WAVEWATCH III Supports Arctic Operations

The WAVEWATCH III wave model (WW3) was implemented by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) as part of an Arctic modeling system to support U.S. Coast Guard and Office of Naval Research Arctic operations in the summer and autumn of 2015 providing real-time 72-hour forecasts of sea state. A 5-km domain centered over the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas nested in a larger 18-km Arctic domain were used together in a multiple-domain implementation. High resolution wind fields from the mesoscale atmospheric model (COAMPS) run at NRL forced the 5-km domain. In addition, ice concentration fields from the locally run regional sea ice model (CICE) were input to influence the generation, propagation, and decay of the predicted waves. Different model configurations regarding the ice input that have been applied will be described. Model performance of the wave model predictions of significant wave height and wave directions within the required criteria will be evaluated using available in situ data. Model accuracy for increasing forecast period will also be presented along with a quantification of accuracy differences under different configurations.