Influence of wind on wave heights in the Kazakh Caspian Sea

Yeltay Aizat^1,2*, Natalya Ivkina², Bjørn Kløve³

¹Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, Faculty of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Kazakh National University after named al-Farabi, Republic of Kazakhstan

²Department of Hydrometeorological Research of the Caspian Sea, Research Center, Republican State Enterprise “Kazhydromet”, Republic of Kazakhstan

³Water, Energy and Environmental Engineering Research Unit, Faculty of Technology, University of Oulu, Finland

*Corresponding autor: yeltay_aizat@mail.ru

Bjørn Kløve: bjorn.klove@oulu.fi; Natalya Ivkina: n_ivkina@mail.ru.

January 10, 2020

Research paper

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 CaspianSea.

How to cite: Aizat, Y., Ivkina, N., & Kløve, B. (2019). Influence of wind on wave heights in the Kazakh Caspian Sea. Central Asian Journal of Water Research, 5(1), 58–70. https://doi.org/10.29258/cajwr/2019-r1.v5-1/58-70.eng

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