Statistical analysis of wave parameters in the north coast of the Persian Gulf

In this study we have analysed wind and wave time series data resulting from hourly measurements on the sea surface in Bushehr, the northern part of the Persian Gulf, from 15 July to 4 August 2000. Wind speed (U10) ranged from 0.34 to 10.38 m/s as alternating sea and land breezes. The lowest wind speed occurs at about midnight and the highest at around noon. The calculated autocorrelation of wind speed data shows that when the sea-land breeze is strong, the land-sea breeze is weak and vice versa. The significant wave height (Hs) varies between 0.10 to 1.02 m. The data of the present study reflects mostly the local waves or the sea waves. The calculated correlation between wind and wave parameters is rather weak, due to the continuous change in the wind direction. Wave height distribution follows the well-known Rayleigh distribution law. The cross correlation analyses between U10 and Hs reveal a time lag of 4 h. Finally, we have shown that the time series of U10, Hs , and wave period are stationary. We have modeled these parameters by an auto regressive moving average (ARMA) and auto regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models.