A Comprehensive Review of Phase-Averaged and Phase-Resolving Wave Models for Coastal Modeling Applications

TL;DR

This review compares phase-averaged spectral and phase-resolving wave models, analyzing their formulations, capabilities, and applications in coastal engineering, highlighting recent advances and ongoing challenges in wave modeling.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive comparison of third-generation spectral and advanced phase-resolving wave models, guiding researchers in selecting appropriate models for coastal and oceanographic studies.

Findings

Third-generation spectral models solve wave action equations with fewer spectral constraints.

Phase-resolving models better capture nonlinear interactions and wave breaking.

Model validation shows trade-offs between accuracy and computational efficiency.

Abstract

Predicting ocean wave behavior is challenging due to the difficulty in choosing suitable numerical models among many with varying capabilities. This review examines the development and performance of numerical wave models in coastal engineering and oceanography, focusing on the difference between phase-averaged spectral models and phase-resolving models. We evaluate the formulation, governing equations, and methods of widely used third-generation phase-averaged spectral models (SWAN, WAVEWATCH III, MIKE 21 SW, TOMAWAC, and WAM) alongside advanced phase-resolving models (FUNWAVE, SWASH, COULWAVE, and NHWAVE) that employ Boussinesq-type equations and non-hydrostatic formulations. The review begins with early parameterized models and progresses to contemporary third-generation models, which solve the wave action conservation equation with few spectral constraints. A comparison of the models' efficiency, accuracy in nearshore conditions, ability to resolve nonlinear wave-wave interaction, simulate wave breaking, diffraction, and wave-current interactions is provided. Applications in operational forecasting, extreme event simulation, coastal structure design, and assessing climate change impacts are discussed. The validation of these models and the statistical metrics and intercomparison studies used are addressed. A discussion of the limitations in computational scalability, physics parameterization, and model coupling is provided, along with emerging trends in high-resolution modeling and hybrid models. This review guides researchers in evaluating which models to use in coastal and oceanographic research.