Numerical simulation system for the coast of central Chile by coupling numerical models

Abstract

Using numerical modelling it is possible to anticipate unfavorable wave conditions for port activity. In particular, using coupled numerical models it is possible to include a larger number of variables, parameters, processes and interactions with focus on improving the representation and precision of processes that occur in the environment. This paper presents a numerical simulation system applied to the coast of central Chile using a coupled tool, which includes the wave model Wavewatch III (WW3), the hydrodynamic model Coastal and Regional Ocean Community (CROCO) and the atmospheric model Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF). The coupled modeling system accounts a one-way coupling from the WRF variables that CROCO and WW3 use as input, and a two-way coupling between the CROCO and WW3 models. The latter is developed through the implementation of the coupler software Ocean Atmosphere Sea Ice Soil (OASIS-MCT3) and the use of coupling tools provided by CROCO. Model results are contrasted with wave instrumental observations made by the National Hydrographic and Oceanographic Data Center of Chile (CENDHOC) using statistics error parameters such as bias, mean square error, and correlation. The hydrodynamic coupled simulations present a better adjustment to the measurements compared to those without coupling revealing a lower bias for significant wave height and mean directions. Likewise, higher values of the correlation coefficients are found in significant wave height with the hydrodynamic coupled tool.