|
GEOGRAPHICAL AND OCEANOGRAPIC FEATURES OF THE CHOSEN
AREA TO ACHIEVE THE SECOND EuroROSE FIELD EXPERIMENT
José Carlos Nieto Borge
Puertos del Estado
Introduction
Inside the frame of EuroROSE project two field experiments are planning
to be carried out in a location of the Norwegian Coast and another position
in Spain.
This report deals with the description of the chosen location for the
EuroROSE field experiment in Spain. This selected area is the vicinity
of the city of Gijón where there is one of the most important harbors
in the Northern Spanish coast.
Reasons to choose the selected area for the field experiment
The mean reason to chose the area close to the city of Gijón for the
EuroROSE field experiment is the logistic of the area and the amount
of sensors deployed close by. The sensors, which are now operative, are:
- Two heave WaveRider buoy moored in shallow waters in the vicinity
of Gijón harbor. These buoys are traditional models based on an
accelerometer.
- One directional SMART-800 buoy moored close to one of the above
buoys. This buoy uses GPS technology to measure the vertical wave
elevations, as well as the horizontal displacement of the sea surface.
- One directional WaveWatch buoy moored in deep water to know the
incoming wave fields to the coast. This buoy measures other meteorological
and oceanographic parameters, such as wind velocity, air and water
temperatures, salinity, currents, etc.
- A tidal gauge to provide sea level data.
- A meteorological station.
- An X-band nautical radar station installed in near by to measure the
incoming wave fields in intermediate waters.
Another reason to choose this area is the geographical position of this
harbor, in the middle part of the Bay of Biscay, because the acquired
experience can be used for other commercial, sport and small-fishing harbors
in the northern coast of Spain. In addition, the area close to Gijón
is surrounded by a lot of these small-fishing harbors. So, the EuroROSE
results can be applied to these users as well.
Description of the Area
The city of Gijón is located in the central part of the northern coast
of Spain (see figure 1). The area is swell dominated. Such as long waves are
specially dangerous for the small fishing harbors in the area, because under
these long wave conditions (waves longer than 20 s) some resonance phenomena
appear between the wave field and the harbor structures (i.e. breakwaters).
Figure 1: Geographical location of Gijón City.
A detailed map of the area can be seen in figure 2.
Figure 2: Map of the vicinity of Gijón City. The position of the X-band
radar, as well as the possible locations of the two HF radar antennas is shown
in this figure.
Gijón has one of the main harbors in northern coast of Spain.
The city shore and its harbor are affected by the typical sea states and
meteorological conditions, which are present in the Bay of Biscay:
- Long swell coming from Northwest due to the local storms originated in
Northern Atlantic Ocean.
- Local wind sea storms coming from North and East.
- Expected significant wave heights from 0 to 8 meters. Higher sea states
can be measured in strong storm cases.
- Maximum tide range of 4.6 m.
- Typical current speeds about 0.5 m/s.
- Winds: SW (prevalent), NW (dominant).
Statistics about the Gijón Harbor
This section shows some statistical data about Gijón harbor. All of
these statistics correspond to the last year 1997.
The first table shows the geographical position of the harbor, as well as
its available depths and entrance width. The table 2 illustrates the amount
of total traffic of the harbor. This information is divided in the different
kind of goods. Finally, the table 3 shows information about the harbor
supplies. All the data from tables 2 and 3 are represented in tons.
|
SITUATION |
ENTRANCE CONDITIONS
|
|
Longitude |
Latitude |
CHANNEL
Depth [m] |
MOUTH
Width [m] / Depth [m] |
|
5°41´W |
43°34´N |
18.5 |
500 / 18.5 |
Table 1: General conditions of Gijón harbor.
|
LIQUIDS |
SOLIDS
BULKS |
GENERAL
CARGO |
TOTAL
TRAFFIC |
|
Petrol.
Products |
Other
Liquids |
Total |
|
Containers |
Other |
Total |
|
|
1,344,343 |
4,753 |
1,349,096 |
11,211,862 |
80,509 |
587,667 |
668,176 |
13,229,134 |
Table 2: Total harbor traffic in tons.
|
FRESH
FISH |
SHIP´S SUPPLIES |
LOCAL
TRAFFIC |
TOTAL OTHER
GOODS |
TOTAL
|
| |
Petrol
Products |
REST |
TOTAL |
|
|
|
|
1,507 |
105,978 |
28,541 |
134,519 |
99,151 |
235,177 |
13,464,311 |
Table 3: Harbor traffic of supplies in tons. |
