Abstract
Coastal wind-driven waves play an important role in transportation and exchange of mass and energy. The amount and intensity of wave energy determines the rate of erosion and deposition in estuarine systems. One limitation in many wave modeling studies is the lack of spatially robust wave measurements that can be used for validation since installing a large number of wave gauges, in any one site, is usually expensive. Wave modeling is a convenient approach for determining the pattern of waves in different spatial and temporal domains. This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of a wind-generated wave model for Back Bay Biloxi, Mississippi in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. The SWAN model (Simulating Waves Nearshore) was coupled with the ADCIRC model (ADvance CIRCulation) to simulate wave height and period in order to capture the wave climate. Wind speed, wind direction, and a bathymetric mesh were used as input data to simulate the wave characteristics. Due to the complexity of the area, an unstructured bathymetric mesh was generated using the SMS model (Surface-water Modeling System). In this study, 35 relatively inexpensive “do-it-yourself” wave gauges were deployed to comprehensively measure wave parameters under a low energy system in Back Biloxi Bay.The measured data was used to validate the wave model. Consequently, this study will provide a novel validation method of a wave model using a spatially comprehensive wave measurement dataset.
