A Study of Singapore Harbor-Changi Airport Wave Climatology as Determined by a New Coastal Wave Model

Abstract : A study of the wave climatology at Singapore Harbor near Changi Airport is presented to aid in determining the safety of US Navy ships in the area. Since Major wave events in Singapore Harbor mostly occur during the Northeast Monsoon season (November - March), our study focuses on this period. In order to choose a suitable wave model to generate the climatology , a comparison of results between the State-of-Art Wave Model (WAM) and the New Coastal Wave Model (WM) during the period of December 11, 1985 and Jan 13, 1986 was preformed. In deep water, the difference between the results of the two models is not significant. However,in shallow water the results differ significantly. The significant wave height at Singapore Harbor calculated by the NCWM is about 3 times greater than at calculated by AM. The buoy data agree well with the NCWM Model results. As Lin and Huan (1996b) pointed out, WAM misrepresents the coastal-trapped waves. The coastal trapped waves are highly dependent on both wave-current and wave-wave interactions. Based on the above test, the NCWM was chosen to generate the wave climatology. The wind input and current distribution for the model are based on thirty years of data. The climatology shows that the highest an longest waves occur during the month of February.