Waves and Climate Change on the Australian Coast

Abstract

HEMER, M.A.; CHURCH, J.A. and HUNTER, J.R., 2007. Waves and climate change on the Australian coast, SI 50 (Proceedings of the 9th International Coastal Symposium), 432 – 437. Gold Coast, Australia, ISSN 0749.0208. There is a need to plan for the impacts of coastal erosion in response to climate change Australia-wide. A deepwater wave climatology of the Australian region is determined, which is required as boundary conditions for coastal wave models. Available wave data for the Australian region has been analysed to determine the mean climatology and interannual variability of mean significant wave height. Available data includes global wave model output from the ECMWF 45-yr re-analysis, ERA-40; corrected ERA-40 wave heights and the NOAA WaveWatch III operational wave model; satellite altimetry measurements; and data from a network of 30 waverider buoys surrounding the Australian coast located on the inner-mid continental shelf and some short-term deep-water wave-rider buoy deployments. These data have been analysed to determine the long-term mean, annual cycle and interannual variability of the mean Australian wave climate. Correlation with a number of climate indices in the Australian region indicate that southern ocean wind anomalies are a dominant mechanism responsible for variability of wave climate in the region. Correlation between monthly mean significant wave heights and the Southern Oscillation Index is significant along Australia’s eastern margin. ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS: Climatology, waves, Australia