The spectral third-generation ocean wind-wave model WAVEWATCH III (WW3), operational since January 2005 at the Department of Applied Sciences of the University “Parthenope” (Italy), was adopted for simulating wave propagation in the Gulf of Naples. The model was coupled with PSU/NCAR mesoscale model (MM5), which gives wind forcing at 1-h intervals. The model was implemented using a four-nested grid configuration covering the Mediterranean Sea until the Gulf of Naples, the inner mesh with higher resolution (1 km × 1 km). The simulated directional spectral waves were compared with APAT storm wave data recorded in winter 2000 offshore the Gulf of Naples and with wind and wave data collected by Servizio Idrografico e Mareografico offshore the mouth of river Sele in the Gulf of Salerno. The implementation of the wave model with reference to the December 2004 storm on the coastlines of the Gulf of Naples gives evidence of the need of a regional wind-wave model for this orographically complex area.
Pan-Arctic ocean wind and wave data by spaceborne SAR
