Chun, H. and Ahn, K., 2017. Storm waves on the east coast of Korea: 20 years of wave hindcasting.

This paper presents 20 years of wave hindcasting in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) to estimate return periods of storm waves at the east coast of South Korea for coastal risk management. The numerical results were validated against the measured data obtained at eight wave stations in the East Sea. The comparison of correlation coefficients of significant wave heights and wave periods, 0.81–0.95 and 0.70–0.88, respectively, between the numerical results and the measured data shows good agreement. Note that the numerical results agree well with the measurements despite the large computational grid size used. The storm waves on February 2008 were successfully simulated in the present study, and the computed peak periods at Gangneung Port showed good agreement with those measured, even though the coefficients of whitecapping dissipation were not modified. On the basis of 20 years of wave hindcasting results, extreme wave analysis was carried out using the peak-over-threshold method and the generalized Pareto distribution function. According to the extreme wave analysis, significant wave heights occurred at Sokcho and Gangneung on 23 October 2006, and were estimated to have a return period of 100 years. It was found that the waves generated by Typhoon Nabi (T0514) were the most severe in the East Sea during the simulation period. During this typhoon period, a 50-year wave appeared at Pohang, the southern East Sea.