Regional Assessment of the MFWAM Wave Model Around South America: Comparison with ERA5, WAVERYS, and Buoy Observations

Accurate wave representation is essential for coastal engineering, navigation, and marine-energy applications. This study evaluates the original MFWAM wave-product outputs using a regional observational dataset assembled from 16 buoy stations across Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil, with ERA5 and WAVERYS used as comparative reference products. Significant wave height (Hs), peak or mean wave period (Tp/Tm), and mean wave direction (Dm) were assessed over 2008–2025, depending on station availability, using statistical performance metrics, time series, scatter plots, and distributional analyses. High-wave conditions were additionally evaluated using the 95th and 99th percentiles of Hs. MFWAM showed its most consistent performance for Hs at the evaluated Chilean and southeastern Brazilian stations, with results generally comparable to ERA5 and WAVERYS. Wave-period performance was more variable among stations, while Dm exhibited stronger spatial variability and systematic discrepancies at some locations. For MFWAM, P95 and P99 differences relative to buoy observations generally remained within approximately ±15% at the stations where the product was available. Station-specific post-processing was applied as a secondary analysis at all evaluated stations and reduced persistent local discrepancies, although these results represent an in-sample assessment. Overall, the results identify both the strengths and limitations of MFWAM and establish an observation-based regional benchmark for its performance across the evaluated South American sectors, providing a basis for subsequent regional wave-climate and wave-energy assessments.