Author(s)

G. Benassai & I. Ascione

Abstract

The spectral third-generation wind-wave model WAVEWATCH III, operational since January 2005 at the Department of Applied Sciences of the Parthenope University, was adopted for simulating wave propagation and risk evaluation in the Gulf of Naples. The model was coupled with PSU/NCAR mesoscale model (MM5), which gives wind forcing at 1-h intervals. The model was implemented using a four-nested grid configuration covering the Mediterranean Sea toward the Gulf of Naples. Simulated results were compared with data recorded in 2000 offshore of the Gulf of Naples and with wind and wave data collected by APAT offshore of the mouth of river Sele in the Gulf of Salerno. Maps of coastal vulnerability, damage and risk were obtained taking into account the wave vulnerability and the potential damage to people and structures in case of coastal inundation. The obtained results are also used to classify the coastal zones of the Naples Province on the basis of the risk evaluation. Keywords: wave model, validation, risk evaluation, coastal inundation. 1 Introduction The coastlines of Naples Province extends more than 150 km from the Northern bound at the mouth of Lake Patria to the Southern bound at the end of Sorrento peninsula, including also the isles of Capri, Ischia and Procida. The provincial Civil Protection had as objective the evaluation of the potential risk of flooding on the beaches and the establishment of a database of beaches vulnerable to wave storms. In this manner, a priority scale of the

Keywords

wave model, validation, risk evaluation, coastal inundation.