A NEW METHOD OF RETURN PERIOD WAVE HEIGHT CALCULATION
推算波浪多年一遇波高的新方法

Wave heights of different return periods are one of the most important design parameters for ocean engineering. Traditional two practices of return period wave height acquisition are based upon observation data analysis and numerical simulation. The main problems for the two methods in the practical use are difficult to obtain the extreme value wave height sequences of successive 15 years. However, the development of satellite remote sensing is making up the defects of the above mentioned methods. Now altimeter and synthetic aperture radar are difficult to be used to make calculation of return period wave heights due to poor resolution and repetition rate, but scatterometer can offer wind fields of large area and long periods. In this study scatterometer wind data, for the first time, are used to calculate return period wave heights in combination with effective wind wave relation available in the Bohai sea. It is demonstrated that the differences of wave heights calculated by satellite data and measured data for the return period of 100 years and 50 years are 20cm, respectively, which shows that the developed approach of using scatterometer wind data to calculate return period wave heights for the Bohai sea is practicable and reasonable. However, for a high spatial resolution return period wave height fields in the coastal area of China seas, it is necessary to combine satellite remote sensing method with some method of coastal wave propagation calculation.