Sensitivity of a Red Sea numerical wave model to spatial and temporal resolution of forcing wind field

Abstract

Simulating waves using numerical wave models provide essential wave information for navigational safety and coastal protection applications. Accuracy of such simulations depends mainly on the accuracy of the forcing wind fields, which are influenced by the wind fields’ spatial and temporal resolutions. In this study, the sensitivity of a SWAN-based Red Sea wave model to spatial and temporal resolutions of forcing wind fields was investigated. The sensitivity analysis showed that forcing the wave model with wind fields of low spatial and/or temporal resolutions will affect the quality of wave model outputs, not only in terms of integrated wave parameters, but also in terms of the overall wave energy distribution in both frequency and directional domains. This study suggests that the spatial resolution of the forcing wind filed plays more significant role than the temporal resolution on the quality of the wave model predictions.