Abstract's details
Spatiotemporal Variability of Ocean Surface Waves in the Argentine Continental Shelf - SWOT Mission Contribution
Event: 2025 SWOT Science Team Meeting
Session: Oceanography: Wind and Waves
Presentation type: Poster
Abstract poster:
Waves are a key parameter in ocean dynamics. Studies of wave dynamics are essential for many domains, such as navigation, coastal design, or biodiversity management. However, such knowledge is limited or remains insufficient along the southeastern South American coast, mostly because of a lack of accurate in situ measurements to validate model and satellite data. This study aims to evaluate the performance of models and several satellite altimetry missions to measure significant wave heights (SWH) thanks to in situ datasets collected from 2019 to 2025 at four offshore platforms located between 11 km and 80 km from the coast in southern Patagonia. Special attention is given to the recent SWOT mission, including its CalVal and Science phases. Several statistical metrics were computed, and their comparisons show strong agreement between model/satellite data and in situ observations (up to 0.99 correlation, down to 0.14 RMSE), especially at offshore sites. Seasonal analyses reveal higher SWH in winter than in summer, and spatial variability shows stronger offshore waves. By comparing waves and wind roses, the results reveal a constant wind direction year-round but a changing wave direction seasonally, suggesting dominance of wind waves in summer and swell in winter. A winter swell event was analysed using wave period criteria and backtracking techniques. Future work will focus on understanding swell origin more precisely, exploring tide-wave interaction, particularly at the stations closer to the coast, and current-wave interactions. This research highlights the potential of the SWOT mission for wave monitoring and improves our understanding of wave climate in a poorly observed but dynamically complex region. This work is a contribution to the TOSTO OSTST project.
Back to the list of abstractWaves are a key parameter in ocean dynamics. Studies of wave dynamics are essential for many domains, such as navigation, coastal design, or biodiversity management. However, such knowledge is limited or remains insufficient along the southeastern South American coast, mostly because of a lack of accurate in situ measurements to validate model and satellite data. This study aims to evaluate the performance of models and several satellite altimetry missions to measure significant wave heights (SWH) thanks to in situ datasets collected from 2019 to 2025 at four offshore platforms located between 11 km and 80 km from the coast in southern Patagonia. Special attention is given to the recent SWOT mission, including its CalVal and Science phases. Several statistical metrics were computed, and their comparisons show strong agreement between model/satellite data and in situ observations (up to 0.99 correlation, down to 0.14 RMSE), especially at offshore sites. Seasonal analyses reveal higher SWH in winter than in summer, and spatial variability shows stronger offshore waves. By comparing waves and wind roses, the results reveal a constant wind direction year-round but a changing wave direction seasonally, suggesting dominance of wind waves in summer and swell in winter. A winter swell event was analysed using wave period criteria and backtracking techniques. Future work will focus on understanding swell origin more precisely, exploring tide-wave interaction, particularly at the stations closer to the coast, and current-wave interactions. This research highlights the potential of the SWOT mission for wave monitoring and improves our understanding of wave climate in a poorly observed but dynamically complex region. This work is a contribution to the TOSTO OSTST project.