Mohammad Dibajnia - Ph.D, Baird & Associates

Reliable coastal structure design, sediment transport predictions and future planning all depend on the use of accurate wave data. As part of the Phase II of the MONITOR SB&B project, along-term 25-year (1984-2008) hindcast was developed for the southern coastline of Iran in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. Key aspects of this hindcast included: An improved input wind field, the driving force for a wave model, was developed using synoptic station data located around the Persian Gulf and calibrated with wind measurements from the QuikSCAT satellite mission. Comprehensive validation against multi-year satellite altimeter data, as well as against various wave buoy and Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) measurements. Application of a state-of-the-art 3rd generation wave model, the WaveWatch III model of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  No wave data assimilation into the hindcast. Many hindcasts apply local “corrections” tothe hindcast data through assimilation of measured wave data (particularly satellite data). This assimilation limits the ability to independently verify the results of the hindcast

Hindcast, Persian Gulf, Shamal winds, Wave measurements, Wave Buoy