WIS releases NEW website for 1980-1999 Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico
wave information
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The WIS project produces a high-quality online database of hindcast, nearshore wave conditions covering U.S. coasts. The hindcast data
provide a valuable source of decades-long wave data needed in coastal engineering design, at dense spatial resolution and at a level of
temporal continuity not available from measurements. Updated hindcasts for the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, from 1980-1999, have just been
completed. The hindcast wave conditions were produced using the latest updated version of the numerical ocean wave generation and
propagation model, WISWAVE, along with state-of-the-art wind fields produced by
Oceanweather, Inc., as a value-added improvement to AES-40 wind fields. Wave data for a
dense network of output stations that follow 15 to 20-m depth contours along the coast are
Wave Height
available. Data include hourly wave parameters: significant wave height, peak period, mean
period, mean wave direction, and wind speed and direction. Parameter information can be
easily downloaded for use as input into nearshore coastal process models. Directional
Wave Period
spectral information at 3-hour intervals is also available from the WIS staff.
WIS DATA QUALITY -
1980-99 Gulf and Atlantic WIS information compares well
with all available NDBC buoy measurements. The figure to the left shows a comparison of
WIS results with measurements from NDBC buoy 42007 (off Louisiana) for the month of
September, 1998. Hurricane Earl, a Category 2 hurricane moved over this area August 31-
September 8. The plot also shows Hurricane Georges, a category 4 hurricane which made
Wind Speed
landfall nearby at the end of September. Note the excellent agreement for both waves and
winds.
2004 ENHANCEMENTS -
new parallel processing routines for state-of-theart
computer efficiency in hindcast production; 1980-1989 Atlantic and Gulf hindcast
Wind Direction
information added to website.
ON-GOING and NEXT-YEAR ACTIVITIES (2005) -
Test hindcasts for
the Great Lakes; Pacific hindcasting forensics; Website improvements including more data
processing and analysis capabilities.
WIS Contact: Barbara A. Tracy
Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory
ERDC Waterways Experiment Station
P.O. Box 631, Vicksburg, MS 39180-6199
VOICE (601) 634-2400; FAX (601) 634-4314
EMAIL: Barbara.A.Tracy@erdc.usace.army.mil
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