Evaluation of Typhoon Waves Simulated by WaveWatch-III Model in Shallow Waters Around Zhoushan Islands

In this study, we simulated typhoon waves in the shallow waters around the Zhoushan Islands using the WaveWatch-III (WW3) model version 5.16, the latest version released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Specifically, we used in-situ measurements to evaluate the performance of seven packages of input/dissipation source terms in the WW3 model. We forced the WW3 model by wind fields derived from a combination of the parametric Holland model and high-resolution European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) wind data in a 0.125 degrees grid, herein called H-E winds. We trained the H-E winds by fitting a shape parameter B to buoy-measured observations, which resulted in a smallest root mean square error (RMSE) of 3 m s(-1) for B, when treated as a constant 0.4. Then, we applied the seven input/dissipation terms of WW3, labelled ST1, ST2, ST2+STAB2, ST3, ST3+STAB3, ST4, and ST6, to simulate the significant wave height (SWH) up to 5 m during typhoons Fungwong and Chan-hom around the Zhoushan Islands. We then compared the SWHs of the simulated waves with those measured by the in-situ buoys. The results indicate that the simulation using ST2 performs best with an RMSE of 0.79 m for typhoon Fung-wong and an RMSE of 1.12 m for typhoon Chan-hom. Interestingly, we found the simulated SWH results to be relatively higher than those of the observations in the area between Hangzhou Bay and the Zhoushan Islands. This behavior is worthy of further investigation in the future.