Estimation of Design Waves Along Jiangsu Coasts

In this study, the MIKE21 Spectral Wave Module was used to estimate the design waves in the coastal area of Jiangsu Province of China. The conditions of deepwater waves with a certain return period at the open boundaries were provided by the extreme value analysis of the long-term wave modelling results (1950–2009) in the East China Sea, while the corresponding wind conditions with the same return period at the surface boundary were provided by the statistical analysis of the annual maxima of the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis wind speed data. The results show that the design waves along the Jiangsu coasts are significantly affected by the local topography. In the northern part, the contours of design wave heights tend to be parallel to the coastal line due to the fact that the depth contours are fairly straight in that area; in contrast, in the southern part, the contours of design wave heights present to be radial owing to the effects of the radial sand ridges on the nearshore wave processes.