RT journal article
T1 Winter wave climate, storms and regional cycles: the SW Spanish Atlantic coast
A1 Rangel-Buitrago, N
A1 Anfuso Melfi, Giorgio
A2 Ciencias de la Tierra
K1 waves
K1 storm
K1 power index
K1 teleconnection patterns
K1 Cadiz
K1 Spain
AB Climatic change-related impacts on coastal areas became an important issue in past decades and nowadaysthreaten many human settlements and activities. Coastal hazards are linked to flooding and erosion processes associatedwith sea level rise and the increased strength of hurricanes, cyclones and storms. The main aim of this work is thecharacterization of coastal storms in Cadiz (SW Spain) and the determination of their recurrence intervals and relationshipswith several regional cycles. Storm characterization was carried out using the Storm Power Index (Dolan and Davis, 1992)and five classes were obtained, from class I (weak events) to V (extreme events). Storm occurrence probability was 96%for class I (i.e. almost one event per year) to 3% for class V. The return period for class V was 25 years and ranged from6 to 8 years for classes III and IV storms, e.g. significant and severe events. Classes I and II showed a period of recurrenceranging from 1 to 3 years. Stormy winter seasons were 2009/10 (12 events), 1995/6 and 2002/3 (with 10 events each) and1993/4 (8 events). Approximately 40% of the change in monthly wave data and storminess indices was related to severalteleconnection patterns, the most important drivers of change being the Arctic Oscillation (AO), 21.45%, and the NorthAtlantic Oscillation (NAO), 19.65%. It is interesting to note that a great number of storms, larger storm duration andhigher values of Storm Power Index were only observed when neutral to strong negative NAO and AO phases occurred atthe same time (89 storms and 3355 h) and/or when there was an abrupt change of NAO and AO phases, i.e. they movedfrom a positive to negative phase without passing through a neutral phase. The results obtained in this work have widerapplications for ocean and coastal management. It is suggested that methodology used can be easily applied in differentareas where wave buoy data are available. In the same way, information obtained with this kind of work constitutes thefirst step in the development of coastal protection plans to preserve socio-economic activities from the impact of severestorm events.
PB Royal Meterological Society
SN 0899-8418
YR 2013
FD 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/15905
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/15905
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 14-nov-2026