A DATA ASSIMILATION SCHEME TO IMPROVE THE WAVE PREDICTIONS IN THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE BLACK SEA

References: 14th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference SGEM 2014, www.sgem.org, SGEM2014 Conference Proceedings, ISBN 978-619-7105-14-8 / ISSN 1314-2704, June 19-25, 2014, Book 3, Vol. 2, 539-546 pp

ABSTRACT
Numerical wave models are widely used in various studies related to the wave climate in order to produce continuous wave data, in both space and time. The performances of the wave models strongly depend on the quality of the driving wind fields, which are usually less accurate in enclosed seas. For this reason, methods to increase the quality of the wave predictions are necessary to be applied. Model errors can be reduced by applying data assimilation techniques that combine the measured wave parameters with those predicted by numerical models in order to derive better estimations of the sea states. In this context, the aim of the present study is to improve the wave predictions in the western side of the Black Sea, and especially in the Romanian nearshore, by assimilating local wave measurements. Numerical simulations have been performed with the SWAN model for a ten-year period (1999-2008). The wave measurements from that Gloria drilling unit have been considered in the present work for the assimilation procedure. A data assimilation scheme based on the successive correction method has been implemented. This assumes linear regressions to perform corrections to the model predictions in order to fit better the observations. As a result, a visible improvement in the model prediction is obtained.

Keywords: data assimilation, Black Sea, hindcast, storm conditions, SWAN