Assessing Wave Climate Variability along with Large-Scale Climate Indices on the U.S. West Coast

Abstract

Wave variability and connections with climate indices along the U.S. West Coast were analyzed in this study. Monthly significant wave height data from five buoy stations that have an observation period ranging 18–37 years along with large-scale climate indices were used in the analysis. The dominant modes of significant wave height variability were determined using continuous wavelet transforms. There is a significant power at the annual scale during the whole measurement period of all stations. Cross-wavelet power spectra was used to explore the possible effects of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events on the wave climate variation. Correlation between the significant wave heights and large-scale climate indices at different temporal scales showed that there is a relationship between significant wave heights and indices. This finding indicates that positive ENSO events lead to larger wave heights in the region.