WAVEWATCH III

WAVEWATCHIII at MET Norway uses the main branch from NOAA. The wave model is a third generation spectral wave model that computes the propagation of wave spectra. The model is phase averaging and does therefore not produce individual waves but a statistical representation of the sea state resembling a superposition of multiple wave fields with different origin and characteristics (random phase/amplitude model). This characteristic is then propagated in space and time and evolves due to source and sink terms.

At MET Norway WAVEWATCHIII is forced with winds from ECMWF-IFS, sea-ice concentration from OSI SAF, and at the domain boundaries with spectra from the global ECWAM model from ECMWF. For testing,  other forcing sources are added and can be activated.

MET Norway provides 4xdaily prognosis with hourly output fields and a forecast length of 66 hours. The wave model grid has a horizontal resolution of 4km, and propagates the wave spectra with 36 frequencies and 36 directions.

Wave model output can be obtained freely at:

https://thredds.met.no/thredds/fou-hi/ww3_4km.html 

Contact: Patrik Bohlinger (patrikb@met.no)