Influence of wind on wave heights in the Kazakh Caspian Sea

Abstract

With the development of shipping in the Caspian Sea, the need for high-quality data on wave characteristics has increased. In the present work, the analysis of maximum wave height at coastal stations in Kazakhstan was carried out using wave and wind data and numerical modeling with the SWAN model. The influence of stationary wind and its direction on the wave height was determined. The results show that the changes in the parameters of the wind wave depend on the wind speed and direction. At wind speeds below 10 m/s, the predicted wave height can reach 3 m in the Middle Caspian basin. In the Northern Caspian basin, where the depths are shallow, the waves do not exceed 2 m. The study output produced the first wind zoning map for the Kazakh part of the Caspian Sea.