Improving Wave Hindcast Information for the Great Lakes

The Wave Information Studies (WIS) at the U. S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) currently works on improving wave hindcast information for the Great Lakes. WIS has previously conducted the Great Lakes hindcast for 1956–1987. A recent update only covers Lake Michigan for 1988–1997. These hindcast studies were based on the deepwater wave modeling assumption that no shallow water effects were computed. Examining the previous hindcast results has shown notable bias in both wave height and period estimates. The bias is primarily caused by the poor quality of wind input information used in the hindcast. The present study is aimed at improving the wave hindcast using the newly generated wind field information that is considered to be more accurate and consistent in the long-term application. It is shown that to include shallow-water effects in the wave modeling is critical leading to accurate hindcast in the nearshore area.