Wave Height Trends off Central West Coast of India

Wave height trends off three sites along 100 m and 20 m depth contours off the central west coast of India have been estimated using 46 years hindcast-wind-wave data simulated for the Indian Ocean region. The wind waves were simulated with NCEP/NCAR winds as input to a third generation spectral wind wave model. This study showed an increasing trend for the annual mean significant wave heights from south to north ranging between 0.25 and 0.36 cm/year. The wave heights during the southwest monsoon and fair weather periods were observed to have similar trends. The study also showed increasing trends in water depths of 20 m compared to that of 100 m water depth, wherein a maximum increase of 0.22 cm/year is observed.