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Were extreme waves in the Rockall Trough the largest ever recorded?
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Climate Research Division, Environment Canada, Downsview, Ontario, Canada
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Scottish Association for Marine Science, Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory, Oban, UK
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
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.
Citation: (2006), Were extreme waves in the Rockall Trough the largest ever recorded?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L05613, doi:10.1029/2005GL025238.
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