Stormy Wave Analysis Based on Recorded Field Data on South-East Coasts of Queensland, Australia

Abstract

Global warming has lead to a likely increase in the potential of cyclones and storm wind impacts on coastal zones. The behaviour of storm waves in the nearshore is thus one of the most important factors in carrying out risk management and mitigation processes. This paper focuses on the analysis of storm wave data collected in across surfzone during by Cyclone Hamish in 2009. The data was collected by means of a manometer tube system and were analyzed by two different method namely wave-by-wave time domain approach and frequency domain approach. The data is then used to evaluate existing empirical surfzone wave transformation formulae and provides a reliable base for developing more detailed storm wave transformation models.