Wave modelling in the PROMISE project

The primary objective of the EC-MAST III project PROMISE (Pre-Operational M odelling In the Seas of Europe) is to develop a framework to optimise the a pplication of existing pre-operational dynamical models of the North Sea in order to quantify the rates and scales of the exchange of sediments betwee n the coast and the near-shore zone. This framework should also be applicab le to other coastal areas and for broader management applications. One of t he components of this framework is the development and the dissemination of a spectral wave model capable of dealing with shallow watt's conditions an d with the interaction between tide and waves. At the beginning of the proj ect, it was opted to improve the capabilities of the WAM-Cycle 4 model, a m odel which is considered state of this art at least for deep and intermedia te water depths. Three milestones were set: waves on shelf scale, waves on coastal scale and waves interacting with tides on coastal scale. Waves on s helf scale have been studied through an intercomparison exercise between di fferent implementations at the different participating institutes. For wave modelling in coastal regions where usually shallow water conditions prevai l and high spatial resolution is needed, considerable enhancements to the W AM-Cycle 4 model have: been made so that the model has become practically a pplicable. Waves interacting with tide forms the last part. This part of th e study is still in progress and will be completed by the end of the 3-year PROMISE project. The wave influence on suspended sediment transport on a r egional scale is discussed, notably the approximation of wave effects in th e process description. The resuspension and deposition of sediments is repr esented by a pragmatic and efficient approach to include wave effects throu gh the characteristic influences of wind variations, shielding effects and wave attenuation. Data are essential for wave modelling verification as for any other modelling verification. Both the use of data from the far field and the near field are discussed. An overview is given of the data sets tha t will he disseminated through the PROMISE project. These sets include data available from mainly national research campaigns supplemented by data fro m remote sensing and model data. These data sets are expected to provide us eful information for the research community to test their models. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.