Evaluating wind datasets for wave hindcasting in the NW Iberian Peninsula coast

The available wind datasets can be exploited to support the setup of accurate wave models, able to reproduce and forecast extreme event scenarios. It is of utmost importance in the actual context of climate change. This study focuses on evaluating the performance of a numerical wave model, using different wind datasets, helping to create a tool to assess coastal risks, and further on to support the future implementation of reliable warning systems based on numerical models. The numerical model SWAN was implemented, configured and validated for the NW Iberian Peninsula coast, as a test case region. A period of two months, from December 2013 to January 2014, was simulated due to the winter storms that crossed the area. Six distinct wind datasets were selected to test their suitability in regional wave modelling. The results were validated against several sets of wave buoy data, considering wave parameters such as significant wave height, mean wave period and peak direction. The implemented wave model configuration allowed the representation of the wave evolution with relatively good accuracy. All the wind datasets were able to produce reasonably good wave condition estimates. The dataset that best represented the wave properties varied from one wave parameter to another, but the most reliable for the selected region was the reanalysis product generated at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts

Validation of a 3d modelling system with sediment transport capabilities in the nw iberia coastal upwelling region

Póster.-- Conferencia sobre los Sistemas de Afloramiento de Borde Oriental (EBUS): Pasado, Presente y Futuro & Segunda Conferencia Internacional sobre el Sistema de Corrientes de Humboldt, 19-23 de Septiembre de 2022, Lima, PerúThe impacts of global warming and anthropogenic activities on our ecosystems have become the utmost urgent question. Numerical modelling is a powerful tool to better understand the response of marine environments to these changes. A state-of-the-art 3-dimensional modelling system has been implemented and evaluated to study sediment transport processes in the NW Iberian coastal upwelling region. The modelling system included the free-surface, split-explicit, terrain-following model CROCO (Coastal and Regional Ocean COmmunity model, v1.0) (https://www.croco-ocean.org) and a sediment transport module. A third-generation spectral wave model SWAN (Simulating Waves Nearshore) was running in parallel to include a realistic wave field. Results obtained from the model were validated with observations of hydrodynamic, wave and backscatter data and with the estimates of bottom shear stress by Villacieros-Robineau et al. (2019). The model output depicts well the evolution of hydrodynamics and waves when compared to the measurements. The combined wave-current shear stress at the bottom correlated well with the backscatter signal close to the surface sediments and showed a high concordance with previously published results (Villacieros-Robineau et al., 2019). The overall good agreement between observations and model results gives a high degree of confidence that the model reproduces the dynamics of the shelf system reliably in 3D. In this way, the implemented model will get decisive insights into the driving forces on the Iberian continental shelfThanks are due for the financial support to CESAM (UID/AMB/50017/2019), to FCT/MCTES through national funds, and the co-funding by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020. Marili Viitak was awarded a PhD fellowship (SFRH/BD/131256/2017) by FCTN