The Performance of the Canadian spectral ocean wave model (CSOWM) during the grand banks ERS‐1 SAR wave spectra validation experiment

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Abstract
CSOWM is Environment Canada's operational wave model that is operated daily at the Canadian Meteorological Centre (CMC) in Montréal and is driven by surface winds generated by the regional weather prediction model of CMC. For the duration of the Grand Banks ERS‐] SAR wave spectra validation field experiment, two versions of CSOWM ‐ a first generation (IG) version and a third generation (3G) version ‐ were used in a hindcast mode to generate wave model products. In addition, two sets of wind fields, one obtainable from the CMC weather prediction model and the other obtained through a hand‐analysis of 3‐hourly surface pressure charts and an application of a marine planetary boundary‐layer model, were used to generate wave model products. The various wave model products were evaluated against wind and wave measurements made over the study site and also against available buoy data from the network of Canadian buoys on the Grand Banks and the Scotian Shelf regions of the Canadian Atlantic. The evaluation suggests that both versions of CSOWM performed reasonably well and generated error statistics that were quite comparable with those generated by some of the operational wave models presently implemented in national weather services of many countries. Further, the wave model products generated using winds obtainable from hand‐analysed surface pressure charts had the closest overall agreement with buoy measurements and this in turn led to an improvement in the error statistics and in model spectra. The results presented here have provided a degree of confidence in the use of CSOWM products for further analysis on SAR data assimilation in wave models.