An evaluation of environment Canada's operational ocean wave model based on moored buoy data

Abstract

An operational ocean wave model called the Canadian Spectral Ocean Wave Model (CSOWM) has been implemented in the operational forecasting system of the Atmospheric Environment Service, Environment Canada, since early 1991. The present operational version of the CSOWM is a first-generation deep-water wave model and is designed to operate over two separate oceanic regions, namely, the northwest Atlantic and the northeast Pacific. The model is run twice daily at the Canadian Meteorological Centre in Montreal and is driven by surface-level winds obtainable from the operational weather prediction models of the CMC. For the Atlantic region, the CSOWM is driven by the 10-m-level winds obtainable from the regional finite-element weather prediction model, while for the Pacific region the CSOWM uses the 1000-mb-level winds obtainable from the global spectral model. The wave model's most important output parameter, namely, the significant wave height, has been evaluated against buoy-measured wave heights available at several locations in the Canadian Atlantic as well as in the Canadian Pacific. The evaluation is presented in the form of scatterplots of model versus buoy values; also verification statistics such as mean error, root-mean-square error, etc. are presented for four seasons of a verification year. Further, the model wave height charts for a selected case study are evaluated against hand-analyzed wave height charts over the Canadian Atlantic. The verification results suggest that the present operational version of the CSOWM can provide wave height analysis and forecast out to 36 h with considerable skill. Further, the verification statistics compare quite favorably with those for some of the global wave models that are in operational mode in Europe and North America.