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New Directional Wave Satellite Observations: Towards Improved Wave Forecasts and Climate Description in Southern Ocean
Author(s) -
Aouf L.,
Hauser D.,
Chapron B.,
Toffoli A.,
Tourain C.,
Peureux C.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2020gl091187
Subject(s) - swell , climatology , geology , wind wave , wind wave model , satellite , significant wave height , wave model , wavelength , meteorology , oceanography , geography , physics , optoelectronics , astronomy
In spite of continuous improvements of ocean wave models in the last decades, large errors still remain in particular under strongly forced conditions, often encountered in the Southern Ocean, where strong westerly winds generate some of the fiercest waves on Earth in almost unlimited fetch conditions. The newly launched China‐France Oceanography SATellite (CFOSAT) provides directional spectra of ocean waves for both wind seas and swells. Compared to Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), it can resolve shorter wavelengths in all directions, which dominate in non‐fully developed wind waves. Here, the assimilation of these CFOSAT wavenumber components is proved to bring more accurate predictions of wave growth compared to the assimilation of significant wave height alone. A notable reduction of model bias is found in the Southern Ocean, especially in the Pacific Ocean sector. Results further exhibit a downward shift of the wave age, consistent with theoretical wave growth curves.