Comparison of high resolution model metocean conditions with in situ measurements and ECHOWAVE database around two European nearshore wind farms

In the present work, high resolution wind and wave model data, derived for the needs of metocean climate study for two European areas, are compared with existing in situ measurements and model results from ECHOWAVE coastal database. The data cover two nearshore areas in the Atlantic Ocean around two existing wind farms located in the North Sea (East Anglia One: EAO), and west of Portugal (WindFloat Atlantic: WFA). It is the first time that metocean conditions for these two areas have been produced at such a high spatial ( ∼ 1 km for wind and ∼ 100 m for waves) and temporal (1 hr) resolution for an extent of ten (10) years. For the generation of the model data, two regional numerical models, atmospheric model WRF and wave model SWAN, have been implemented using detailed geographical information acquired from EMODnet (European Marine Observation and Data network) database, and wind and wave boundary conditions from global database ERA5 (ECMWF Re-Analysis, v.5). Both model and measured wind and wave data have been statistically analysed, and compared against each other, using both standard and enhanced error metrics. Comparisons cover the seasonal variability, the directional behaviour, the probability structure, and the duration analysis of the data. Taking into account (a) the differences in the model databases (models used, grid resolution, boundary conditions, quality of geographical information etc.), (b) the various sources of uncertainties in measured data (different temporal extent, distance from the wind farm, missing values, different quality and sampling methods etc.), the presently derived datasets can be considered being in a good agreement with both in situ measurements and ECHOWAVE database.