Wind and wave climate of the Sea of Marmara

A wind model based on the surface atmospheric pressure values recorded at the meteorological stations surrounding the basin is developed for the Sea of Marmara. The pressure values recorded at 14 stations are implemented. The pressure data is subjected to a quality control process to discard any value that seems to be incorrect. The pressure field over the whole basin is then constructed by using a surface fitting method. The gradient of the surface representing the pressure field is used to compute the geostrophic wind which is then reduced to the 10-meter height (surface wind) using an empirical reduction matrix. The model has been verified using offshore measured wind data for the months of September 1990 and January 1991. The model results show reasonably good fit to the measurements with an RMS error of about 3.5 m/s and a bias of about - 0.5 m/s. The third generation WAM model is used for wave computations. Continuous computations of wind and wave fields over the Sea of Marmara were carried out for the years 1991-1994 (both inclusive). The long-term (operational) wind and wave statistics were performed using this data set.