Nearshore Wave Field Analysis Using SAR Images

Satellite remote sensing technique offers a wide range of information, and is one of the tools for ocean wave observation. This paper discusses the limitations of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images in wave field analysis. It is found that the wave field analysis is affected by the gray value distribution of image and the relationship between satellite travel and wave propagation directions. Since human activities and coastal engineering are performed in nearshore areas, some issues are discussed for nearshore SAR image analysis. Several case studies show that the wave parameters estimated from nearshore SAR images are quite different from in situ measurements, suggesting that the wave information derived from nearshore SAR images cannot appropriately represent the wave characteristics. One of the reasons is that the wave field is non homogeneous in the nearshore area.

Optimization of multi-model ensemble forecasting of typhoon waves

Accurately forecasting ocean waves during typhoon events is extremely important in aiding the mitigation and minimization of their potential damage to the coastal infrastructure, and the protection of coastal communities. However, due to the complex hydrological and meteorological interaction and uncertainties arising from different modeling systems, quantifying the uncertainties and improving the forecasting accuracy of modeled typhoon-induced waves remain challenging. This paper presents a practical approach to optimizing model-ensemble wave heights in an attempt to improve the accuracy of real-time typhoon wave forecasting. A locally weighted learning algorithm is used to obtain the weights for the wave heights computed by the WAVEWATCH III wave model driven by winds from four different weather models （model-ensembles）. The optimized weights are subsequently used to calculate the resulting wave heights from the model-ensembles. The results show that the opti- mization is capable of capturing the different behavioral effects of the different weather models on wave generation. Comparison with the measurements at the selected wave buoy locations shows that the optimized weights, obtained through a training process, can significantly improve the accuracy of the forecasted wave heights over the standard mean values, particularly for typhoon-induced peak waves. The results also indicate that the algorithm is easy to imnlement and practieal for real-time wave forecasting.

Spatial and Temporal Features of Regional Variations in Mean Sea Level around Taiwan

Satellite altimeter and in-situ tide gauge records are probably the most common means to obtain observational data for the study of changes in mean sea level. In this study, we employed these data to discuss the spatial and temporal features of regional variations in mean sea level around Taiwan. The results showed that most of the regional mean sea surface heights (SSH) around Taiwan are higher than the global mean sea surface heights. Most of the sea level trends are greater than the global mean sea level trend as well. We obtained diverse distribution results from the altimeter sea level records in neighboring areas by distributions fit, and the altimeter sea level records showed obvious inhomogene- ity. In addition, periodic fluctuations in the records regarding mean sea level were revealed in our study, based on Fourier spectra and wavelet scalograms.