A brief summary of verification results for the spectral ocean wave model (SOWM) by means of wave height measurements obtained by Geos 3

Abstract

A brief summary of some of the verification results for the spectral ocean wave model (SOWM) using Geos 3 wave height measurements is given. A NASA contractor's report by Pierson and Salfi (1978) contains the analyses of 44 Geos 3 orbit segments for 1975 and 1976, from which significant wave heights were obtained as overlapping 20‐s averages every 2 or 3 s from the altimeter data. The SOWM is the presently operational wave forecasting model at the Fleet Numerical Weather Central (FNWC). The verifications were carried out for the specification (or hindcast) mode; that is, past meteorological data and wind fields derived therefrom were used to calculate the waves as opposed to forecasts of the wind fields. The major results were that the SOWM specifications were biased too low and that the larger differences between what was measured by Geos 3 and what the model gave could be attributed to poor specifications of the winds over the northern hemisphere oceans. These particular features of the SOWM had been recognized at FNWC by means of verifications by other means, and the bias has been removed, although there are still problems connected with the lack of adequate wind data over the oceans.