Swell Conditions at Potential Sites for the Colombian Antarctic Research Station

• Published in: Sustainability
• Main Authors: Serguei Lonin, Wilson A. Rios-Angulo, Jairo Coronado
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2022
• Subjects: Antarctic Station; Bransfield Strait; South Shetland Islands; swell; wave model; Environmental effects of industries and plants; TD194-195; Renewable energy sources; TJ807-830; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Antarctic; Livingston Island; South Bay; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14042318; https://doaj.org/article/bdaf3862dc2046e688e0feec1a508056

The objective of this paper was to characterize swell conditions in the coastal zone of the South Shetland Islands, where our preliminary analyses evaluated potential locations for the Colombian scientific station. The Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN) spectral model was implemented for the Bransfield Strait. The boundary conditions were selected by a cluster analysis of the wave climate from global hindcasting obtained with the WAVEWATCH III model. Some comparisons between the model and wavemeter measurements were made. The results demonstrated that optimal sea state conditions for the scientific base are present in the South Bay, Livingston Island.