High waves in the west coast of Korea during winter season generated by excessively developed low pressure

Abstract

Characteristics of the high waves arriving on the west coast of Korea are intensively examined based on the analysis of long-term coastal wave observation data obtained at multiple locations as well as some available meteorological data. It was clarified that the rapid drop of the atmospheric pressures during the development and evolution of the extra-tropical cyclone is the chief reason for the occurrence of high waves in the Yellow Sea. Directly influenced by this meteorological phenomenon, very strong winds tend to blow extensively over the entire sea region and evoke generation of high waves. Since the wave field is predominantly governed by the local wind field, the temporal variation of wave height and period is very closely related to that of the wind speed. Hence, characteristics of the high waves appeared in the Korean west coast are found to be wind waves rather than swell © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.