| GlobWave | |
|---|---|
Global Project logo |
|
| Formation | September 20, 2007 |
| Legal status | ESA research initiative |
| Purpose/focus | Ocean Wave data portal |
| Region served | Global |
| Membership | ~130 worldwide partners |
| Website | http://www.globwave.org/ |
The ESA GlobWave project is an initiative to provide a global dataset of satellite-derived ocean wave data. The dataset includes various wave products from 11 data streams and 8 satellites in both near real-time and delayed mode.[1]
Contents |
Information on wind-driven waves on the sea surface is of high importance to shipping, offshore and coastal engineering, weather forecasting, the management of coastal zones, and even tourism. Maritime safety is reliant on accurate and up-to-date information about the sea state. Although designed to withstand severe weather conditions, the risk of accidents to ships is higher in extreme sea states. Such severe weather conditions include "Rogue waves", where the wave height is greater than twice the average, cross seas, where two or more wave systems propagating in different directions overlap result in unpredictable and shifting wave patterns which are particularly perilous to shipping. Knowledge of wave conditions is needed for research aiming to assess the risk of such types of sea state. Marine engineering operations, such as the oil industry, aquaculture and off-shore wind farms are also very sensitive to sea state.