Abstract
Long term wave data is important for the design of coastal structures and for the calculation of sediment transport rates. Such data is usually obtained by hindcasting waves from wind data, when long term measured data is not available. The use of simplistic hindcasting formulas will not provide realistic data. In this study a third-generation wind driven wave model WAM is used to generate 12 years of wave data for the Arabian Gulf. The WAM model is a two dimensional model that uses non-stationary and non-homogeneous wind fields in predicting wind waves. The data showed at the maximum significant wave height is 5.5 m for data covering a period of 12 years. Extreme wave analysis of the data showed that the 100 Year wave height can reach 7.0 m in the deeper southern part of the Arabian Gulf. The corresponding mean spectral wave period reaches 8.0 sec.