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Abstract. In this contribution the wind jet dynamics in the northern margin of the Ebro River shelf (NW Mediterranean Sea) are investigated using coupled numerical models. The study area is characterised by persistent and energetic offshore winds during autumn and winter. During these seasons, a seaward wind jet usually develops in a ∼ 50 km wide band offshore. The COAWST (Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport) modelling system was implemented in the region with a set of downscaling meshes to obtain high-resolution meteooceanographic outputs. Wind, waves and water currents were compared with in situ observations and remote-sensingderived products with an acceptable level of agreement. Focused on an intense offshore wind event, the modelled wind jet appears in a limited area offshore with strong spatial variability. The wave pattern during the wind jet is characterised by the development of bimodal directional spectra, and the ocean circulation tends to present well-defined twolayer flow in the shallower region (i.e. inner shelf). The outer shelf tends to be dominated by mesoscale dynamics such as the slope current. Due to the limited fetch length, ocean surface roughness considering sea state (wave-atmosphere coupling) modifies to a small extent the wind and significant wave height under severe cross-shelf wind events. However, the coupling effect in the wind resource assessment may be relevant due to the cubic relation between the wind intensity and power.

This manuscript describes the wind-wave generation, development and fading in a complex area: a wind-jet region. The study region is the offshore Ebro Delta (NW Mediterranean Sea) where strong cross-shelf winds occur due to a topographic channelization. This leads to relatively short-fetch conditions, which interact with the swell component. The third-generation wave model Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) is implemented and fed by high-resolution wind fields. A combination of buoy and High Frequency (HF) radar data is used for model validation, resulting in a reasonable level of agreement. The numerical results characterize the wind-wave evolution during a wind jet. A bimodal spectrum is observed due to the interaction of swell and sea systems. The wave directional spreading exhibits lower values at the wind-jet axis. Finally, a reliability analysis of the wave data from an HF radar deployed at the region is carried out.

Traditionally wave modelling uses a downscaling process by means of successive nested grids to obtain high-resolution wave fields near the coast. This supposes an uncertain error due to internal boundary conditions and a long computational time. Unstructured grids avoid multiple meshes and thus the problem of internal boundary conditions. In the present study highresolution wave simulations are analysed for a full year where high-resolution meteorological models were available in the Catalan coast. This coastal case presents sharp gradients in bathymetry and orography and therefore correspondingly sharp variations in the wind and wave fields. Simulations with SWAN v.4091A using a traditional nested sequence and a regional unstructured grid have been compared. Also a local unstructured grid nested in an operational forecast system is included in the analysis. The obtained simulations are compared to wave observations from buoys near the coast; almost no differences are found between the unstructured grids and the regular grids. Simultaneously, tests have been carried out in order to analyse the computational time required for each of the alternatives, showing a decrease to less than half the time when working with regional unstructured grids and maintaining the forecast accuracy and coastal resolution with respect to the downscaling system. ARTICLE HISTORY