USE OF NUMERICAL WIND-WAVE MODELS FOR ASSESSMENT OF THE OFFSHORE WAVEENERGY RESOURCE

In the last two decades the performance of numerical wind-wave models has improved considerably. Several models have been routinely producin g goad quality wave estimates globally since the mid-1980s. The verifi cations of wind-wave models have mainly focused an the evaluation of t he error of the significant wave height H-5 estimates. However, for wa ve energy purposes, the main parameters to be assessed are the wave po wer P-w and the mean (energy) period T-e. Since P-w is proportional to (HsTe)-T-2, its expected error is much target than for the single-wav e parameters. This paper summarizes the intercomparison of two wind-wa ve models against buoy data in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranea n Sea to select the mast suitable one for the construction of an Atlas of the wave energy resource in European waters. A full verification i n the hva basins of the selected model-the WAM model, implemented in t he routine operation of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather F orcecasts-was then performed against buoy and satellite altimeter data . It was found that the WAM model accuracy is very goad far offshore l ocations in the North Atlantic; but for the Mediterranean Sea the resu lts ape much less accurate, probably due to a lower quality of the inp ut wind fields.