Assessment of WAVEWATCH-III in Wind Wave Modeling of the Xisha Islands

Abstract

The Xisha islands is a unique area where offshore structures can be utilized as exploration bases in the remote sea. Forecasting of sea state parameters is critical for the design and operation of offshore structures. The goal of this work is to establish an effective operational model to simulate wind waves in the Xisha Islands based on the third-generation wave model WAVEWATCH-III. During the process, two significant difficulties are highlighted and addressed: grid modeling optimization and physical source terms assessment. Typhoon-induced waves using different grid modeling techniques and physical parameterizations were modeled and evaluated using buoy measurements near islands and reefs. It was found that the unstructured triangular grid had a better performance than the other grid options in complex terrain environments like the Xisha Islands. The ST2 source-term package can provide efficient and accurate results in significant wave heights than the other source-term packages in the South China Sea.