Wind-wave characteristics and extremes along the Emilia-Romagna coast

Abstract

This study examines the wind-wave characteristics along the Emilia-Romagna coasts (northern Adriatic Sea, Italy) with a 10-year wave simulation for the period 2010–2019 performed with the high-resolution unstructured-grid WAVEWATCH III (WW3) coastal wave model. The wave parameters (significant wave height, mean and peak wave period, and wave direction) were validated with the in situ measurements at a coastal station, Cesenatico. In the coastal belt, the annual mean wave heights varied from 0.2–0.4 m, and the seasonal mean was highest for the winter period (>0.4 m). The Emilia-Romagna coastal belt was characterized by wave and spectra seasonal signals with two dominant frequencies of the order of 10 and 5–6 s for autumn and winter and 7–9 and 4 s for spring and summer. The wavelet power spectra of significant wave height for 10 years show considerable variability, having monthly and seasonal periods. This validated and calibrated data set enabled us to study the probability distributions of the significant wave height along the coasts and define a hazard index based on a fitted Weibull probability distribution function.