GOW2: A global wave hindcast for coastal applications

Abstract Global wave hindcasts provide wave climate information for long time periods which helps to improve our understanding of climate variability, long term trends and extremes. This information is extremely useful for coastal studies and can be used both directly or as boundary conditions for regional and local downscalings. This work presents the GOW2 database, a long-term wave hindcast covering the world coastline with improved resolution in coastal areas and along ocean islands. For developing the GOW2 hindcast, WAVEWATCH III wave model is used in a multigrid two-way nesting configuration from 1979 onwards. The multigrid includes a global grid of half degree spatial resolution, specific grids configured for the Arctic and the Antarctic polar areas, and a grid of higher resolution (about 25 km) for all the coastal locations at a depth shallower than 200 m. Available outputs include hourly sea state parameters (e.g. significant wave height, peak period, mean wave direction) and series of 3-h spectra at more than 40000 locations in coastal areas. Comparisons with instrumental data show a clear improvement with respect to existing global hindcasts, especially in semi-enclosed basins and areas with a complex bathymetry. The effect of tropical cyclones is also well-captured thanks to the high resolution of the forcings and the wave model setup. The new database shows a high potential for a variety of applications in coastal engineering.

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