EXTREME EVENTS AND WAVE FORECAST IN THE IBERIAN NEARSHORE

摘要

In this paper we present some results concerning the operational wave forecast in the coastal environment of Portugal emphasising on the most energetic cases. The wave forecasting system implemented is based on the interactions between the ocean-scale and the coastal wave models, namely WW3 for generation and SWAN for transformation. For assessing the wave induced currents in the neashore the model SHORECIRC was coupled to this system via REF/D1F. Original MATLAB software was developed during this work. It was designed a tool with graphical and numerical outputs that was associated with all the models involved and has capabilities both for pre and post processing. In a first approach, the wave forecasting system was used to provide the environmental support for the exercises of the Portuguese Navy. The Prestige incident, in November 2002, was another situation when the results of the wave prediction were very useful. A common utility also explored is to predict the storms and their impact into the nearshore.