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A European Commission DGXII MAST 3 Project |
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In-situ measurements
By in-situ measurements, we mean wave data collected by moored data buoys and measurements made from fixed platforms. Although there is a considerably higher density of in-situ measurements available today than was the case a decade ago, the available data is still far from sufficient for describing the offshore wave climate throughout Europe. The main use to which the in-situ wave data will be used in Eurowaves is in validating the results at different stages:
- Offshore measured data will be used to validate the WAM data. This gives a secondary control of significant wave height (the primary validation is performed by the satellite altimeter, which provides data throughout Europe).
- In some areas (e.g., Norway and the North Sea) longer term offshore measured data exists and allows us to extend the validation to the late 1970s.
- In some locations, directional wave measurements exist. These data allow the wave direction and the breakdown of the model data into wind sea and swell components to be checked.
- In several areas, we have simultaneous measurements offshore and in coastal waters (e.g., Portugal, Norway, Greece and Spain). This allows both the coastal wave models to be validated and tuned as well as allowing the whole Eurowaves methodology to be checked.
- There are several data sets available in coastal waters. These will allow us to give an indication of the quality of the results presented to the user of Eurowaves at several locations in Europe.
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