Applicability evaluation of ERA5 wind and wave reanalysis data in the South China Sea

Rongwei ZHAI; Caijing HUANG; Wei YANG; Ling TANG; Wenjing ZHANG

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Applicability evaluation of ERA5 wind and wave reanalysis data in the South China Sea

Multi-scale marine dynamics, sea-air interactions and forecasting technology in the South China Sea | Updated：2024-10-12

- Applicability evaluation of ERA5 wind and wave reanalysis data in the South China Sea
- Journal of Oceanology and Limnology Vol. 41, Issue 2, Pages: 495-517(2023)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.South China Sea Information Center of State Oceanic Administration, Guangzhou 510310, China
  2.Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Survey Technology and Application, Ministry of Natural Resources, Guangzhou 510300, China
  3.South China Sea Marine Surveying and Technology Center, State Ocean Administration, Guangzhou 510300, China
- Author bio：
  
  huangcj@scs.mnr.gov.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：
  CLC：
- Received：30 January 2022，
  
  Online First：22 August 2022，
  
  Published：01 March 2023
- Accepted：
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ZHAI Rongwei,HUANG Caijing,YANG Wei,et al.Applicability evaluation of ERA5 wind and wave reanalysis data in the South China Sea[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2023,41(02):495-517.
DOI：

ZHAI Rongwei,HUANG Caijing,YANG Wei,et al.Applicability evaluation of ERA5 wind and wave reanalysis data in the South China Sea[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2023,41(02):495-517. DOI：

摘要

Abstract

Wind and wave data are essential in climatological and engineering design applications. In this study

data from 15 buoys located throughout the South China Sea (SCS) were used to evaluate the ERA5 wind and wave data. Applicability assessment are beneficial for gaining insight into the reliability of the ERA5 data in the SCS. The bias range between the ERA5 and observed wind-speed data was -0.78–0.99 m/s. The result indicates that

while the ERA5 wind-speed data underestimation was dominate

the overestimation of such data existed as well. Additionally

the ERA5 data underestimated annual maximum wind-speed by up to 38%

with a correlation coefficient >0.87. The bias between the ERA5 and observed significant wave height (SWH) data varied from -0.24 to 0.28 m. And the ERA5 data showed positive SWH bias

which implied a general underestimation at all locations

except those in the Beibu Gulf and central-western SCS

where overestimation was observed. Under extreme conditions

annual maximum SWH in the ERA5 data was underestimated by up to 30%. The correlation coefficients between the ERA5 and observed SWH data at all locations were greater than 0.92

except in the central-western SCS (0.84). The bias between the ERA5 and observed mean wave period (MWP) data varied from -0.74 to 0.57 s. The ERA5 data showed negative MWP biases implying a general overestimation at all locations

except for B1 (the Beibu Gulf) and B7 (the northeastern SCS)

where underestimation was observed. The correlation coefficient between the ERA5 and observed MWP data in the Beibu Gulf was the smallest (0.56)

and those of other locations fluctuated within a narrow range from 0.82 to 0.90. The intercomparison indicates that during the analyzed time-span

the ERA5 data generally underestimated wind-speed and SWH

but overestimated MWP. Under non-extreme conditions

the ERA5 wind-speed and SWH data can be used with confidence in most regions of the SCS

except in the central-western SCS.

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Keywords

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