Were extreme waves in the Rockall Trough the largest ever recorded?

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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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