Abnormal storm waves in the winter East/Japan Sea: generation process and hindcasting using an atmosphere-wind wave modelling system

• Published in: Natural hazards and earth system sciences Vol. 10; no. 4; pp. 773 - 792
• Main Authors: Lee, H. S., Kim, K. O., Yamashita, T., Komaguchi, T., Mishima, T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Katlenburg-Lindau Copernicus GmbH 15-04-2010; Copernicus Publications
• Subjects: Marine; INW, Japan Sea; Korea, Rep
• ISSN: 1684-9981; 1561-8633; 1684-9981
• DOI: 10.5194/nhess-10-773-2010

Abnormal storm waves cause coastal disasters along the coasts of Korean Peninsula and Japan in the East/Japan Sea (EJS) in winter, arising due to developed low pressures during the East Asia winter monsoon. The generation of these abnormal storm waves during rough sea states were studied and hindcast using an atmosphere-wave coupled modelling system. Wind waves and swell due to developed low pressures were found to be the main components of abnormal storm waves. The meteorological conditions that generate these waves are classified into three patterns based on past literature that describes historical events as well as on numerical modelling. In hindcasting the abnormal storm waves, a bogussing scheme originally designed to simulate a tropical storm in a mesoscale meteorological model was introduced into the modelling system to enhance the resolution of developed low pressures. The modelling results with a bogussing scheme showed improvements in terms of resolved low pressure, surface wind field, and wave characteristics obtained with the wind field as an input.