An Efficient Method for Simulating Typhoon Waves Based on a Modified Holland Vortex Model

Abstract

A combination of the WAVEWATCH III (WW3) model and a modified Holland vortex model is developed and studied in the present work. The Holland 2010 model is modified with two improvements: the first is a new scaling parameter, bs, that is formulated with information about the maximum wind speed (vms) and the typhoon’s forward movement velocity (vt); the second is the introduction of an asymmetric typhoon structure. In order to convert the wind speed, as reconstructed by the modified Holland model, from 1-min averaged wind inputs into 10-min averaged wind inputs to force the WW3 model, a gust factor (gf) is fitted in accordance with practical test cases. Validation against wave buoy data proves that the combination of the two models through the gust factor is robust for the estimation of typhoon waves. The proposed method can simulate typhoon waves efficiently based on easily accessible data sources.