Insights to Estimate the Largest 1/3, 1/10, and 1/100 of Offshore Wave Heights and Periods Under Fetch-Limited Conditions in the Central Aegean Sea

Abstract

The objective of this study is to compare the most common methods for forecasting wave characteristics (height and period) for the maximum in height 1/3, 1/10, and 1/100 of the waves, using available wind and wave datasets. The testing marine region is the Central Aegean Sea and, in particular, the east coast of Evia Island that is exposed to N, NE, E, and SE incoming offshore waves. The estimated values of wave characteristics resulting from three different wind datasets and the two wave datasets present differences of 2–60%. These variations are attributed to the different methodological approaches followed, to the different types of raw data in terms of space and time periods, and to the fetch limitations. The proposed methodology for the calculation of wave characteristics for the highest (1/10) and (1/100) waves appears to yield reasonable outcomes when compared to the corresponding significant (highest 1/3) wave heights and periods. Finally, mean values of wave height and period calculated from the five available datasets, considering their standard deviation, seem to be more representative than the values calculated separately from each dataset.