Copernicus Marine In Situ TAC - Ocean Monitoring Indicator OMI_EXTREME_WAVE_IBI_swh_mean_and_anomaly_obs

DEFINITION The OMI_EXTREME_WAVE_IBI_swh_mean_and_anomaly_obs indicator is based on the computation of the 99th and the 1st percentiles from in situ data (observations). It is computed for the variable significant wave height (swh) measured by in situ buoys. The use of percentiles instead of annual maximum and minimum values, makes this extremes study less affected by individual data measurement errors. The percentiles are temporally averaged, and the spatial evolution is displayed, jointly with the anomaly in the target year. This study of extreme variability was first applied to sea level variable (Pérez Gómez et al 2016) and then extended to other essential variables, sea surface temperature and significant wave height (Pérez Gómez et al 2018).
CONTEXT Projections on Climate Change foresee a future with a greater frequency of extreme sea states (Stott, 2016; Mitchell, 2006). The damages caused by severe wave storms can be considerable not only in infrastructure and buildings but also in the natural habitat, crops and ecosystems affected by erosion and flooding aggravated by the extreme wave heights. In addition, wave storms strongly hamper the maritime activities, especially in harbours. These extreme phenomena drive complex hydrodynamic processes, whose understanding is paramount for proper infrastructure management, design and maintenance (Goda, 2010). In recent years, there have been several studies searching possible trends in wave conditions focusing on both mean and extreme values of significant wave height using a multi-source approach with model reanalysis information with high variability in the time coverage, satellite altimeter records covering the last 30 years and in situ buoy measured data since the 1980s decade but with sparse information and gaps in the time series (e.g. Dodet et al., 2020; Timmermans et al., 2020; Young & Ribal, 2019). These studies highlight a remarkable interannual, seasonal and spatial variability of wave conditions and suggest that the possible observed trends are not clearly associated with anthropogenic forcing (Hochet et al. 2021, 2023). In the North Atlantic, the mean wave height shows some weak trends not very statistically significant. Young & Ribal (2019) found a mostly positive weak trend in the European Coasts while Timmermans et al.  (2020) showed a weak negative trend in high latitudes, including the North Sea and even more intense in the Norwegian Sea. For extreme values, some authors have found a clearer positive trend in high percentiles (90th-99th) (Young, 2011; Young & Ribal, 2019).
COPERNICUS MARINE SERVICE KEY FINDINGS The mean 99th percentiles showed in the area present a wide range from 2-3.5m in the Canary Island with 0.1-0.3 m of standard deviation (std), 3.5m in the Gulf of Cadiz with 0.5m of std, 3-6m in the English Channel and the Irish Sea with 0.5-0.6m of std, 4-7m in the Bay of Biscay with 0.4-0.9m of std to 8-10m in the West of the British Isles with 0.7-1.4m of std.  Results for this year show close to zero anomalies in the Canary Island (-0.2/+0.1m), the Gulf of Cadiz (-0.2m) and the English Channel and the Irish Sea (-0.1/+0.1), a general slight negative anomaly in the Bay of Biscay reaching -0.7m but inside the range of the standard deviation, and a positive anomaly (+1.0/+1.55m) in the West of the British Isles, barely out of the standard deviation range in the area.
References:
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