We undertake Coastal wave modeling to complement the Evaluation Branch's storm surge models
and to provide coastal and marine wave forecasts. We have developed a numerical model which
calculates maximum wind speed and predicts hurricane generated sea waves along the hurricane's track.
Several hindcast studies have been performed for recent hurricanes.
The parametric high wave model is meant to be used with the ocean spectrum wave model which cannot resolve the
strong wind surrounding the eye wall. As waves propagate into the coastal zone, shallow water
wave models predict wave shoaling, refraction, and breaking.
In the very near shore, breaking waves cause wave set-up in the surf zone on the
foreshore beach. The wave set-up at the shoreline may be as high as 1 meter, which significantly
enhances coastal flooding. A field test at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers'
research facility in Duck, North Carolina shows the observed
wave set-up during the winter (extratropical) storm of January 1998.
Return to Evaluation Branch Page
Go back to
MDL's HomePage
For further information contact:
Dr. Chung-Sheng Wu - cs.wu@noaa.gov
(301)-713-1613.
