Modeled and satellite-derived extreme wave height statistics in the North Atlantic Ocean reaching 20 m
• +4
• Takuji Waseda,
• Kaushik Sasmal,
• Tsubasa Kodaira,
• Yuki Kita,
• Rei Miratsu,
• Tingyao Zhu,
• Tsutomu Fukui
Takuji Waseda
University of Tokyo

Corresponding Author:waseda@k.u-tokyo.ac.jp

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Kaushik Sasmal
The University of Tokyo
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Tsubasa Kodaira
University of Tokyo
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Yuki Kita
MS&AD InterRisk Research & Consulting, Inc.
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Rei Miratsu
Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK)
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Tingyao Zhu
Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK)
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Tsutomu Fukui
Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK)
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## Abstract

Wave statistics of the North Atlantic Ocean, instrumental in designing merchant ships, were revisited by an in-house high-resolution 25-year wave hindcast (TodaiWW3-NK). The tail of the exceedance probability of $H_s$ was extended to 20 m and compared surprisingly well against the satellite altimeter. Moreover, we have found that the largest storm event in 25 years with the highest wave over 21 m in January 2014 significantly enhanced the tail of the $H_s$ distribution, which is a feature that was common among the three wave-hindcasts (ERA5/ECMWF, IOWAGA/IFREMER, and TodaiWW3-NK). Paradoxically, the satellite altimeter did not detect the $H_s$ at the peak of this storm. We found that extreme wave heights from models and satellites of three storms in 2007, 2011, and 2014 may deviate about a few meters among the estimates, particularly the altimeter having a large uncertainty. In-situ observations of the extreme wave events are urgently in need.