Mapping of areas of intense wave-current interaction in Faroese waters

The interaction between ocean currents and waves are known to intensify the sea state, which may lead to challenging situations in marine operations, but is also of importance to understand the sea state in general and the mixing determining the living conditions for the marine ecology.
The area surrounding the Faroe Islands is characterized by being amongst the largest waves ever recorded by scientific instruments, relatively strong tidal currents and main ocean currents of importance for the local as well the global climate. Marine activities in these harsh conditions are of major importance to the economy locally in the Faroe Islands, but also in other countries. Despite this, areas of potential intensifying wave conditions due to interaction with ocean currents are poorly mapped nor the underlying processes are understood.
In this project ongoing wave modelling activities based on an implementation of the unstructured SWAN model for the Faroe area are expanded with an ocean circulation model. The ambition is to map areas for potential dangerous waves for given weather situations both in open water along the shelf edge and in coastal areas, and to understand its role in determining the sea water characteristics in the region.