This section presents the results of the deterministic and probabilistic approaches. Firstly, a mesh sensitivity analysis was carried out using the Grid Convergence Index (GCI) method.
These results reinforce the theory that bathymetry can contain imperfections, which become more evident in more refined meshes. This is due to the interpolation between the nodes, which in the 1000 m mesh ends up generating a bathymetric mesh with a smoother bottom.
The meticulous approach adopted in this research, integrating field measurements, deterministic modeling, and probabilistic analysis, revealed substantial knowledge about wind waves in enclosed areas, with a focus on the Ilha Solteira reservoir, for a scenario of scarce field data. In sections 3.1 and 3.2, we present and discuss the results obtained from both the deterministic and probabilistic approaches, highlighting the significant contributions to understanding the phenomenon in question.
3.1. Deterministic Approach
On the deterministic side, the Janssen formulation for wave generation and the whitecapping phenomenon showed superior performance in modeling the waves in the reservoir (
Figure 5,
Table 4 and
Table 5). The statistical analysis revealed notable improvements compared to previous work by the research group (Vieira, 2013 [
25]; Mattosinho et al. 2022 [
8]), marking a significant advance in the representation of the specific hydrodynamic conditions of Ilha Solteira. Although the ideal calibration, with a determination index (
) of over 95% has not been fully achieved, the progress made is significant.
Modeling in previous work by the research group was carried out using Komen's formulations for wave generation and whitecapping effects, and this work shows that Janssen's formulation provides better statistical results.
Figure 6.
Analysis of third-generation equations (GEN3) of the swan model, alongside significant wave height () data from pressure sensor and wind speed collected by anemometer at the monitoring station for the period of January 2011.
Figure 6.
Analysis of third-generation equations (GEN3) of the swan model, alongside significant wave height () data from pressure sensor and wind speed collected by anemometer at the monitoring station for the period of January 2011.
It is worth mentioning that the changes for the modeling and analysis are made only to the parameters presented. Except for the JONSWAP bottom friction coefficient (
) the other variables and parameters of the SWAN model have been maintained in accordance with the standard recommended in the manual. In addition, the Komen wave generation formulation is adopted in the case study for the effect of whitecapping formulations presented in
Table 5.
It should be noted that the physical wave generation formulation ST6 (GEN3 ST6) of Rogers et al., (2012 [
55]), as investigated in the work of Sapiega, Zalewska, Struzik (2023 [
12]), stood out as a viable alternative for the Southern Baltic Sea region. However, for the case of the Ilha Solteira dam reservoir, Janssen's formulation for wave generation and whitecapping proved to be more suitable, highlighting the need for careful evaluation of formulations for different study locations.
The SWAN team [
41] state that the “ST6” source term package was implemented in an unofficial version of SWAN starting in 2008 and initial development was documented in Rogers et al. (2012). At the time, it was referred to as “Babanin et al. physics” rather than “ST6”. ST6 was implemented in the official version of WAVEWATCH III R(WW3) starting in 2010, and this implementation was documented in Zieger et al., (2015). Since 2010, developments in the two models have largely paralleled each other, insofar as most notable improvements are implemented in both models. As such, the documentation for WW3 (public release 24 Chapter 2 versions 4 or 5) is largely adequate documentation of significant changes to the source terms in SWAN since the publication of Rogers et al. (2012).
Analyzing current works, such as those by Nikishova
et al., (2017 [
5]) and Zhang
et al., (2023 [
11]), the critical influence of the wind field as the main factor in wave generation is evident. This corroborates the need to verify various physical models, including the whitecapping parameter and coefficient, to achieve a more accurate calibration and replication of field data. Zhang et al. (2023 [
11]) state that the whitecapping coefficient in the formulations must be calibrated to adjust the model's results curve to the field results.
Given the foregoing, studies analyzing the values of the whitecapping coefficient for the Komen and Janssen formulations should still be carried out for the case of Ilha Solteira to improve the calibration of the model, which currently has a performance index of 70% (
Table 4 and
Table 5). Zhang et al. (2023 [
11]) proposed, for example, a dissipation coefficient for whitecapping in the Komen equation of 3,25 × 10
−5 for the validated model, a value substantially different from that recommended in the SWAN model manual, which is 2,36 × 10
−5. This highlights the significant influence of this coefficient on calibration in each study area and justifies continuous improvement and refinement.
3.1. Probabilistic Approach
The case study consists of the analysis of five random variables chosen due to the high recurrence of mentions of their relevance in research involving calibration of the SWAN model. Speed (𝑣𝑒𝑙) and direction (𝑑𝑖𝑟) of the wind, the JONSWAP bottom friction coefficient (), the induced wave breaking index ( where is local depth) and the whitecapping coefficient from the standard formulation (𝑐𝑑𝑠𝑤).
The input variables, wind speed and direction, were taken from the ONDISA Project database, covering the period from October 2010 to March 2011. In this context, the most appropriate maximum entropy probability distribution for the field data was analyzed using the Python programming language.
It was found that the wind direction fits the uniform distribution, while the wind speed fits the Weibull distribution, as shown in
Figure 7. Where
is the Weibull probability distribution function,
is the shape factor and
is the scale factor. This distributional fitting process is crucial for the subsequent stages of probabilistic modeling.
The other variables were considered to have a uniform probability distribution due to the unavailability of field data and were considered to have maximum entropy. Therefore, the maximum and minimum values to be used as supports were checked in the literature. The exception was the whitecapping coefficient, which was a 10% variation around the standard value, as Nikishova
, et al., (2017 [
5]) proceeded.
Table 6 shows the support values for the variables. To guarantee the replicability of this study, "seed = 1102" was used.
Samples of 100, 300, 500, 700, 1000, 1500, 2000 and 3000 random data were generated, and the input files were created and executed in the SWAN model in the same way as in the deterministic model to obtain the results for significant wave height (𝐻𝑠). Once the convergence of the samples had been analyzed, the sample with 3000 data was adopted for the case study.
The significant contribution of this research was the quantification of uncertainties and the analysis of Sobol indices, an approach notably scarce in the existing literature on wind waves in dam reservoirs. The results highlighted the sensitivity of the SWAN model to different physical configurations, underlining the importance of considering different models for a more accurate calibration.
The first check carried out refers to the histogram containing the model's true outputs and the predictions of the grade 8 PCE (
Figure 8), which shows the good behavior and replication of the PCE. Other points of interest are the verification of the Sobol indices of 1st order (
Figure 9), 2nd order (
Figure 10) and the correlation and determination coefficients between these values (
Figure 11), which show excellent behavior.
The observation of a significant influence of the speed variable (𝑣𝑒𝑙) compared to the other variables, as evidenced by the first-order Sobol indices, is consistent with the sensitivity analysis carried out. Given that the sum of the first-order Sobol indices is less than 1, these results suggest that the total variation in the model cannot be completely attributed to the independent variations of each input variable. There are therefore other variables not yet dealt with in this article which may interfere with the results.
In this context, speed emerges as the main contributor to variations in the model's results, accounting for approximately 96% of the total influence. The low contribution of the other variables, such as direction (𝑑𝑖𝑟 ≅ 2%), bottom friction coefficient (), induced wave breaking index (𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑚𝑎), and whitecapping coefficient of the standard formulation (𝑐𝑑𝑠𝑤), is consistent with the observation of negligible influence. This suggests that these variables have less impact on the fluctuations and behavior of the modeled system, corroborating the results of the sensitivity analysis.
The unequal distribution of importance between variables highlights the need to focus on more influential variables, such as speed, when optimizing model performance or identifying key areas for intervention or improvement. This conclusion reinforces the usefulness of Sobol indices as a valuable tool for identifying the relative contribution of input variables in complex models, aiding interpretation, and informed decision-making.
These results are in line with relevant studies, such as those by Nikishova,
et al., (2017 [
5]), Zhang et al
., (2023 [
11]) and Sapiega, Zalewska, Struzik (2023 [
12]), among others, which point to wind data (speed and direction) as the main variables in modeling and their sensitivity in calibrating the model to real cases in the field, as observed in the deterministic approach.
It is worth noting that the whitecapping parameter is also considered to be of great importance in the calibration of the SWAN model [
11], however, in the analyses presented so far, the influence of the whitecapping coefficient of the standard formulation was not observed. To investigate the influence of this parameter in relation to the others considered, the simulation is run in a similar way to the previous one for 3000 data points with a constant speed of 5 m/s and NE direction (northeast = 45º), which are the prevailing winds data in the region (
Figure 12,
Figure 13 and
Figure 14).
There is a greater dispersion in the data and a slight reduction in the correlation and determination coefficients compared to the previous case. However, despite these results, it can be said that the modeling is adequately represented by the PCE.
In this scenario, the whitecapping coefficient of the standard formulation (𝑐𝑑𝑠𝑤) has a significant 1st order Sobol index, reaching 97%. The induced wave breaking index (𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑚𝑎) is 2.4%, while the background friction coefficient (
) shows a reduced magnitude when we consider wind speed and direction as constant. This set of results can be interpreted in the light of existing literature, indicating that the most impactful parameters and equations in hydrodynamic modeling of closed environments, such as dam reservoirs, are concentrated in the wind data (speed and direction) and in the whitecapping formulation, whose coefficient, as indicated by Zhang et al. (2023 [
11]) must be calibrated for the specific wind field used in the modeling.
On the probabilistic side, we confirmed the empirical knowledge of the importance of wind data and the whitecapping parameter in modeling and calibration. Despite the lack of field data, contour maps for significant wave height and mean wave period were generated from the results of the simulations (
Figure 15 and
Figure 16), providing information for practical applications in preliminary projects in the region, such as those for navigation, fish farming and environmental protection. We emphasize that the maps are in line with the physics of the problem and previous estimates, such as those pointed out by Vieira (2013 [
25]) and other productions by the research group.
It could be observed that the wave heights (𝐻𝑠) are greater than 0.4 m if the wind speed is greater than 8 m/s in the NE direction. In this case, the average period is over 0.86 s, with an average of 1.33 s. It should be noted that the prevailing wind speed in Ilha Solteira is moderate, around 5 m/s [
27]. In extreme cases of strong gusts, as occurred in 2010 [37, 38], the wind speed can exceed 33 m/s (120 km/h).
To verify the good physical replication in the modeling, the percentage of occurrence of wind direction data in each direction of wave propagation (16 intervals) can be analyzed for the data set (
Figure 17), where the ranges in the order of 45° (NE) and 315° (NO) show the highest occurrence.
The NE direction stands out as dominant in the simulated data, just as it did in the field data. As for the NO direction, we hypothesize that its high occurrence is due to the geometry of the lake and wave reflection at the point under analysis, which is the monitoring station relatively close to the shore. The same phenomenon is observed when analyzing the peak direction (
Figure 18).
Turning to the analysis of the mean absolute and peak periods of the numerical results, we can see that they are in good agreement with the wind data (
Figure 19 and 20). For the data set, the mean absolute and peak periods are 1.3 s and 1.7 s, respectively. This indicates the model's good performance for the case study.
The results of this study not only provide a more refined calibration of the SWAN model for the specific case of Ilha Solteira, but also suggest more assertive directions for future research. The intrinsic complexity of the phenomenon highlights the ongoing need for research and improvement in wind wave studies. The methodology adopted is replicable in other reservoirs, and comprehensive analysis of the SWAN model is crucial to achieving accurate calibration in the study area.