Synoptic Study on Forecasting Large Swell Waves along the Eastern Coast of Korea Using the Operational System

Abstract

In recent years, the eastern coast of Korea has been experiencing frequent large swell waves during winter. These waves, occasionally higher than 3 in, rarely occurred until recently and now cause severe casualties, damage to coastal structures, and extensive beach erosion along the eastern coast of the country. Therefore, the urgency for appropriately predicting large swell waves affecting these areas has increased. A convenient forecasting source is a numerical wave prediction system running in an operational mode. Since 2009, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) has been developing and improving Korea Operational Oceanographic System (KOOS), funded by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF). The project aims at developing an integrated operational oceanographic system providing nowcasts and forecasts of ocean information around the Korean Peninsula. This study introduces an operational wave forecasting system using high-resolution multigrids, developed for its implementation in KOOS. A series of numerical experiments were conducted on previous cases of large swell waves along the eastern coast of Korea, using weather hindcasting products of KOOS. The new system was evaluated by comparing the obtained numerical results with data from the previous wave forecasting system and available observations. The wave forecasting system proposed yielded good qualitative and quantitative predictions for large swell waves in different locations. Furthermore, the obtained numerical results highly agree with available observational data.