This article describes the recent improvements to the operational wave numerical prediction system at SHN/SMN. The SMARA/WAM wave model, based on a quasi-standard version of WAM 4.0 was replaced by the new NOAA/NCEP WAVEWATCH III R 3.14. A stand-alone version for the South Atlantic and Southern Oceans produced 4-day wave forecasts four times daily for over one year. Spectral partitioning allows more realistic products including superposed seas in forecasted fields and multiple wave trains at fixed points. Currently, a multi-scale mosaic provides global coverage with grid refinement and ad-hoc calibration of parameters over the shelf. In the latter version, new physics based on WAM 4 have been implemented for wave growth and dissipation, which explicitly includes the swell and showed a more adequate behavior at the southern oceans. The spatial distribution of error statistical parameters for both implementations is shown as the result of model monitoring with significant wave height observations from three satellite altimeters. More recent is the incorporation of the significant wave height and peak period time series from fixed buoys, which provide further insight of model dynamics for future improvement.

Keywords: numerical wave modeling, ocean waves, marine meteorology