119
angles of approach and track offsets. Estimates of storm surge maximum of
maximums (MOM) and maximum envelope of water (MEOW) are then derived for
guidance in emergency management. The CariCOOS Storm Surge model, adapting
a previous implementation of ADCIRC+SWAN (PADSWAN) to the northeastern
Caribbean islands to support emergency response, risk assessment, coastal planning, and climate change analysis in Puerto Rico (Benitez and Mercado 2015), is an
example of such storm surge atlases. Luettich et al. (2017) have also recently implemented the NOAA Sea Lake and Overland Surge from Hurricanes model (SLOSH)
coupled to the SWAN deep wave model for the CariCOOS region providing an
additional inundation and surge database.
Global operational wave models notably include the third-generation NOAA
WaveWatch III™ (WWIII) implementation (Tolman et al. 2002) forced by NOAA’s
Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS) and the operational Medium-Range
Forecast system (GFS). Numerous implementations of the Simulating Waves
Nearshore (SWAN) model originally described by Booij et al. (1999) are also operational, many of these nested within WWIII. SWAN includes explicit formulations
to incorporate the effects of currents on waves. NOAA uses such a scheme for its
coastal Nearshore Wave Prediction System (NWPS) which incorporates RTOFS
(NOAA’s Global Real-Time Ocean Forecast System) currents.
The CariCOOS Nearshore Wave Model (Anselmi et al. 2012; see box) is an
implementation of such a nesting scheme for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
The model provides graphical time series forecasts for virtual buoys located
throughout the coastal waters of PR and USVI some of these co-located with actual
wave-measuring buoys.
Model performance was field validated using data output from a CariCOOS
wave buoy located in Vieques Sound off the coast of Rincon, PR (northwest coast),
and a CariCOOS ODAS buoy off Ponce PR (south coast). The nested model is
shown to improve over the performance of WWIII alone (Anselmi et al. 2012).
Model performance during the recent passage of Hurricane Maria across the islands,
an extreme event, can be further judged through comparison with actual readings of
The CARICOOS Nearshore Wave Model
The CARICOOS Nearshore Wave Model (Version 7.0 – last updated April
2016) is an operational wave forecast system based on the Simulating Waves
Nearshore (SWAN) spectral wave model. It is forced by NOAA WWIII spectral
boundary conditions and by the CARICOOS WRF 2-KM resolution operational wind model. It is based on a 1 KM resolution parent grid with 12 nested
grids at a spatial resolution between 240 m and up to 10 m in some locations.
The model is run twice per day (00Z and 12Z cycles) at the CARICOOS HighPerformance Computing facilities. Forecasts are provided for 120 h on the
parent grid and for 72 h in the nested high-resolution grids (http://www.caricoos.org/ accessed 12/1/2017).
6.3 Coastal Ocean Wave Models
angles of approach and track offsets. Estimates of storm surge maximum of
maximums (MOM) and maximum envelope of water (MEOW) are then derived for
guidance in emergency management. The CariCOOS Storm Surge model, adapting
a previous implementation of ADCIRC+SWAN (PADSWAN) to the northeastern
Caribbean islands to support emergency response, risk assessment, coastal planning, and climate change analysis in Puerto Rico (Benitez and Mercado 2015), is an
example of such storm surge atlases. Luettich et al. (2017) have also recently implemented the NOAA Sea Lake and Overland Surge from Hurricanes model (SLOSH)
coupled to the SWAN deep wave model for the CariCOOS region providing an
additional inundation and surge database.
Global operational wave models notably include the third-generation NOAA
WaveWatch III™ (WWIII) implementation (Tolman et al. 2002) forced by NOAA’s
Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS) and the operational Medium-Range
Forecast system (GFS). Numerous implementations of the Simulating Waves
Nearshore (SWAN) model originally described by Booij et al. (1999) are also operational, many of these nested within WWIII. SWAN includes explicit formulations
to incorporate the effects of currents on waves. NOAA uses such a scheme for its
coastal Nearshore Wave Prediction System (NWPS) which incorporates RTOFS
(NOAA’s Global Real-Time Ocean Forecast System) currents.
The CariCOOS Nearshore Wave Model (Anselmi et al. 2012; see box) is an
implementation of such a nesting scheme for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
The model provides graphical time series forecasts for virtual buoys located
throughout the coastal waters of PR and USVI some of these co-located with actual
wave-measuring buoys.
Model performance was field validated using data output from a CariCOOS
wave buoy located in Vieques Sound off the coast of Rincon, PR (northwest coast),
and a CariCOOS ODAS buoy off Ponce PR (south coast). The nested model is
shown to improve over the performance of WWIII alone (Anselmi et al. 2012).
Model performance during the recent passage of Hurricane Maria across the islands,
an extreme event, can be further judged through comparison with actual readings of
The CARICOOS Nearshore Wave Model
The CARICOOS Nearshore Wave Model (Version 7.0 – last updated April
2016) is an operational wave forecast system based on the Simulating Waves
Nearshore (SWAN) spectral wave model. It is forced by NOAA WWIII spectral
boundary conditions and by the CARICOOS WRF 2-KM resolution operational wind model. It is based on a 1 KM resolution parent grid with 12 nested
grids at a spatial resolution between 240 m and up to 10 m in some locations.
The model is run twice per day (00Z and 12Z cycles) at the CARICOOS HighPerformance Computing facilities. Forecasts are provided for 120 h on the
parent grid and for 72 h in the nested high-resolution grids (http://www.caricoos.org/ accessed 12/1/2017).
6.3 Coastal Ocean Wave Models