Wave climate and energy resources in American Samoa from a 42-year high-resolution hindcast

Gabriel García Medina, Zhaoqing Yang, Ning Li, Kwok Fai Cheung and Elinor Lutu-McMoore

Renewable Energy, 2023, vol. 210, issue C, 604-617

Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of the wave climate and a characterization of the wave energy resources in American Samoa, a U.S. territory covering seven south central Pacific islands and atolls. A numerical wave model based on WAVEWATCH III® and unstructured SWAN was developed, validated, and executed for 1979–2020 to generate a hindcast dataset suitable for resource characterization. Model-data comparisons were performed with measurements collected in situ and from satellite-based altimeters. The model was found to perform well with a bias in significant wave height of −0.14 m and −0.06 m against buoy and altimeters, respectively. The multimodal sea state of American Samoa is investigated by identifying the sources of energy reaching the islands and partitioning the wave spectrum accordingly. The wave resources characterization follows the International Electrotechnical Commission Technical Specifications to be compatible with studies performed for other U.S. regions. The average omnidirectional wave power at 2 km from shore around Tutuila, the main island of American Samoa, is 14 kW/m. Locations east and west of the islands have a more consistent resource throughout the year because the northwest and southwest swells that are dominant during different seasons complement each other.

Keywords: Wave energy resources; Wave climate; American Samoa; SWAN; WAVEWATCH III® (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096014812300318X
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:210:y:2023:i:c:p:604-617

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2023.03.031

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable Energy is currently edited by Soteris A. Kalogirou and Paul Christodoulides

More articles in Renewable Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().