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Read Full Article (file size: 452730 bytes) Cited by
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 33,
L05613,
doi:10.1029/2005GL025238,
2006
Were extreme waves in the Rockall Trough the largest ever recorded?
Naomi P. Holliday
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Margaret J. Yelland
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Robin Pascal
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Val R. Swail
Climate Research Division, Environment Canada, Downsview, Ontario, Canada
Peter K. Taylor
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Colin R. Griffiths
Scottish Association for Marine Science, Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory, Oban, UK
Elizabeth Kent
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Abstract
In February 2000 those onboard a British oceanographic research vessel near Rockall, west of Scotland experienced the largest
waves ever recorded by scientific instruments in the open ocean. Under severe gale force conditions with wind speeds averaging
21 ms−1 a shipborne wave recorder measured individual waves up to 29.1 m from crest to trough, and a maximum significant wave height
of 18.5 m. The fully formed sea developed in unusual conditions as westerly winds blew across the North Atlantic for two days,
during which time a frontal system propagated at a speed close to the group velocity of the peak waves. The measurements are
compared to a wave hindcast (AES40, Swail and Cox, 2000) which successfully simulated the arrival of the wave group but underestimated
the most extreme waves.
Received 15
November
2005;
accepted 30
January
2006;
published 11
March
2006.
Index Terms: 4560 Oceanography: Physical: Surface waves and tides (1222); 4504 Oceanography: Physical: Air/sea interactions (0312, 3339); 4260 Oceanography: General: Ocean data assimilation and reanalysis (3225); 4294 Oceanography: General: Instruments and techniques; 4500 Oceanography: Physical.
Read Full Article (file size: 452730 bytes) Cited by
Citation: Holliday, N. P., M. J. Yelland, R. Pascal, V. R. Swail, P. K. Taylor, C. R. Griffiths, and E. Kent
(2006),
Were extreme waves in the Rockall Trough the largest ever recorded?,
Geophys. Res. Lett.,
33,
L05613,
doi:10.1029/2005GL025238.
Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.
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