A mosaic approach to wind wave modeling

A mosaic or multi-grid approach to wind wave modeling is presented. In this approach, a series of grids with different resolutions are treated as individual wave models, while simultaneously and continuously considering interactions between these grids. This converts a mosaic of grids into a single wave model. For overlapping grids with distinctly different resolutions, two-way nesting is introduced. For overlapping grids with similar resolution, a reconciliation method is introduced. These techniques are implemented in the WAVEWATCH III wind wave model and are tested for several idealized situations, and for a realistic wave hindcast for coastal Alaskan waters. The mosaic approach is shown to give consistent results across grid scales and provides an effective and economical way to locally increase the spatial resolution of wave models.