On Saturday, May 20th, MetOcean Solutions’ wave buoy in the Southern Ocean recorded a whopping 19.4 metre wave, which is one of the largest waves recorded in the Southern Hemisphere, as the average single story house is 4.5 metres high, according to Weatherwatch.
As sub-Antarctic waters are difficult to work in, and reliable wave data for the area is scarce, the New Zealand Defence Force and MetOcean Solutions joined forces to deploy the buoy, aiming to get valuable observations from this remote part of the ocean. Moored in a water depth of 150 m and located within the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone, 11 km south of Campbell Island, the buoy and its observation are expected to enable better forecasting and design of vessels built to withstand Southern Ocean conditions.
“The buoy is performing extremely well so far,” says senior Oceanographer, Dr Tom Durrant. “Not only is it surviving these large waves, but it is making detailed recordings of extreme sea states in the Southern Ocean, a region rarely observed by in-situ instruments. During the depths of winter, Southern Ocean waves are enormous, with significant wave heights averaging over 5 m, and regularly exceeding 10 m. Individual waves can double that size.”
Mr Durrant adds that the accurate measurements of these conditions will help understand waves and air-sea interactions in these extreme conditions.
“This, in turn, will lead to improvements in the models used to simulate the waves, providing better forecasts, both for the Southern Ocean and for the wider region. Waves generated in the Southern Ocean have far-reaching effects, contributing significantly to the wave climate in all the major ocean basins.”
