Recurrence of Storm Waves in the Sea of Azov according to Modeling

The storm activity in the Sea of Azov from 1982 to 2020 is analyzed. The data on the wind wave parameters have been obtained using the WAVEWATCH III model and NCEP/CFSR/CFSv2 reanalysis. The ESA SST CCI and C3S analysis was chosen as a source of data on sea ice concentration. The calculations were performed on an unstructured computational grid with a spatial resolution of 3–5 km for the open part of the Sea of Azov and 200–400 m along the coast. Analysis of the frequency of storm waves with a height of 2–3 m has been carried out. An average significant wave height equal to 0.6–0.65 m is observed in the center of the sea. The maximum significant wave height for the entire simulation period is 3.42 m. A significant negative trend has been found for storms with the wave height above 2 m. A positive significant trend has been revealed for the average annual wave height in the western part of the sea.