Wave forecasting system for operational use and its validation at coastal Puducherry, east coast of India

An incredible demand for coastal sea-state forecast in recent years has led to development and implementation of wave forecasting system in operational centers, having wide practical applications relevant to marine industry. The wave forecasting system takes advantage of parametric techniques, by nesting global ocean wave models to coastal and near-shore high-resolution wave models. The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) at Hyderabad has a mandate for operational marine weather forecast services that envisages integration and coupling state-of-the-art weather models for operational oceanographic needs. In the present study, two state-of-art wave models viz; WAVEWATCH III (WW3) and Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) are nested and forced with French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea/Laboratory of Oceanography From Space (IFREMER/CERSAT) blended surface winds. The objective is to investigate wave evolution at a coastal location off Puducherry in the east coast of India. To evaluate model performance, a detailed validation study is performed by comparing model-simulated wave parameters and wave spectra with corresponding in-situ wave rider buoy observations for four prominent seasons viz; northeast monsoon, southwest monsoon, pre- and post-monsoon. The study signifies applicability of nested wave model for operational use during normal weather condition at coastal Puducherry.