Wave climate and energy off the Catalan coast

This paper deals with the wave climate and energy at the NW Mediterranean and, more specifically, along the Catalan (NE Spanish coast) and Balearic Islands coast. The analysis is based on 6 years of wave records and simulations. The data come from buoys deployed along the Catalan coast and from the operational predictions obtained using the WAM code and wind fields from the MASS model.

The 6 years average error, in energy flux terms, and for the whole Catalan coast stretch is of order 0.5 kW/m. These errors, of order 10% of the available mean energy, allow concluding that the WAM simulated results are accurate enough in average terms for the energetic assessment here pursued.