Alice Dalphinet (Departement Marine et Océanographie, Météo-France, France)

In Fall 2016, the operational wave forecasting system of Météo-France will use wave data from two new altimeters missions Jason-3 and Sentinel-3A, and also SAR directional wave spectra from Sentinel-1A and 1B. This update will ensure a more accurate sea state needed for the coupled waves/ocean system of the global Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS). The goal of this study is to evaluate the contribution of these new data on the performance of the wave forecasting system MFWAM. A period of more than 5 months in 2016 has been selected for the validation of the wave parameters with independent wave data from buoys and altimeters. The persistency of the assimilation in the forecast period is also investigated. In this study extreme wave events during storms and tropical cyclones are examined. It has been clearly shown that the use of SAR directional wave spectra from S-1A enhances the impact on dominant wave period. Better boundary conditions from the global model MFWAM improve the wave forecasting of regional and coastal wave models.