The Development of a 40 Year Wave Climate for the Entire Chilean Coastline

In March of 2001, The Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy (SHOA — Servicio Hidrográfico y Oceanográfico de La Armada de Chile) embarked on a comprehensive wave modelling programme with the objective of developing a 40 year deepwater wave database over the entire Chilean coastline. It was recognized that the institutionalization of a high quality reliable deepwater wave database will result in improved engineering and lower investment costs of coastal and marine infrastructure. This paper and presentation will provide a detailed description of this comprehensive coastal engineering initiative known as "Olas Chile". A focal point of the paper will be the development of a long-term hindcast of Pacific Ocean wave conditions for the entire coastline of Chile using the 2^nd generation wave model known as WAVAD. Emphasis will be placed on the bi-modal nature of the wave climate in the South Pacific due to the presence of both northern and southern hemisphere swells, the resulting importance of an accurate development of the bi-dimensional (2D) wave energy spectrum (or directional spectrum) in deepwater required to adequately describe the directional characteristics of the operational wave climate, and the necessity to spectrally transfer the 2D spectra using a frequency-direction transfer function.