Comparison of Manual Wave Prediction Models

Abstract

A comparison of three manual wave prediction models is carried out using 1972 waverider data from two deep‐water locations in Lake Ontario. The Sverdrup‐Munk‐Bretschneider model is compared with the JONSWAP model and with the relatively new model of Donelan. Only fetch‐limited, pseudo‐steady‐state events have been investigated. The accuracies in predicting the characteristic wave height and the period of the peak of the wave energy spectrum were found to be comparable for all three models. However, the accuracy of the Donelan model is slightly superior to that of the other two models; because the Donelan model can also predict the direction of the dominant wave energy on enclosed water bodies, where the fetch distribution is known, it could be useful for engineering applications in steady fetch‐limited conditions over deep water.