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Sea extreme events affect the integrity and operation of the offshore structures, then, it is important to analyze wind-waves-currents loads over the structural dynamics. Traditional offshore designing identifies structural parameters with certain limitations: physical modeling involves using shaking tables in dry conditions; numerical simulations have not sufficiently considered the effects of combined extreme waves-wind-current loads over the structure and the significance of the near and far hydrodynamic field over the structure. The non-linear interactions in the near hydrodynamic field generate viscous damping that modifies the dynamic structural parameters of the offshore structures. The traditional determination of structural parameters considers the hydrodynamic forces computed from wave records, omitting fluid-structure interactions that could generate unexpected damped periods and amplification peaks. This study applied physical modeling to determine floating structural parameters, considering combined loads and the effect of far and near hydrodynamic field in the fluid-structure interaction. The calculated transfer functions in the near hydrodynamic field revealed the highest amplification of the structural accelerations, and the transfer functions in the far field did not evidence structural resonance. Finally, this study recommends measuring the near hydrodynamic field and applying DOE-ANOVA for offshore designing to assess the viscous damping that may provoke dangerous structural amplifications.

The spatial distribution, and the monthly and seasonal variability of mesoscale eddy observations derived from the AVISO eddy atlas are assessed in the Caribbean Sea during 1993–2019. The average lifetime for the whole set of eddies is 62 ± 37 days, mean amplitude of 7 ± 4 cm for cyclonic and 7 ± 4 cm for anticyclonic and mean radius of 100 ± 31 km for cyclonic and 108 ± 32 km for anticyclonic. Cyclonic eddies are on average more nonlinear than anticyclonic ones. The spatio-temporal variability in the number of eddy observations is evaluated against the Mean Eddy Kinetic Energy (MEKE) derived from geostrophic currents as well as from seasonal winds. Spatial distribution of eddy observations is correlated with MEKE while the migration of the intertropical convergence zone explains the advection of eddies towards the southern part of the basin., Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. JMS received the joint funding from the Generalitat Valenciana and the European Social Fund under Grant APOSTD/2020/254. AO received financial support from projects Mocca and Lamarca (grants # RTI2018-093941-B-C31 and PID2021-123352OB-C31) funded by MCIN/AEI/ and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”, and from Fundación Iberostar and Université de Toulon-VAR. MELA is funded by Corporación CE-Marin through Convocatoria 14, 2018 supporting PhD candidates.

This paper addresses the current status and future research and development perspectives associated with technologies to harness offshore renewable energy, including offshore wind, waves, tides, ocean currents, and thermal and salinity gradient, in South America (SA). It focuses on five countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Uruguay. At first, a comprehensive survey presents the number of scientific papers classified based on the resource to show the tendency and importance of such subjects in the academic community. Each country’s electricity matrix and grid connection are shown to understand the region’s renewable source participation situation. The potential of offshore renewable resources is addressed by considering the published technical papers in scientific journals. The main conflicts and synergies associated with ocean space utilization are presented by considering the exclusive economic zone of each country. The status of the regulatory frameworks to promote and development of offshore renewable energies is presented. Two sections are dedicated to presenting the active, decommissioned and planned projects, research groups and laboratory infrastructures to develop the technologies. The last section discusses the future perspectives on the development of this sector in SA. It is observed that SA, with more than 25,000 km of coastline, has a great potential for offshore renewable energy; however, so far, these resources have not been explored commercially. Larger investment in the sector, establishing an adequate legal framework and deploying full-scale demonstration projects at sea are necessary for the commercialization of such technologies in SA.

In this work, the backward wave breaking process by the presence of flow separation vortices under a solitary wave is studied. Based on a set of non-dimensional variables defined from the Buckingham Π theorem, a set of numerical experiments are performed in order to analyze the effect of varying the submerged obstacle geometry on the surrounding flow and free surface by using a RANS-VOF model. Model simulations are tested against available experiments showing a good performance of numerical results. The structure-submergence ratio and the structure-based Reynolds number modulate the type of breaking (collapsing-plunging). The structure aspect ratio defines the location and number of backward breaking points for rectangular structures and the breaking wave direction for triangular structures (either forward or backward). Moreover, when the flow separation vortex diameter is comparable to the local water depth a backward wave breaking process is originated. The vortex behaves as a rigid body that accelerates the flow at the upper side of the vortex, accumulating mass at the downstream side where a very large slope on the free surface makes the water fall backward due to gravity., A. Cáceres-Euse wants to thank COLCIENCIAS for the scholarship #647. A. Orfila thanks financial support from LAMARCA Project (PID2021-123352OB-C31) funded by MCIN/AEI/ and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”. I. Hernández-Carrasco is supported by the TRITOP Project (UIB2021-PD06) funded by the Universidad de las Islas Baleares – FEDER (UE) . M. Wyssmann thanks support by the Chancellor’s Fellowship awarded by the University of Tennessee at Knoxville

Some branched corals are capable of surviving in wave/current exposed areas with moderate to high energy environments, where their branches, their geometry and the global and rigid structure of their colonies play an important role for wave damping due to bottom friction and wave energy dissipation due to turbulence. Constant frictional coefficients are commonly used within wave propagation models to consider reef roughness but without accounting for the type of coral species, its topological characteristics, form and distribution over the reef surface. In this sense, this study aims to improve the understanding of near-bed hydrodynamics in coral reefs by examining the drag and inertia coefficients of branched coral colonies of Acropora palmata. Laboratory tests were carried out considering steady and oscillatory flow conditions. In-line forces, flow velocities and water surface elevations over 3-D models of Acropora palmata were recorded for both a single coral colony and a group of corals. Additionally, the validated open source CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) toolbox OpenFOAM® was used to simulate the hydrodynamic performance over the coral structures for a wide range of wave heights and periods. The results show that under steady flow conditions, the drag coefficient ( C D ) can be well represented as a function of the Reynolds number (Re) by means of a power law equation as C D = aRe b +c. Also, under oscillatory flow conditions, it was found that the inertia force ( F M ) dominates over the drag component ( F D ), explaining more than 84% of the total force exerted on the coral structure. Prediction formulas were developed and validated with the laboratory test to predict the resistance coefficients (drag and inertia) as function of Keulegan and Carpenter number (KC) for the C D (R 2 = 0 .89) and C M (R 2 = 0 .92). The CFD modeling showed to be an alternative for the modeling of the hydrodynamic forces exerted over complex coral shapes and to analyze the fluid–structure interaction around natural structures.

Tropical countries have island and continental ecosystems of great value for tourism, fisheries and also for their conservation development potential. These natural habitats, including among other beaches, seagrass beds, mangrove forests and coral reefs can dissipate wave energy acting as barriers against high waves and high water levels to eventually protect coastal infrastructure and communities. However, in recent decades, they have been subject to strong anthropic pressure and extreme events due to natural causes as well as to climate change. Therefore, the global trend is to understand the eco-systemic services that these natural environments can provide and their economic value in terms of reducing damages caused by coastal erosion and flooding. A methodological framework is presented in order to quantify the impact of natural ecosystems in coastal protection and their environmental assessment based on numerical models available in the literature. In addition to the methodology, a study of a typical Caribbean fringing coral reef and its response to different sea level rise and extreme events scenarios was conducted. The contribution of these efforts from a technological and scientific point of view, lies in the integration of different disciplines required to combine the physical properties of hydrodynamic studies with biological factors as an input to provide practical socio-economic and environmental solutions in those regions in which these ecosystems predominate. Furthermore, a numerical modeling tool to study wave energy dissipation, focusing the analysis on the impact of natural ecosystems (coral reefs) on coastal erosion and flooding was implemented. This information will help coastal managers and decision-makers understand the coastal protection services provided by nearshore habitats in order to improve and design new coastal development strategies under global change scenarios.

Coastal ecosystems like coral barrier reefs and mangrove forests have been designated as environments in need of protection. This is not only because they are threatened by climate change, but also because of the important role they play in coastal protection. Some field studies based on Rhizophora mangrove trees have analyzed the force induced by water flow over their roots and the wave dissipation capacity of these trees under tidal regimes and sea waves. Various methods have been used to calculate energy dissipation in the past, but these do not include the drag coefficient (CD) with field data calibration. The study presented here was conducted to investigate the capacity of a small natural Rhizophora mangrove patch (at experimental scale) located on Isla Grande in the Colombian Caribbean Sea to mitigate wave energy. The total energy dissipation, including the slope bottom and the effects of vegetation, was calculated. Parametric equations were used to calculate the effects of vegetation. The drag force (FD) was computed using Morrison’s equation and the CD was calculated using Mazda’s method. The results show a mean energy dissipation difference of 9.6% between the energy balance and dissipation coefficients where the CD was calculated for each sea state. The dissipation coefficients were calculated with constant CD values (0.06, 3.48 and 6.90). None of the three cases could explain the 90.4% energy flux, as in the case of vegetation dissipation (Dveg) with calculated and non-constant CD values. Despite the small size of the mangrove patch, the results show an increase in the CD (with values of up to 7.9) as a result of lower values of the Reynolds number (Re) (about 7.3 × 105). This demonstrates experimentally the role that even a small patch of mangrove vegetation plays in attenuating sea waves (as CD is a function of sea states), and higher magnitudes were obtained than those recorded in the literature using other vegetation types. A nonlinear contribution to energy flow by bottom dissipation and vegetation dissipation was observed. Our results highlight the need to scale measurements up to forest level in order to accurately quantify the impact of mangrove vegetation on wave attenuation and determine the possible impact on the protection of coastal ecosystems and infrastructure.

Pelaez-Zapata, D.S.; Montoya, R.D., and Osorio, A.F., 2018. Numerical study of run-up oscillations over fringing reefs. This work presents a numerical study of run-up oscillations over a typical fringing reef profile at the laboratory scale. The nonhydrostatic SWASH model was calibrated and validated using experimental data of free surface elevation for eight gauges and run-up oscillations. The model shows a high sensitivity to variations in the parameters of bottom friction and horizontal mixing length. A process of calibration found the optimal values to be 0.014 s m−1/3 and 0.01 m, respectively. With these values, the model is good at reproducing bulk run-up parameters such as the mean run-up period (r2 = 0.93), sea-swell significant run-up (r2 = 0.93), and infragravity significant run-up (r2 = 0.88). The ratio between the infragravity and sea-swell run-up is highly dependent on the surf similarity parameter. For dissipative and intermediate conditions, the run-up is mainly dominated by low-fr...

Conde-Frias, M.; Otero, L.; Restrepo, J.C.; Ortiz, J.C.; Ruiz, J., and Osorio, A.F., 2017. Swash oscillations in a microtidal dissipative beach. This paper evaluates the relationship between gravity and infragravity energy with swash oscillations as well as the model's ability to reproduce the transformation of the wave as it approaches the shore on a dissipative beach. For this purpose, numerical experiments were conducted in a dissipative beach from Cartagena, Colombia. Mean free surface measurements were carried out for 2 days in February 2014 by installing a cross-shore array of pressure sensors, as well as a Fourier analysis from these measurements to identify frequency components that characterize the waves and the energy associated with them. To implement the numerical modelling, the SWASH model (The Simulation WAves till Shore is a numerical model that resolves nonlinear shallow-water equations) was set up by using the bathymetric profile of Bocagrande Beach obtained during the field camp...

This paper aims to highlight the prevailing experiences of Latin America and to clarify what ‘green infrastructure’ entails in addition to describing seven case studies from a range of coastal ecosystems (wetlands, coastal dunes, beaches and coral reefs) at scales varying from local to regional. The case studies are categorised according to their degree of naturalness (nature-based, engineered ecosystems, soft engineering, ecologically enhanced hard infrastructure and de-engineering). Generally, the implementation of green infrastructure projects aims to increase resilience, enhance the provision of ecosystem services, recover biodiversity, reduce the negative effects of hard infrastructure and implement corrective measures. The greatest benefits of these projects relate to the creation of multi-functional spaces, which often combine the above advantages with improved opportunities for recreation and/or economic activities. It is hoped that this paper will disseminate the experience in green infrastructure among academics and practitioners and stimulate wider adoption of green infrastructure projects and good practices.

Accurate and efficient measurement of fluid velocities in several kind of experiments, has been acquiring high relevance, for several kind of applications. Particle Image Velocimetry is a noninvasive technique which also provides velocity estimates in several points of the measuring region. Regarding the PIV computations, high resolution of the digital input images, may lead to poor performance. There are also many error sources, regarding the PIV setup itself. This paper describes a method aimed both to speeding up the PIV computations, and minimizing the divergences (noise) present in the output velocity fields. The obtained results are promising, obtaining a speedup of up to 55 % , with respect to the traditional cross correlation based method, with a comparable precision.

A new approach to estimate the peak period using time stack images from a video monitoring system is presented. The method is an improvement of the one developed by Stockdon and Holman (Stockdon, H.F., Holman, R.A., 2000. Estimation of wave phase speed and nearshore bathymetry from video imagery. J. Geophys. Res. Ocean. 105, 22015–22033), (S&H) including thresholding of the image to automatically identify free foam zone in the image, improved filtering procedure and windowing of the pixel intensity series in order to avoid noisy signals and spectral leakage. Results are tested against measurements in four beaches showing an absolute error below 2 s for 75% of the analyzed images despite the variable light conditions and noisy signals. Comparison with the S&H method is given showing that the new method reduces relative error on average by 28%. These results are achieved without taking into account the camera configuration requiring only the identification of a representative amount of land pixels in order to adequately eliminate noisy signals produced by environmental light fluctuations., Authors acknowledge financial support from Convocatoria Nacional de proyectos para el fortalecimiento de la investigación, creación e innovación de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia through project “Analysis of the hydrodynamic and morphodynamic characteristics of a sandy beach by means of numerical modeling and image processing” and “Estrategia de transformación del sector energético Colombiano en el horizonte de 2030″ supported by Colciencias Ecosistema Científico Contract FP44842-210-2018, as well as from the Spanish MINECO/FEDER through project MUSA(CTM-2015-66225-C2-2-P). The authors also wish to express thanks to the OCEANICOS, MARUM, IMEDEA and SOCIB research groups for the data used in this work. Data from the HZG COSYNA “Bunkerhill” wave buoy was obtained from the open COSYNA data portal. This work was partially performed while A. Orfila was a visiting scientist at the Earth, Environmental and Planetary Science Department at Brown University through a Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades fellowship (PRX18/00218).

13 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables.-- All data are accessible from http://apps.socib.es/beamon/ (Beach monitoring facility, 2018) and http://thredds.socib.es/thredds/catalog/mooring/waves_recorder/mobims_playadepalma/L1/2014/catalog.html (SOCIB Data centre, 2018), The morphodynamic response of a microtidal beach under a storm group is analyzed, and the effects of each individual event are inferred from a numerical model, in situ measurements and video imaging. The combination of these approaches represents a multiplatform tool for beach management, especially during adverse conditions. Here, the morphodynamic response is examined during a period with a group of three storms. The first storm, with moderate conditions (H ∼ 1m during 6 h), eroded the aerial beach and generated a submerged sandbar in the breaking zone. The bar was further directed offshore during the more energetic second event (H = 3.5m and 53 h). The third storm, similar to the first one, hardly affected the beach morphology, which stresses the importance of the beach configuration previous to a storm. The volume of sand mobilized during the storm group is around 17.65mm. During the following months, which are characterized by mild wave conditions, the aerial beach recovered half of the volume of sand that is transported offshore during the storm group (∼ 9.27mm). The analysis of beach evolution shows two different characteristic timescales for the erosion and recovery processes associated with the storm and mild conditions, respectively. In addition, the response depends largely on the previous beach morphological state. The work also stresses the importance of using different tools (video monitoring, modeling, and field campaign) to analyze beach morphodynamics, Authors acknowledge financial support from MINECO/FEDER through projects MORFINTRA/MUSA (CTM2015-66225-C2-2-P) and CLIMPACT (CGL2014-54246-C2-1-R). Verónica Morales-Márquez is supported by an FPI grant from the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad of the Spanish government associated with MORFINTRA/MUSA. Daniel Conti is supported by a PhD fellowship (FPI/1543/2013) granted by the Conselleria d'Educació, Cultura i Universitats from the Government of the Balearic Islands co-financed by the European Social Fund

The lack of hydrological data has been identified as one of the major obstacles facing the effective evaluation of hydraulic and hydrological interventions in the field. Traditional methods of data collection have proven to be generally expensive and particularly risky under high flow conditions. A method for quantifying hydrodynamic variables, such as surface flow velocity and discharge volume was developed in a laboratory setting using video images. This method explores several innovative image analysis techniques, specifically the Image Variance (IV) and Threshold Segmentation with Path Discretization (TSPD), where the basics steps comprise image capture, rectification and data extraction. Measurements obtained from conventional instruments and data extracted from video images were compared and exhibited less than 2.5% difference. It can be concluded that under laboratory conditions it is possible to obtain reliable velocities and discharges from video techniques, without being in contact with the flow.

Financial institutions operate a supply chain where only one product is moved across the network. Although the cash is kept in several nodes to service the demand of final customers, availability causes opportunity cost related with its investment options. When planning the inventory of cash that should be maintained across the network, transportation decisions are also expected to be made. Cash transportation has a high cost, associated with the high risk of theft. Increasing the inventory can reduce the need for transportation, but the opportunity cost can be very high. Moreover, the inventory is also related with the service level perceived for final customers; therefore because of low inventory some people are not able to make some transactions. The aim of this work is to find optimal decisions related with cash inventory and transportation across the network, trying to balance the cost of the service and the quality perceived for final users.

La desembocadura del río León es una importante vía fluvial en el Urabá Antioqueño. Para optimizar el desarrollo de las actividades alrededor las desembocaduras es fundamental conocer los procesos hidrodinámicos que ocurren en el sistema, entre ellos el oleaje. El régimen medio de oleaje en la zona se determinó a partir de simulaciones numéricas de escenarios que representan el régimen medio de viento en la Bahía Colombia. Se utilizó el modelo SWAN para simular el oleaje en la Bahía y el modelo SMC para simular el oleaje en detalle alrededor de la desembocadura y las corrientes asociadas a la rotura del oleaje. Los resultados muestran que el oleaje de fondo tiene poca influencia en el oleaje al interior de la Bahía Colombia y que el régimen de oleaje y corrientes se ve fuertemente influenciado por la variabilidad intra-anual del régimen de viento en la zona de estudio.

8 pages, 9 figures, 1 table, 1 appendix, Images from an Argus beach monitoring station were analyzed to count the number of people on two city beaches in Barcelona (NW Mediterranean) every hour for 4 years. Daily, weekly, seasonal, and interannual user distribution patterns were clearly established. Two different fit models were applied to the data based on a Fourier polynomial and nonlinear criteria, including external factors such as temperature and wind conditions, as well as predisposition factors. Finally, the evolution of beach users was compared with morphological beach changes caused by natural processes and human action. The results demonstrated that video observations provide a suitable method for counting people on the beach that could be useful for a number of coastal management applications, This work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology within the project PUDEM (REN2003-06637-C02). E. Ojeda is supported by a University Professors Formation grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science

This contribution evaluates the application of coastal video systems to monitoring and management of coastal stability problems on sandy coastlines. Specifically, video-derived parameters (coastal state indicators or CSIs) are developed which facilitate the measurement of the shoreline evolution (erosion/accretion) and response to storms, seasonal cycles and anthropogenic interventions like beach/shoreface nourishment and dredging. The primary variable which forms the basis for all the CSIs discussed in this contribution is the shoreline position derived from time-averaged video images. These waterlines are used to generate secondary products including shoreline contours at a constant pre-defined level, (intertidal) beach volumes, and momentary shoreline positions which reflect the sand volume in a meter wide section of the intertidal coast. Video-derived coastal state indicators were verified via comparisons with traditional topographical/bathymetric surveying techniques and a good agreement was found in all cases. CSIs were computed for three contrasting sandy coastal environments including an unprotected natural beach, a protected beach and a spit. Firstly, results are presented which demonstrate the advantages of coastal video systems over and above infrequent traditional topographic/bathymetric surveying methods. Namely, the ability of video-derived CSIs to quantify the magnitude, accurate location, precise timing and rates of change associated with individual extreme events and seasonal variability in the wave climate. Secondly, video-derived coastal state indicators were used to monitor two different types of human intervention, including beach nourishments and a dredged pit in a navigation channel. The video-derived datasets of coastal state indicators offered significant improvement to current CZM practices, facilitating better timing of management interventions as well as more effective monitoring of the spatial impact and longevity of these actions.

Dynamic navigation channels, where sediment transport may change the geometry of the channel in short periods of time, are one of the most dangerous environments for ship navigation. The management of the navigation safety at these waterways requires a detailed monitoring program that provides accurate information regarding the sandbank and channel movements. In this paper the potential of video imaging techniques for managing dynamic navigation channels is explored. Small and large port management strategies are analyzed using Teignmouth and Santander ports as case studies. By means of the frame of reference [Van Koningsveld, 2003. Matching Specialist Knowledge with End User Needs. Ph.D. Thesis, Twente University, Enschede, The Netherlands. ISBN 90-365-1897-0.] a characterisation of the management of navigation issues is performed and several specific video-derived Coastal State Indicators (CSIs) are quantified. New algorithms for evaluating these CSIs are developed. In particular, new algorithms for identifying and locating navigation buoys and for the automatic detection of the shoreline (a proxy for the channel location) are presented and validated. In both cases (Teignmouth and Santander ports) the video system is proven to evaluate quantitative CSIs over a broad range of time-scales (hours to years) which cannot be obtained practically with traditional monitoring techniques. The techniques developed here deliver more information to port authorities; facilitating more informed management decisions regarding how, when, or where intervention is required and thus reducing the navigation risk to shipping.

This contribution proposes Coastal State Indicators (CSIs) for application to different aspects of recreational beach management. The beaches considered in this study are important leisure and tourism resources and of primary concern to the managers responsible is the recreational carrying capacity of the beach. Given the range of factors which potentially affect the carrying capacity this contribution is restricted to just two variables: the level of beach-use and safety. For each variable a detailed management framework is proposed together with a specific methodology to monitor appropriate CSIs. In all the cases, the proposed indicators make use of the capabilities of Argus video-cameras to record multi-purpose information in a single image. Specific algorithms are developed to deliver video-derived variables which are combined with supplementary data (e.g. wave and tide information) to yield beach management CSIs. The application of these CSIs is illustrated via two case studies.

The Gulf of Uraba is the largest estuary on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. The aim of this research was to analyse the oceanic, climatic and environmental variables that influence mangrove structure and composition in the gulf. Based on the availability of remote sensing, the study area was divided into western and eastern zones. The spatial pattern of environmental variables (water salinity, pH and percentage of organic matter, sand, silt and clay in the soils) and oceanic and climatic variables (winds, wave height and wave period) was analysed. The relationship of these variables with variables of vegetation structure (basal area, diameter at breast height, tree height, and abundance of seedlings of mangrove species in 1 m2 subplots) was analysed in 27 plots of 500 m2 containing fringe mangroves and 5 plots containing basin mangroves. Mangroves of the western zone showed a higher structural development and were dominated by Rhizophora mangle (red mangrove). This zone is supplied by fresh water and sediments, and the soils have a high content of organic matter and clay and a low degree of anthropogenic disturbance. The eastern zone was characterized by higher pore water salinity due to lower freshwater input from rivers. In this area there is a smaller impact of waves and winds, higher sedimentation rates, high anthropogenic disturbance and mangroves are dominated by Avicennia germinans (black mangrove). Although Laguncularia racemosa (white mangrove) did not show a particular spatial pattern, due to its tolerance to open canopy conditions it was commonly found in anthropogenically disturbed areas.

In this paper, we present the operational forecasting system developed to assist in the response to the 2002 Prestige oil spill in Cantabria. The objective of the system developed was to forecast the wave climate, tidal and wind currents, and oil spill trajectories to provide a technical assessment to decision makers for a response to the oil spill. The two main components of the system were data collection and processing and integration with numerical models for forecasting. The information from overflights received daily became essential in achieving a correct initial position of the oil slicks. Meteorological and oceanographic data were also received daily by means of an emergency protocol established between Puertos del Estado (Spain), the Naval Research Laboratory (USA), and the University of Cantabria (Spain). These data were used to run the trajectory model, the wave propagation model, and the shallow depth-integrated flow model. The information generated by the numerical simulations was p...

Este trabajo describe una primera aproximación al clima de oleaje, dentro del proyecto llamado Interacción entre los procesos Atmósfera-Océano- Tierra en el Caribe colombiano. El principal objetivo es mejorar la información de nivel del mar y climatología del oleaje en las aguas del Caribe colombiano. Para esto 40 años de vientos del proyecto global Reanalysis 1 (resolución de 1.8º x 1.905º y cuatro datos diarios) del National Center for Environmental Prediction y el National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) son empleados como forzamiento del modelo de oleaje WaveWatchIII(TM) para reproducir series de tiempo de Altura de ola significante (Hs) y Período (T). Para mejorar la calidad de los resultados obtenidos con el modelo numérico, éstos han sido corregidos empleando datos de diferentes fuentes de información. Los datos disponibles incluyen vientos y oleaje obtenidos de las boyas 41018 y 42058 de la NOAA, información de satélite obtenida a partir de los proyectos TOPEX/POSEIDON y JASON 1 y datos visuales de barcos en ruta. A partir de esta información se han estudiado las principales características del clima de oleaje para aguas profundas y costeras del Caribe colombiano. Los resultados muestran como el ciclo anual del oleaje presenta un comportamiento bimodal asociado con el comportamiento de los vientos alisios del noreste presentando dos períodos de vientos y oleaje intensos (bajas precipitaciones) y dos períodos de vientos y oleajes débiles (altas precipitaciones). La distribución espacial del oleaje muestra una zona central en el Caribe con mayores valores de altura de ola significante (Hs) asociados al denominado chorro de San Andrés y una zona costera ubicada entre Cartagena y Santa Marta. Los resultados obtenidos son coherentes con pocos trabajos presentados por otros autores quienes obtienen alturas de olas significante del orden de 2.5 metros en la época seca en la región de Bocas de Ceniza en Barranquilla.