Historical global ocean wave data simulated with CMIP6 anthropogenic and natural forcings

Abstract

AbstractThis dataset presents historical ocean wave climate during 1960–2020, simulated using the numerical model WAVEWATCH III (WW3) forced by Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) simulations corresponding to natural-only (NAT), greenhouse gas-only (GHG), aerosol-only (AER) forcings, combined forcing (natural and anthropogenic; ALL), and pre-industrial control conditions. Surface wind at 3-hourly temporal resolution, and sea-ice area fraction at monthly frequency, from a CMIP6 model - MRI-ESM2.0 are used to force WW3 over the global ocean. Model calibration and validation of the significant wave height are carried out using inter-calibrated multi-mission altimeter data produced by the European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative, with additional corroboration using ERA-5 reanalysis. The simulated dataset is assessed for its skill to represent mean state, extremes, trends, seasonal cycle, time consistency, and spatial distribution over time. Numerically simulated wave parameters for different individual external forcing scenario is not available yet. This study produces a novel database particularly useful for detection and attribution analysis to quantify the relative contributions of natural and anthropogenic forcings to historical changes.