Wave Energy Disbalance as Generator of Extreme Wave Occurrence in Semi-Enclosed Coastal Waters (Example of Rijeka Bay—Croatia)

The conditions for the occurrence of high waves in front of the Rijeka port in the Rijeka Bay were analyzed. The analysis was carried out on the basis of measured data on the wave rider station located in front of the main breakwater of the port of Rijeka and the results of numerical wave generation modelings for the wider sea area on the spatial scale of the Adriatic basin. The results of the conducted analysis show that the sudden transition in wind direction from the third to the second quadrant (and vice versa), with the simultaneous rapid increase in wind speed, creates the conditions for generating the largest waves in front of the port of Rijeka. The main reason for achieving the highest wave height in these conditions is the unbalanced wind power input with non-developed surface dissipation (white-capping) and quadruplet wave interaction. Situations with a slower increase in wind speed and approximately constant wind direction resulted in the occurrence of smaller wave heights. The direct application of anemometric data for the forcing wind field in the Adriatic basin within the wave generation model results in a more accurate simulation of wave height and wave period development than application of the wind field from the prediction atmospheric model Aladin-Hr. This is due to the fact that the site is located in a semi-enclosed sea area of restricted fetch, and the spatial/temporal resolution of atmospheric data (2 km and 3 h) is not sufficient to resolve the rapid transition in the wind field. In the case of direct application of anemometric data, the white-capping parameterization should be of a non-stationary character.