Abstract
The wave climatology of the Red Sea is described based on a 30-year hindcast generated using WAVEWATCH III configured on a 5-km resolution grid and forced by Red Sea reanalysis surface winds from the advanced Weather Research and Forecasting model. The wave simulations have been validated using buoy and altimeter data. The four main wind systems in the Red Sea characterize the corresponding wave climatology. The dominant ones are the two opposite wave systems with different genesis, propagating along the axis of the basin. The highest waves are generated at the centre of the Red Sea as a consequence of the strong seasonal winds blowing from the Tokar Gap on the African side. There is a general long-term trend toward lowering the values of the significant wave height over the whole basin, with a decreasing rate depending on the genesis of the individual systems.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 4518-4528 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | International Journal of Climatology |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue number | 13 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 9 2017 |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01Acknowledgements: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) funded this research. This research made use of the resources of the Supercomputing Laboratory and/or computer clusters at KAUST. Luigi Cavaleri has been partly supported by KAUST during his visits for research collaborations. We express our appreciation for the extensive review of Robert Jensen and of another anonymous reviewer.