Refined Source Terms in Wave Watch 3 with Wave Breaking and Sea Spray Forecasts
Abstract
As marine winds strengthen, wave breaking becomes increasingly widespread. This has important consequences, both for offshore operations and geophysically, yet wave breaking is not included in present marine forecasts. This project addressed the challenge of incorporating wave breaking physics into coupled sea state marine weather forecasting models. The aim was to add accurate wave breaking and sea spray forecasts to the standard suite of forecast sea state variables, for sea state conditions ranging from light to very severe. Our approach required a combination of observational and modeling efforts. We synthesized results from our field data analyses into accurate parameterizations for wave breaking occurrence and strength. We also needed to modify the wind input source term for compatibility with the other source terms and physical constraints. These refinements were incorporated in the dissipation and wind input source terms in the spectral wave evolution models used to generate forecasts. [truncated]
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 05, 2016
- Accession Number
- AD1014558
Entities
People
- Christopher W. Fairall
- Michael Banner
- Russel P. Morison