A mosaic approach to wind wave modeling

Abstract A mosaic or multi-grid approach to wind wave modeling is presented. In this approach, a series of grids with different resolutions are treated as individual wave models, while simultaneously and continuously considering interactions between these grids. This converts a mosaic of grids into a single wave model. For overlapping grids with distinctly different resolutions, two-way nesting is introduced. For overlapping grids with similar resolution, a reconciliation method is introduced. These techniques are implemented in the WAVEWATCH III wind wave model and are tested for several idealized situations, and for a realistic wave hindcast for coastal Alaskan waters. The mosaic approach is shown to give consistent results across grid scales and provides an effective and economical way to locally increase the spatial resolution of wave models.

[1]  Walter H. F. Smith,et al.  A global, self‐consistent, hierarchical, high‐resolution shoreline database , 1996 .

[2]  M. Gomez Lahoz,et al.  A two-way nesting procedure for the WAM model: Application to the Spanish coast , 1997 .

[3]  Jose-Henrique G. M. Alves,et al.  Numerical modeling of wind waves generated by tropical cyclones using moving grids , 2005 .

[4]  B. P. Leonard,et al.  A stable and accurate convective modelling procedure based on quadratic upstream interpolation , 1990 .

[5]  Hendrik L. Tolman,et al.  Treatment of unresolved islands and ice in wind wave models , 2003 .

[6]  C. Fletcher.  Computational techniques for fluid dynamics , 1992 .

[7]  Hendrik L. Tolman,et al.  Alleviating the Garden Sprinkler Effect in wind wave models , 2002 .

[8]  M Gomez,et al.  A two-way nesting procedure for the WAM model: Application to the Spanish Coast , 1995 .

[9]  Tai-Wen Hsu,et al.  Hindcasting nearshore wind waves using a FEM code for SWAN , 2005 .

[10]  B. P. Leonard,et al.  The ULTIMATE conservative difference scheme applied to unsteady one-dimensional advection , 1991 .

[11]  N. Booij,et al.  A third-generation wave model for coastal regions-1 , 1999 .

[12]  M. Donelan,et al.  Dynamics and Modelling of Ocean Waves , 1994 .

[13]  Hendrik L. Tolman,et al.  A Third-Generation Model for Wind Waves on Slowly Varying, Unsteady, and Inhomogeneous Depths and Currents , 1991 .

[14]  N. Booij,et al.  A third‐generation wave model for coastal regions: 2. Verification , 1999 .

[15]  H. Tolman,et al.  Development and Implementation of Wind-Generated Ocean Surface Wave Modelsat NCEP , 2002 .

[16]  Michel Benoit,et al.  DEVELOPMENT OF A THIRD GENERATION SHALLOW-WATER WAVE MODEL WITH UNSTRUCTURED SPATIAL MESHING , 2010 .

[17]  Hendrik L. Tolman,et al.  Obstruction grids for spectral wave models , 2008 .

[18]  N. Booij,et al.  Propagation of ocean waves in discrete spectral wave models , 1987 .

[19]  Yoshio Kurihara,et al.  Improvements in the GFDL Hurricane Prediction System , 1995 .

[20]  Fabrice Ardhuin,et al.  A Hybrid Eulerian–Lagrangian Model for Spectral Wave Evolution with Application to Bottom Friction on the Continental Shelf , 2001 .

[21]  N. N. Yanenko,et al.  The Method of Fractional Steps , 1971 .