Wind-Wave Prediction and Design Wave Climate

The most dynamic part of the ocean environment is the wind-wave. It has the maximum energy content among all the ambient environmental forces in the ocean. The prediction of such wave climate is of prime importance for various scientific and engineering applications. It is possible to estimate the integrated wave parameters through analytical equations in an unbounded domain with constant wind fields but it requires numerical models for the prediction over complex domain and varying wind conditions. It is always required to establish the operational wave climate for several day-to-day activities and extreme wave climate for the estimate of the design wave. In this chapter, a brief introduction to the historical understanding on the prediction of wave climate to the state-of-the art numerical wave models is presented. The extraction of design wave climate is highlighted.