Analysis of Wave Distributions Using the WAVEWATCH-III Model in the Arctic Ocean

In this work, we examined long-term wave distributions using a third-generation numerical wave model called WAVEWATCH-III (WW3) (version 6.07). We also evaluated the influence of sea ice on wave simulation by using eight parametric switches. To select a suitable ice-wave parameterization, we validated the simulations from the WW3 model in March, May, September, and December 2017 against the measurements from the Jason-2 altimeter at latitudes of up to 60 °N. Generally, all parameterizations exhibited slight differences, i.e., about 0.6 m root mean square error (RMSE) of significant wave height (SWH) in May and September and about 0.9 m RMSE for the freezing months of March and December. The comparison of the results with the SWH from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts for December 2017 indicated that switch IC4_M1 performed most effectively (0.68m RMSE) at high latitudes (60°–80°N). Given this finding, we analyzed the long-term wave distributions in 1999–2018 on the basis of switch IC4_M1. Although the seasonal variability of the simulated SWH was of two types, i.e., ‘U’ and ‘sin’ modes, our results proved that fetch expansion prompted the wave growth. Moreover, the interannual variability of the specific regions in the ‘U’ mode was found to be correlated with the decade variability of wind in the Arctic Ocean.