On the Development of an Operational SWAN Model for the Black Sea (poster)

This poster describes the results of some studies performed on the development of an efficient and operational SWAN model for the Black Sea. This model will be used to study the wind-wave climate and wave energy potential in the region and will provide boundary conditions for coastal engineering and nautical activities. The present model development is a continuation of previous modelling exercises by e.g., Akpinar et al. (2012). Final results will be published elsewhere (Van Vledder and Akpinar, 2014). In the former study wave model performance was satisfactory for the lower sea states but lacking good results for the more severe sea states. Here, we aim to further improve model performance by developing an optimal unstructured grid, selection and calibration of input winds against wind measurements and wave model verification against buoy data. Our development plan consists of four major steps using the latest developments in wave modelling techniques.