Determining Offshore Ocean Significant Wave Height (SWH) Using Continuous Land-Recorded Seismic Data: An Example from the Northeast Atlantic
Long-term continuous and reliable real-time ocean wave height data are important for climatologists, offshore industries, leisure craft users, and marine forecasters. However, maintaining data continuity and reliability is challenging due to offshore equipment failures and sparse in situ observation...
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/4/807 |
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| author | Samaneh Baranbooei Christopher J. Bean Meysam Rezaeifar Sarah E. Donne |
| author_facet | Samaneh Baranbooei Christopher J. Bean Meysam Rezaeifar Sarah E. Donne |
| author_sort | Samaneh Baranbooei |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Long-term continuous and reliable real-time ocean wave height data are important for climatologists, offshore industries, leisure craft users, and marine forecasters. However, maintaining data continuity and reliability is challenging due to offshore equipment failures and sparse in situ observations. Opposing interactions between wind-driven ocean waves generate acoustic waves near the ocean surface, which can convert to seismic waves at the seafloor and travel through the Earth’s solid structure. These low-frequency seismic waves, known as secondary microseisms, are clearly recorded on terrestrial seismometers offering land-based access to ocean wave states via seismic ground vibrations. Here, we demonstrate the potential of this by estimating ocean Significant Wave Heights (SWHs) in the Northeast Atlantic using continuous recordings from a land-based seismic network in Ireland. Our method involves connecting secondary microseism amplitudes with the ocean waves that generate them, using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to quantify the relationship. Time series data of secondary microseism amplitudes together with buoy-derived and numerical model ocean significant wave heights are used to train and test the ANN. Application of the ANN to previously unseen data yields SWH estimates that closely match in situ buoy observations, located approximately 200 km offshore, Northwest of Ireland. Terrestrial seismic data are relatively cheap to acquire, with reliable weather-independent data streams. This suggests a pathway to a complementary, exceptionally cost-effective, data-driven approach for future operational applications in real-time SWH determination. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5c8f315240ad4f7e8f1ebdc34c52b977 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2077-1312 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
| spelling | doaj-art-5c8f315240ad4f7e8f1ebdc34c52b9772025-08-20T03:13:55ZengMDPI AGJournal of Marine Science and Engineering2077-13122025-04-0113480710.3390/jmse13040807Determining Offshore Ocean Significant Wave Height (SWH) Using Continuous Land-Recorded Seismic Data: An Example from the Northeast AtlanticSamaneh Baranbooei0Christopher J. Bean1Meysam Rezaeifar2Sarah E. Donne3Geophysics Section, School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, D02 Y006 Dublin, IrelandGeophysics Section, School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, D02 Y006 Dublin, IrelandGeophysics Section, School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, D02 Y006 Dublin, IrelandGeophysics Section, School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, D02 Y006 Dublin, IrelandLong-term continuous and reliable real-time ocean wave height data are important for climatologists, offshore industries, leisure craft users, and marine forecasters. However, maintaining data continuity and reliability is challenging due to offshore equipment failures and sparse in situ observations. Opposing interactions between wind-driven ocean waves generate acoustic waves near the ocean surface, which can convert to seismic waves at the seafloor and travel through the Earth’s solid structure. These low-frequency seismic waves, known as secondary microseisms, are clearly recorded on terrestrial seismometers offering land-based access to ocean wave states via seismic ground vibrations. Here, we demonstrate the potential of this by estimating ocean Significant Wave Heights (SWHs) in the Northeast Atlantic using continuous recordings from a land-based seismic network in Ireland. Our method involves connecting secondary microseism amplitudes with the ocean waves that generate them, using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to quantify the relationship. Time series data of secondary microseism amplitudes together with buoy-derived and numerical model ocean significant wave heights are used to train and test the ANN. Application of the ANN to previously unseen data yields SWH estimates that closely match in situ buoy observations, located approximately 200 km offshore, Northwest of Ireland. Terrestrial seismic data are relatively cheap to acquire, with reliable weather-independent data streams. This suggests a pathway to a complementary, exceptionally cost-effective, data-driven approach for future operational applications in real-time SWH determination.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/4/807microseismANNocean waves monitoringNortheast Atlantic climatesignificant wave heights |
| spellingShingle | Samaneh Baranbooei Christopher J. Bean Meysam Rezaeifar Sarah E. Donne Determining Offshore Ocean Significant Wave Height (SWH) Using Continuous Land-Recorded Seismic Data: An Example from the Northeast Atlantic Journal of Marine Science and Engineering microseism ANN ocean waves monitoring Northeast Atlantic climate significant wave heights |
| title | Determining Offshore Ocean Significant Wave Height (SWH) Using Continuous Land-Recorded Seismic Data: An Example from the Northeast Atlantic |
| title_full | Determining Offshore Ocean Significant Wave Height (SWH) Using Continuous Land-Recorded Seismic Data: An Example from the Northeast Atlantic |
| title_fullStr | Determining Offshore Ocean Significant Wave Height (SWH) Using Continuous Land-Recorded Seismic Data: An Example from the Northeast Atlantic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Determining Offshore Ocean Significant Wave Height (SWH) Using Continuous Land-Recorded Seismic Data: An Example from the Northeast Atlantic |
| title_short | Determining Offshore Ocean Significant Wave Height (SWH) Using Continuous Land-Recorded Seismic Data: An Example from the Northeast Atlantic |
| title_sort | determining offshore ocean significant wave height swh using continuous land recorded seismic data an example from the northeast atlantic |
| topic | microseism ANN ocean waves monitoring Northeast Atlantic climate significant wave heights |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/4/807 |
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