Characterization of extreme wave fields during Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones
The Mediterranean Sea is a primary source of food, ecosystem services and economic activities and one of the most active cyclogenetic regions in the world, where the influence of orographic and morphological features of the relatively small basin plays an important role. Together with the explosive...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1268830/full |
| _version_ | 1827387858878464000 |
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| author | Silvio Davison Alvise Benetazzo Francesco Barbariol Antonio Ricchi Antonio Ricchi Rossella Ferretti Rossella Ferretti |
| author_facet | Silvio Davison Alvise Benetazzo Francesco Barbariol Antonio Ricchi Antonio Ricchi Rossella Ferretti Rossella Ferretti |
| author_sort | Silvio Davison |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Mediterranean Sea is a primary source of food, ecosystem services and economic activities and one of the most active cyclogenetic regions in the world, where the influence of orographic and morphological features of the relatively small basin plays an important role. Together with the explosive cyclogenesis, tropical-like cyclones (also called Mediterranean Hurricanes or Medicanes) are among the strongest types of storms that can be found in the Mediterranean basin, occurring predominantly in the Ionian, Balearic and Tyrrhenian sub-basins. Similarly to tropical cyclones (Hurricanes or Typhoons), these cyclonic structures are characterized by strong rotating and translating wind fields, which often lead to a combination of remotely generated swell waves and locally generated wind waves, often referred to as crossing sea states. Despite the well-known potential of Medicanes to cause significant damage near islands and coastal zones, which is predicted to intensify as a result of climate change, to date the characterization of maximum individual waves generated during these events is still lacking. In this study, we carry out the first analysis of the large-scale geographical distribution of wave maxima within the wave fields generated during three recent Medicane events using the WAVEWATCH III® spectral wave model forced by ERA5 reanalysis winds, also investigating the influence of crossing sea states on the maximum wave amplitudes with novel statistical formulations developed for such conditions. Our results show that, as in the case of tropical cyclones, several regions of the cyclone field are characterized by crossing sea states, whose role in the formation of the maximum individual waves occurring near the eye of the storm was found to be confined. Furthermore, extreme wave predictions accounting for the local crossing conditions yield differences up to 5% compared to standard statistical distributions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T16:09:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6684271efba44c5a84e5d4741b9e8b78 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T16:09:21Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-6684271efba44c5a84e5d4741b9e8b782024-01-08T04:15:13ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452024-01-011010.3389/fmars.2023.12688301268830Characterization of extreme wave fields during Mediterranean tropical-like cyclonesSilvio Davison0Alvise Benetazzo1Francesco Barbariol2Antonio Ricchi3Antonio Ricchi4Rossella Ferretti5Rossella Ferretti6Istituto di Scienze Marine (ISMAR), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Venice, ItalyIstituto di Scienze Marine (ISMAR), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Venice, ItalyIstituto di Scienze Marine (ISMAR), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Venice, ItalyDepartment of Physics and Chemical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L’Aquila, ItalyCenter of Excellence in Telesensing of Environment and Model Prediction of Severe Events (CETEMPS), L’Aquila, ItalyDepartment of Physics and Chemical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L’Aquila, ItalyCenter of Excellence in Telesensing of Environment and Model Prediction of Severe Events (CETEMPS), L’Aquila, ItalyThe Mediterranean Sea is a primary source of food, ecosystem services and economic activities and one of the most active cyclogenetic regions in the world, where the influence of orographic and morphological features of the relatively small basin plays an important role. Together with the explosive cyclogenesis, tropical-like cyclones (also called Mediterranean Hurricanes or Medicanes) are among the strongest types of storms that can be found in the Mediterranean basin, occurring predominantly in the Ionian, Balearic and Tyrrhenian sub-basins. Similarly to tropical cyclones (Hurricanes or Typhoons), these cyclonic structures are characterized by strong rotating and translating wind fields, which often lead to a combination of remotely generated swell waves and locally generated wind waves, often referred to as crossing sea states. Despite the well-known potential of Medicanes to cause significant damage near islands and coastal zones, which is predicted to intensify as a result of climate change, to date the characterization of maximum individual waves generated during these events is still lacking. In this study, we carry out the first analysis of the large-scale geographical distribution of wave maxima within the wave fields generated during three recent Medicane events using the WAVEWATCH III® spectral wave model forced by ERA5 reanalysis winds, also investigating the influence of crossing sea states on the maximum wave amplitudes with novel statistical formulations developed for such conditions. Our results show that, as in the case of tropical cyclones, several regions of the cyclone field are characterized by crossing sea states, whose role in the formation of the maximum individual waves occurring near the eye of the storm was found to be confined. Furthermore, extreme wave predictions accounting for the local crossing conditions yield differences up to 5% compared to standard statistical distributions.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1268830/fullextreme wavesspace-time extreme statisticscrossing seastropical-like cyclonesMedicanesMediterranean Sea |
| spellingShingle | Silvio Davison Alvise Benetazzo Francesco Barbariol Antonio Ricchi Antonio Ricchi Rossella Ferretti Rossella Ferretti Characterization of extreme wave fields during Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones Frontiers in Marine Science extreme waves space-time extreme statistics crossing seas tropical-like cyclones Medicanes Mediterranean Sea |
| title | Characterization of extreme wave fields during Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones |
| title_full | Characterization of extreme wave fields during Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones |
| title_fullStr | Characterization of extreme wave fields during Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characterization of extreme wave fields during Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones |
| title_short | Characterization of extreme wave fields during Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones |
| title_sort | characterization of extreme wave fields during mediterranean tropical like cyclones |
| topic | extreme waves space-time extreme statistics crossing seas tropical-like cyclones Medicanes Mediterranean Sea |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1268830/full |
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