Oceanum Black Sea CFSR Wave Hindcast

February 2025

Dataset description

The Black Sea wave hindcast dataset provides a detailed account of ocean wave parameters across the entire Black Sea basin (Figure 1). The domain encompasses the complete Black Sea from the Bosphorus Strait in the southwest to the Sea of Azov connection in the northeast, including the coastal waters of Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia. Wave spectra are computed over a 45+ year period between 1979 and present using the SWAN (Simulating WAves Nearshore) third-generation spectral wave model. The model is driven by inputs from the Oceanum Global Wave Model for spectral boundaries and CFSR reanalysis winds from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The wind forcing transitions from CFSv1 (1979-2010) to CFSv2 (2011-present) to maintain consistency with the available reanalysis products. The hindcast is calibrated against the satellite altimeter dataset of Ribal and Young (2019). Bathymetry is derived from the GEBCO 2024 global bathymetric grid.

The modelling setup employs the ST6 source term parameterisations. Spectra are discretised into 36 directional bins and 35 frequency bins, covering a frequency range from 0.0407 to 1.15 Hz with 10% logarithmic increments. The model features a regular grid with a 5 km (0.05 degree) resolution, spanning the entire Black Sea basin.

The dataset provides hourly estimates for an extensive array of ocean wave parameters (Table 2) including spectral quantities integrated over the full spectrum and for spectral partitions. Partitions are defined from an 8-second split (sea/swell) and from the Watershed method, which identifies one wind-forced partition and up to three swell partitions. These data are stored over the entire grid at native resolution. Additionally, frequency-direction wave spectra are available at 591 sites distributed across the domain (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Mean significant wave height from the Black Sea hindcast domain. The locations of 2D spectra hourly output are shown by the black dots. Depth contours are shown at 50m, 200m, 500m, 1000m, and 2000m.

Validation

The wave hindcast can be validated against satellite altimeter observations using the Oceanum Hindcast Satellite Validation App. This interactive tool allows users to compare modelled significant wave height against satellite altimeter measurements at any location within the model domain, providing density scatter plots, quantile comparisons, and statistical metrics.

Data description

Table 1. Data description.

Linked Datamesh datasources

• Oceanum Black Sea 5 km hourly wave parameters
• Oceanum Black Sea 5 km hourly wave spectra

Integrated parameters gridded output

Integrated wave parameters are stored hourly over the domain at the native model resolution. Table 2 describes long names and units of the 21 gridded output parameters, including one wind-forced partition and three swell partitions from the Watershed method.

Table 2. Gridded output parameters.

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