Comprehensive wave climate analysis of the Uruguayan coast

A detailed analysis of how the wave climate gradually varies from the Atlantic coast to the Rio de la Plata (RDP) estuary coast of Uruguay is undertaken, exploiting a recently developed high-resolution wave hindcast. As a better knowledge and understanding of the wave climate along the coast is a valuable tool for coastal scientist and managers for analyzing and interpreting its dynamics, a comprehensive approach is taken in this work, exploring not only the behavior of integral wave parameters but also average wave spectra and wave systems obtained from spectra partitioning. Moreover, as the focus is made on coastal areas, the magnitude and direction of the wave energy flux are analyzed as well. It is found that the analysis of the wave climate sustains the division of the Uruguayan coast in three main regions, namely, Atlantic, Outer RDP, and Intermediate and Inner RDP. In the Atlantic coast, two swell systems and a wind sea system are identified, and spatial changes in the wave climate are driven mainly by changes on coastal orientation, where La Paloma was identified as a breaking point; in the RDP, swell systems strongly refracts and dissipates, resulting in a wave climate characterized by one to none swell systems and a wind sea system, with bathymetry and geometry of the estuary playing a major role in the spatial changes of the wave climate. The analysis allowed not only to identify several characteristics of each of the regions but also to better understand how different wave systems (sea and swells) explain these characteristics in the different regions.