Statistical analysis and numerical modeling of the coastal waves at the South of the Caspian Sea (coasts of Amir Abad Port)

In this study, the coastal waves of Amir Abad Port are simulated using Mike21-SW Model. The data in this research including the bathymetry and fetch were obtained from the Iranian National Institute for Oceanography. Moreover, the wind data was acquired from Babolsar synoptic station, and the wave data were obtained from Amir Abad and Neka buoys. First, semi-analytical wave prediction methods such as SPM and CEM were used to determine the wave characteristics on offshore. Following that, the wave characteristics in the study area were simulated by Mike21 using unstructured meshes with approximate netting of 0.005 geographical degree and initial and boundary conditions. The results of the semi-analytical methods and the simulations were compared with the data from Amir Abad and Neka buoys, and they were calibrated based on the buoys’ data. The results showed that Mike21 is more appropriate than the semi-analytical methods for predicting the coastal waves in the study area. Considering the wave-roses obtained from the numerical modeling, the direction of the prevailing wave was determined to be toward the west, and given the model output, the prevailing wave height was predicted about 0.485 m.