AN EVALUATION OF ENVIRONMENT-CANADA OPERATIONAL OCEAN WAVE MODEL-BASED ON MOORED BUOY DATA

An operational ocean wave model called the Canadian Spectral Ocean Wav e Model (CSOWM) has been implemented in the operational forecasting sy stem of the Atmospheric Environment Service, Environment Canada, since early 1991. The present operational version of the CSOWM is a first-g eneration deep-water wave model and is designed to operate over two se parate oceanic regions, namely, the northwest Atlantic and the northea st Pacific. The model is run twice daily at the Canadian Meteorologica l Centre in Montreal and is driven by surface-level winds obtainable f rom the operational weather prediction models of the CMC. For the Atla ntic region, the CSOWM is driven by the 10-m-level winds obtainable fr om the regional finite-element weather prediction model, while for the Pacific region the CSOWM uses the 1004-mb-level winds obtainable from the global spectral model. The wave model's most important output par ameter, namely, the significant wave height, has been evaluated agains t buoy-measured wave heights available at several locations in the Can adian Atlantic as well as in the Canadian Pacific. The evaluation is p resented in the form of scarterplots of model versus buoy values; also verification statistics such as mean error, root-mean-square error, e tc. are presented for four seasons of a veri fication year. Further, t he model wave height charts for a selected case study are evaluated ag ainst 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 wi th considerable skill. Further, the verification statistics compare qu ite favorably with those for some of the global wave models that are i n operational mode in Europe and North America.