Comparison of Wave Parameters Using Multitaper Power Spectral Density Estimation and the Welch Method

The paper presents an analysis of sea states recorded by a buoy of the Italian National Monitoring System from 2022 to 2023. Due to ongoing development work on the Italian national wave gauge network, an ex-post analysis of raw displacement data was performed. This study presents the results of numerous spectral calculations, highlighting the advantages of applying both the Welch and Thomson methods. The results demonstrated the greater robustness of the Thomson method and its good frequency resolution. In terms of the spectral significant wave height parameter <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$(H_{m0})$</tex>, the results were excellent for both methods analyzed. However, from the perspective of more accurate analyses related to ongoing climate change, the Thomson method appears to be better suited for characterizing the spectrum with high-frequency resolution.