian Sea. The wave parameters from the model compare well with the buoy data (correlation coefficient ~ 0.98 and bias ~ 0.17 m). During monsoon, wave heights in the central-eastern Arabian Sea are higher than those in the southern and northern parts due to the influence of the Findlater jet and intermediate-period waves are dominating the entire area. The significant wave height is less than 1.5 m in non-monsoon and reaches 5 m in July. Variation in wave height between two nearby locations is highest in the northeastern Arabian Sea along the Gujarat coast. For a distance of 388 km from central Kerala to Karnataka, there is no significant spatial variability in wave height. Eastern Arabian Sea experiences a higher peak period in the non-monsoon due to reduction in the local wind speed. The integral period does not show significant spatial variability similar to wave height. The maximum (minimum) wave heights were found in 2013 (2015) and the variations are linked to the monsoon intensity.
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Data used are the ERA5 wind data.
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Acknowledgements
This work was possible due to the high-performance computing facility available at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography (CSIR-NIO). The measured wave data at Ratnagiri were part of the program of the Earth System Science Organization-INCOIS, MoES, New Delhi. Mr. A Nherakkol, INCOIS and Mr. J Singh, CSIR-NIO, provided support for the data collection. Centre for Costal & Marine Biodiversity, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University provided local support during wave data collection at Ratnagiri. ERA5 wind data used for forcing the model is from the ECMWF data server: http://data.ecmwf.int/data. Also grateful to NOAA group for the Global wave model WaveWatch III. We thank both the reviewers for their critical comments and the suggestions which improved the scientific content of the paper. This paper is NIO contribution number 7184.
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AA: conceptualization; data curation; formal analysis; investigation; writing—original draft. MMA: modelling; validation; data curation; writing. SK: conceptualization; methodology; resources; supervision; writing—review and editing.
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Anusree, A., Amrutha, M.M. & Kumar, V.S. Spatial variability in wave characteristics along the eastern Arabian Sea. J Oceanogr 80, 145–160 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-024-00715-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-024-00715-x