Tom H. Durrant

Validation of Jason-1 and Envisat Remotely Sensed Wave Heights

Abstract Satellite altimetry provides an immensely valuable source of operational significant wave height (Hs) data. Currently, altimeters on board Jason-1 and Envisat provide global Hs observations, available within 3–5 h of real time. In this work, Hs data from these altimeters are validated against in situ buoy data from the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) and Marine Environmental Data Service (MEDS) buoy networks. Data cover a period of three years for Envisat and more than four years for Jason-1. Collocation criteria of 50 km and 30 min yield 3452 and 2157 collocations for Jason-1 and Envisat, respectively. Jason-1 is found to be in no need of correction, performing well throughout the range of wave heights, although it is notably noisier than Envisat. An overall RMS difference between Jason-1 and buoy data of 0.227 m is found. Envisat has a tendency to overestimate low Hs and underestimate high Hs. A linear correction reduces the RMS difference by 7%, from 0.219 to 0.203 m. In addition to wave heig...

Southern Hemisphere Synoptic Behavior in Extreme Phases of SAM, ENSO, Sea Ice Extent, and Southern Australia Rainfall

Abstract The association between Southern Hemisphere cyclones and anticyclones and the El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), southern annular mode (SAM), Antarctic sea ice extent (SIE), and rainfall in Perth and Melbourne is explored. Those cities are, respectively, located in the southwestern and southeastern corners of Australia, where substantial decreasing rainfall trends have been observed over the last decades. The need for a more unified understanding of large-scale anomalies in storm indicators associated with the climate features itemized above has motivated this study. The main aim is to identify cyclone-anomalous areas that are potentially important in characterizing continental rainfall anomalies from a hemispheric perspective, focusing on midlatitude Australia. The study covers the “satellite era” from 1979 to 2003 and was conducted for the southern winter when midlatitude rainfall is predominantly baroclinic. The results indicate a well-organized hemispheric cyclone pattern associated with EN...

Consensus Forecasts of Modeled Wave Parameters

Abstract The use of numerical guidance has become integral to the process of modern weather forecasting. Using various techniques, postprocessing of numerical model output has been shown to mitigate some of the deficiencies of these models, producing more accurate forecasts. The operational consensus forecast scheme uses past performance to bias-correct and combine numerical forecasts to produce an improved forecast at locations where recent observations are available. This technique was applied to forecasts of significant wave height (Hs), peak period (Tp), and 10-m wind speed (U10) from 10 numerical wave models, at 14 buoy sites located around North America. Results show the best forecast is achieved with a weighted average of bias-corrected components for both Hs and Tp, while a weighted average of linear-corrected components gives the best results for U10. For 24-h forecasts, improvements of 36%, 47%, and 31%, in root-mean-square-error values over the mean raw model components are achieved, or 14%, 22...

The large-scale influence of the Great Barrier Reef matrix on wave attenuation

Abstract Offshore reef systems consist of individual reefs, with spaces in between, which together constitute the reef matrix. This is the first comprehensive, large-scale study, of the influence of an offshore reef system on wave climate and wave transmission. The focus was on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, utilizing a 16-yr record of wave height from seven satellite altimeters. Within the GBR matrix, the wave climate is not strongly dependent on reef matrix submergence. This suggests that after initial wave breaking at the seaward edge of the reef matrix, wave energy that penetrates the matrix has little depth modulation. There is no clear evidence to suggest that as reef matrix porosity (ratio of spaces between individual reefs to reef area) decreases, wave attenuation increases. This is because individual reefs cast a wave shadow much larger than the reef itself; thus, a matrix of isolated reefs is remarkably effective at attenuating wave energy. This weak dependence of transmitted wave energy on depth of reef submergence, and reef matrix porosity, is also evident in the lee of the GBR matrix. Here, wave conditions appear to be dependent largely on local wind speed, rather than wave conditions either seaward, or within the reef matrix. This is because the GBR matrix is a very effective wave absorber, irrespective of water depth and reef matrix porosity.

Observation of wind-waves from a moored buoy in the Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean is an important component in the global wave climate. However, owing to a lack of observations, our understanding of waves is poor compared to other regions. The Southern Ocean Flux Station (SOFS) has been deployed to fill this gap and represents the first successful moored air-sea flux station at these southern hemisphere latitudes. In this paper, we present for the first time the results from the analysis of the wave measurements, focused on statistics and extremes of the main wave parameters. Furthermore, a spectral characterization is performed regarding the number of wave systems and predominance of swell/wind-sea. Our results indicate a high consistency in terms of wave parameters for all deployments. The maximum significant wave height obtained in the 705 days of observation was 13.41 m. The main spectra found represent unimodal swell dominated cases; however, the dimensionless energy plotted against dimensionless peak frequency for these spectra follows a well-known relation for wind-sea conditions. In addition, the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research wave hindcast is validated with the SOFS data.

Correcting Marine Surface Winds Simulated in Atmospheric Models Using Spatially and Temporally Varying Linear Regression

AbstractThis study examines the application of three different variations of linear-regression corrections to the surface marine winds from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s recently implemented operational atmospheric model. A simple correction over the entire domain is found to inadequately account for geographical variation in the wind bias. This is addressed by considering corrections that vary in space. Further, these spatially varying corrections are extended to vary in time. In an operational environment, the error characteristics of the wind forcing can be expected to change over time with the evolution of the atmospheric model. This in turn requires any applied correction to be monitored and maintained. Motivated by a desire to avoid this manual maintenance, a self-learning correction method is proposed whereby spatially and temporally varying corrections are calculated in real time from a moving window of historical comparisons between observations and preceding forecasts. This technique is...

An assessment of the impact of surface currents on wave modeling in the Southern Ocean

This paper presents an assessment of the impact of the ocean circulation on modeled wave fields in the Southern Ocean, where a systematic positive bias of the modeled wave height against altimetry data has been reported. The inclusion of ocean currents in the wave model considerably reduces the positive bias of the simulated wave height for high southern latitudes. The decrease of wave energy in the presence of currents is almost exclusively related to the reduction of the relative wind, caused by an overall co-flowing current field associated with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Improvements of the model results are also found for the peak period and the mean period against a long-term moored buoy. At the mooring location, the effect of currents is greater for larger and longer waves, suggesting remotely generated swells are more influenced by the currents than local waves. However, an additional qualitative analysis using high-resolution currents in a finer grid nested to the global coarser grid shows that typical resolution of global hydrodynamic reanalysis is not sufficient to resolve mesoscale eddies, and as a consequence, the simulation of mesoscale wave patterns can be compromised. The results are also discussed in terms of the accuracy of forcing fields.

Waves in the Southern Great Barrier Reef

A brief description of three different platforms (WAVEWATCH III, Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler mooring and HF ocean radar) with directional wave measurement capabilities is provided. Initial results of directional wave and wind patterns derived from observations within the southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia, show consistency with the WAVEWATCH III model. These early findings are promising for future wind-wave investigations and validation studies in this region.