SHORT-TERM ANALYSIS OF RANDOM SEA WAVES IN THE PERSIAN GULF

Waves are the most important phenomenon to be considered among the environmental conditions affecting maritime and coastal structures, because they exercise thegreatest influence. There is a great amount of randomness in the sea, and statistical techniques need to be used in order to analyze ocean waves. Long-term wave analysisaims to the derivation of statistical distributions that cover many years. However, short-term analysis refers to the analysis of waves that occur within one wave train orwithin one wave storm [1]. Persian Gulf is a shallow, semi-enclosed marginal sea, nearly 1000 km long water body located in the south of Iran with an average depth of 40 meter and a maximum depth of 170 m at its entrance, the Strait of Hormuz. Literature shows few studies conducted on the tide behavior and general circulation and currents of thePersian Gulf but the analysis of its wave characteristics are limited. Employing the offshore measured field data at different locations of the north coast of the Persian Gulfand the Strait of Hormuz, the present study offers some findings of the short-term characteristics of the irregular waves in these water bodies as well as the analysis of thefield data. The representative waves at measuring stations are also calculated and compared with the general statistically derived relations at other seas