One-year assessment of the CHAOS two-way coupled atmosphere-ocean wave modelling system over the Mediterranean and Black Seas


Published: Jul 1, 2020
Keywords:
Air-sea interaction WRF WAM sea surface roughness wind-wave coupling statistical evaluation.
GEORGE VARLAS
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7929-9452
CHRISTOS SPYROU
ANASTASIOS PAPADOPOULOS
GERASIMOS KORRES
PETROS KATSAFADOS
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7452-0138
Abstract

It is currently clear that the atmosphere and ocean should be simulated by integrated modelling systems resolving interconnected physical factors that determine the Earth’s energy balance. Waves play a key role in the interfacial interaction between the atmosphere and the ocean, regulating momentum, heat and moisture exchange. This study aims to evaluate the CHAOS two-way coupled atmosphere-ocean wave system (Chemical Hydrological Atmospheric Ocean wave System) over the Mediterranean and Black Seas. The evaluation is performed against in situ and remote sensing data for the period from 1 December 2013 to 1 December 2014. CHAOS includes the Weather Research Forecasting (WRF) model, version 3.8, as atmospheric component and the Wave model (WAM) cycle 4.5.4 as ocean wave component, coupled through the OASIS3-MCT coupler, version 3.0. Two continuous model simulation approaches were followed to assess the impact of atmosphere ocean waves coupling. In the first approach (1-way coupling mode), the ocean wave component uses the winds produced by the atmospheric component, while in the second approach (2-way coupling mode) the atmospheric component additionally uses sea state information estimated by the ocean wave component through wave-dependent Charnock parameter computations. In the 2-way coupling mode, the attenuation of the atmospheric flow has a damping effect on wind-generated waves. The simulations in 2-way coupling mode produce more realistic results yielding statistical improvements. Compared against buoy observations, the 2-way mode reduces the root mean square error (RMSE) 1.2% for wind speed and 6.3% for significant wave height, while against Jason-2 satellite retrievals the reduction is 0.5% and 2.4%, respectively. Additionally, the 2-way coupling mode outperformed the 1-way mode under intense wind and wave conditions during the one-year period considered.

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References
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