Nearshore SWAN model sensitivities to measured and modelled offshore wave scenarios at an embayed beach compartment, NSW, Australia

Abstract

Spectral wave modelling is a common dynamical approach to transform offshore wave climates to the nearshore zone for coastal hazard definition and engineering design. Knowledge of model limitations and sensitivities are thus of paramount importance to appropriate use for coastal engineering. This study reports the calibration and nearshore sensitivities of a SWAN model at Wamberal-Terrigal on the central Neiv South Wales coast, when the model is forced with wave information from a regional WaveWatch III (WW-III) model, compared to model forcing from simultaneous offshore buoy observations. S WAN achieved good results for nearshore ivave heights (R2 = 0.86, RMSE = 0.2 m), but under-estimated ..