Large and small scale wave forecast in the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

We describe the implementation of an operational high resolution wind and wave forecasting system in the Mediterranean Sea, and then on a limited area centred on the south-east part of Italy, covering parts of the Adriatic and the Ionian seas. We analyse the performance at the two different resolutions during the first four months of operation, using the wind and wave data provided by the QuikSCAT scatterometer, and the Jason and Envisat altimeters. Useful accurate forecasts are found up to 72 h range, the maximum operational one. As expected, we find that the limited area models outperform both the wind and wave global or larger scale model results. However, we still find an appreciable underestimate by the models for surface wind speed and hence wave height, often concentrated on specific events.