PHAROS

PHAROS (Program for HARbour Oscillations) is a numerical wave model for the simulation of wave agitation and wave resonance in harbour basins. The model is based on the mild-slope equation, which governs linear wave propagation over a mildly sloping bathymetry, with no restrictions to the water depth. PHAROS models the following processes:

• diffraction
• refraction due to depth variations
• refraction by ambient currents

and includes the effects of:

• dissipation by wave breaking
• dissipation by bottom friction
• partial reflection from complex seawalls, rubble mounds, beaches etc.
• partial transmission due to overtopping or permeability

The model computes wave propagation including these processes for a given wave period. The incoming wave signal is prescribed at a model boundary in a way that allows reflected waves to pass and move out of the model domain. The effect of directional spreading (short-crested waves) and energy spreading over multiple wave periods (a spectrum) can be accounted for by combining the output of multiple computations. PHAROS includes routines that perform this combination, given a user-defined directional spreading function and/or a frequency spectrum (JONSWAP).

Furthermore, PHAROS offers the possibility to carry out computations for a large number of long wave periods in a user-defined range of frequencies, to study long-wave resonance and seiching of harbours.

recent projects

At Deltares, PHAROS has been, and still is, used extensively in a large number of consultancy projects in the Netherlands and abroad. It is typically used for studying wave penetration into harbours. Within these projects, often several harbour layouts are tested for their feasibility in terms of wave penetration. Amongst them are:

• Dubai, U.A.E.: Computation of wave penetration into various harbours and marinas for the land reclamations off the Dubai Coast
• Sohar, Oman: Study on wave penetration into the changed layout of the Sohar Fishery Harbour
• Dunkerque, France: Wave penetration study for various options for the future extension of the Port of Dunkerque, France
• Monaco: Evaluation of the impact of a land reclamation on the existing Port Hercule and determination of wave conditions inside a new marina and canal
• Scheveningen, The Netherlands: Computation of wave penetration for extreme events in the Harbour of Scheveningen
• Den Helder, The Netherlands: Determination of wave conditions at a new quay wall in the Harbour of Den Helder
• IJmuiden, The Netherlands: Wave penetration of extreme and normal waves into the Harbour of IJmuiden

new developments

In the coming period, our research for and development of PHAROS will focus mainly on improving the coupling with the wave propagation model SWAN at the PHAROS incoming wave boundary, and on the implementation of a new numerical solver, which will ensure a significant decrease of computational time.

PHAROS purchase or lease

PHAROS is available for Microsoft Windows based PCs, and it is delivered with an extensive user manual. In addition, a grid generator and the post-processing package Delft3D-QUICKPLOT are included. PHAROS can either be purchased or leased for a 3-month period. Furthermore, Deltares organizes PHAROS courses at the client’s demand, at the Deltares offices in Delft or locally at the client’s office.

more information

For more information please contact delftchess.info@deltares.nl

Download PHAROS brochure of release 8.03 June 2006 (in PDF)
current release: 9.10.0.14, July 2009