Sun, R., A. Cobb, A. B. Villas Boas, S. Langodan, A. C. Subramanian,
M. R. Mazloff, B. D. Cornuelle, A. J. Miller, R. Pathak and I. Hoteit, 2023:
Waves in SKRIPS: WaveWatch III coupling implementation and a case study of cyclone Mekunu.
EGUsphere, in press.
Abstract.
In this work, we integrated the WaveWatch III model into the regional coupled model SKRIPS (Scripps.KAUST Regional Integrated Prediction System). The WaveWatch III model is implemented with flexibility, meaning the coupled system can run with or without the wave component. To demonstrate the impact of coupling we performed a case study using a series of coupled and uncoupled simulations of tropical cyclone Mekunu, which occurred in the Arabian Sea in May 2018. We examined the skill of the coupled model against the stand-alone WRF model and further investigated the impact of Langmuir turbulence in the coupled system. We found that the coupled model better captures the minimum pressure and maximum wind speed compared with the stand-alone WRF model. The characteristics of the tropical cyclone do not change significantly when using different options to parameterize the influence of waves on the ocean and the atmosphere. However, in the region of the cold wake, when Langmuir turbulence is considered in the coupled system, the sea surface temperature is about 0.5 °C colder and the mixed layer is about 20 meters deeper. This indicates the ocean model is sensitive to the parameterization of Langmuir turbulence in the coupled simulations.
Preprint (pdf)