SA Waves
SAWAVES was established in 2019 by Flinders University and the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) in collaboration with SA Water and the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), funded by a SA Department for Environment and Water (DEW) Coastal Research and Development Grant. The network comprised two wave observation sites at Brighton and Semaphore in Gulf Saint Vincent (GSV).
In 2022, the network was expanded to include two more wave buoys in Robe, enabled by funding support from the District Council of Robe and the Coast Protection Board (CPB).
In 2023, the LGA SA, DEW and CPB received funding under the federal government’s Coastal and Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program to improve South Australia’s access to coastal monitoring data, including expansion into more regional sites. DEW also invested in additional wave observation data in the Gulf St Vincent, establishing sites at West Beach, North Haven and Semaphore through the Adelaide Beach Management Review Implementation Program.
SAWAVES sites have now been integrated into the IMOS National Coastal Wave Buoy facility, with SARDI and Flinders University as the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) sub-facility leads. The SA wave observation network currently includes nine sites across South Australia. This network provides long-term, real-time, quality assured data to help inform our understanding of local and seasonal wave climate at each location. This data will contribute to a better understanding of nearshore coastal processes, ultimately supporting evidence-based decision-making in relation to coastal management, hazard risk assessment and adaptation planning.