Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2007, Page 129

SAMANBERING AV ALDUFORSØGNUM FRÁ ECMWF VIÐ ALDUMÁTINGAR
GJØRDAR Á FØROYALEIÐINI
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Introduction
include the effects of the fine-scale ba-
The Faroe Islands are situated in the east-
ern part of the North Atlantic Ocean. Being
close to the common cyclone tracks in the
North Atlantic region, the Islands have a
windy climate. Intensive cyclone develop-
ments frequently give unstable weather,
especially in autumn and winter. Due to its
location with long fetches, especially in the
southwesterly direction, swells play an im-
portant role in the local wave conditions.
Several regional wave models cover the
Faroese area. The existing operational
models are, however, not currently able to
thymetry and relatively strong tidal cur-
rents in the Faroese coastal area.
Here, analysis values from the limited
area wave model from the European Cen-
tre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts
(ECMWF) are validated against measure-
ments on the Faroe Islands and the sur-
rounding waters. The primary emphasis is
on validating integrated wave parameters,
but some inquiries into the shape of the
modelled wave spectrum and the perfonn-
ance of the forcing wind model, are also
performed. The purpose of the inquiries is
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flWVD-4
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Figure 1. Location of waverider buoy’s (WV-I, WV-2, WV-3 and WVD-4), one MetOffice UK buoy
measuring meteorological and wave data (K7) and one land based, meteorological station at Glivursnes (F-8).
Vertical axis gives degrees North, and horizontal axis gives degrees East. Background colours indicate
bottorn depth in m.