Wave atlas for Swiss lakes: modeling design waves in mountainous lakes.

The present study aims to provide a comprehensive wave atlas for Swiss lakes. The atlas is an adequate tool that contains wave characteristics of extreme events derived from numerical calculations. Swiss lakes are surrounded by mountains, and the wind field over the lakes is highly influenced by the region's topography. Therefore, it is important to apply the winds with appropriate direction distribution. The numerical weather prediction model COSMO-2 is used for defining the wind directional distribution, whereas the spectral wave model SWAN is used for wave simulations. The evaluation results are ultimately published on a geographical information internet platform, where a wave rose correlates the wave height to the event frequency for each point on a lake. An accurate knowledge of wave parameters is essential for the design of new shore protection measures, beach erosion control and harbor silting studies.