A 37-YEAR WIND AND WAVE HINDCAST FOR THE OMAN SEA

The complex wave climate of the Sea of Oman (or Oman Sea) includes a mix of seasonal swells and wind waves from all directions across the Makran Coastline.With the increasing number of coastal and offshore projects, the need for a reliable hindcast wave climate has been recognized more than ever.In Iran, study on wave characteristics of the Oman Sea started in 2009 as part of the ICZM project [1] which identified the need for more data collection in the region.Therefore, as part of the sixth phase of Monitoring and Modeling Study of Iranian Coasts, another attempt to hindcast wave climate along the Iranian coastline of theOman Sea is presented here. The Phase 6 study coastline is about 350 km stretching from Gwadar Bay at the border with Pakistan to Rapch Estuary at the border withHormozgan Province (Figure 1) In general, the Oman Sea coast is subject to three distinct wave components: i. waves generated during the summer monsoon season(June to September) off the southern coastline of Arabian Peninsula in the Indian Ocean and approach from a southerly direction, ii. seas that are generated in the Oman Sea mainly during the winter season and arriving from a westerly to southwesterly directions; and iii. swells that are generated in the southern hemisphere in the Indian Ocean and reach the study area from southerly to southeasterly directions. The objective of this study is to develop a reliable hindcast wave climate that represents deepwater offshorewave conditions for engineering projects.