Wave power variability and trends across the <scp>N</scp>orth <scp>A</scp>tlantic influenced by decadal climate patterns

Bromirski, Peter D.; Cayan, Daniel R.

doi:10.1002/2014jc010440

Cited by 62 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Although winter waves are known to be well correlated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index at high latitudes (Bacon and Carter, ; Dodet et al. ; Bromirski and Cayan, ), this exceptional winter was not associated with a particularly high NAO. Castelle et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Beach recovery from extreme storm activity during the 2013–14 winter along the Atlantic coast of Europe

Dodet

Castelle

Masselink

et al. 2018

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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The storm sequence of the 2013–14 winter left many beaches along the Atlantic coast of Europe in their most eroded state for decades. Understanding how beaches recover from such extreme events is essential for coastal managers, especially in light of potential regional increases in storminess due to climate change. Here we analyse a unique dataset of decadal beach morphological changes along the west coast of Europe to investigate the post‐2013–14 winter recovery. We show that the recovery signature is site specific and multi‐annual, with one studied beach fully recovered after 2 years, and the others only partially recovered after 4 years. During the recovery phase, winter waves primarily control the timescales of beach recovery, as energetic winter conditions stall the recovery process whereas moderate winter conditions accelerate it. This inter‐annual variability is well correlated with climate indices. On exposed beaches, an equilibrium model showed significant skill in reproducing the post‐storm recovery and thus can be used to investigate the recovery process in more detail. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Beach recovery from extreme storm activity during the 2013–14 winter along the Atlantic coast of Europe

Dodet

Castelle

Masselink

et al. 2018

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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“…Assessments of global wave-energy flux (or wave power per unit crest, KW•m −1 ) have been receiving increasing attention in the scientific literature [79,80]. Nevertheless, regional studies of the wave-energy flux are still lacking, despite the fact that the wave power is the quantitative representation of the ability of waves to perform work, on a shore or on off-shore infrastructures, for example, and is the most important parameter for wave-energy harvesting.…”

Section: Wind Sea and Swell Wave Energymentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Variability of Wind Sea and Swell Waves Climate along the Canary Current: The Local Wind Effect

Semedo

2018

JMSE

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A climatology of wind sea and swell waves along the Canary eastern boundary current area, from west Iberia to Mauritania, is presented. The study is based on the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis ERA-Interim. The wind regime along the Canary Current, along west Iberia and north-west Africa, varies significantly from winter to summer. High summer wind speeds generate high wind sea waves, particularly along the coasts of Morocco and Western Sahara. Lower winter wind speeds, along with stronger extratropical storms crossing the North Atlantic sub-basin up north lead to a predominance of swell waves in the area during from December to February. In summer, the coast parallel wind interacts with the coastal headlands, increasing the wind speed and the locally generated waves. The spatial patterns of the wind sea or swell regional wave fields are shown to be different from the open ocean, due to coastal geometry, fetch dimensions, and island sheltering.

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“…Although it is widely accepted that large wave storms in the Atlantic Ocean are a direct consequence of the passage of extratropical cyclones, the details of this relationship at the regional scale need to be clarified, since it is not known whether the magnitude of the event is more closely related with the track or the depth of the forcing cyclones. Additionally, these cyclones usually propagate along preferred trails, so-called storm tracks, and the phases of enhanced or reduced storminess along European Atlantic coastlines are modulated by hemispheric-scale circulation patterns, known as teleconnections [14][15][16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme Wave Storms and Atmospheric Variability at the Spanish Coast of the Bay of Biscay

et al. 2018

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This paper examines the characteristics and long-term variability of storminess for the Spanish coast of the Bay of Biscay for the period 1948 to 2015, by coupling wave (observed and modelled) and atmospheric datasets. The diversity of atmospheric mechanisms that are responsible for wave storms are highlighted at different spatial and temporal scales: synoptic (cyclone) and low frequency (teleconnection patterns) time scales. Two types of storms, defined mostly by wave period and storm energy, are distinguished, resulting from the distance to the forcing cyclones, and the length of the fetch area. No statistically significant trends were found for storminess and the associated atmospheric indices over the period of interest. Storminess reached a maximum around the decade of the 1980s, while less activity occurred at the beginning and end of the period of study. In addition, the results reveal that only the WEPI (West Europe Pressure Anomaly Index), EA (Eastern Atlantic), and EA/WR (Eastern Atlantic/Western Russia) teleconnection patterns are able to explain a substantial percentage of the variability in storm climate, suggesting the importance of local factors (W-E exposition of the coast) in controlling storminess in this region.

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Wave power variability and trends across the North Atlantic influenced by decadal climate patterns

Abstract: Climate variations influence North Atlantic winter storm intensity and resultant variations in wave energy levels. A 60 year hindcast allows investigation of the influence of decadal climate variability on long-term trends of North Atlantic wave power, P W , spanning the 1948-2008 epoch.

Cited by 62 publications

References 55 publications

Beach recovery from extreme storm activity during the 2013–14 winter along the Atlantic coast of Europe

Beach recovery from extreme storm activity during the 2013–14 winter along the Atlantic coast of Europe

Seasonal Variability of Wind Sea and Swell Waves Climate along the Canary Current: The Local Wind Effect

Extreme Wave Storms and Atmospheric Variability at the Spanish Coast of the Bay of Biscay

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