Simulation of Waves at Duck (North Carolina) Using Two Numerical Models

Two wave transformation models, SWAN and CGWAVE, are used to simulate wave conditions at the Field Research Facility, Duck (North Carolina). The motivation is to examine how well these models reproduce observations and to determine the level of consistency between the two models. Stationary wave conditions pertaining to three different storm-induced bathymetric representations are modelled. It was found that SWAN and CGWAVE reproduced the observed wave behavior to a large extent, but CGWAVE results tended to be somewhat smaller than the SWAN results and the measurements. The differences were attributed to wave-wave interactions and breaking. Otherwise the models showed a high level of consistency. SWAN and CGWAVE were also used to explore other mechanisms reported in recent literature; the results were either consistent with some observations (in the case of the nonlinear mechanisms) or they shed more light on others (in case of the role of the research pier legs).

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