A global ensemble of general and extreme wave climate statistics from global wave reanalysis and hindcasts

There are numerous global ocean wave reanalysis and hindcast products currently being distributed and used across different scientific fields. However, there is not a consistent dataset that can sample across all existing products based on a standardized framework developed by the Coordinated Ocean Wave Climate Project (COWCLIP) phase 2. Here, we present and describe the first coordinated multi-product ensemble of historical global wave climate available to date (COWCLIP2.1), comprising general and extreme statistics of significant wave height (H_s), mean wave period (T_m), and mean wave direction (θ_m) computed over 1980-2014, at different frequency resolutions (monthly, seasonally, and annually). This coordinated global ensemble has been derived from fourteen state-of-the-science global wave products obtained from different atmospheric reanalysis forcing and downscaling approaches. The data have been processed, under a specific framework for consistency and quality, following Data Reference Syntax, Directory Structures as well as Metadata from the WCRP Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP). Technical skill analysis of the different available global wave products against long-term global satellite measurements is provided. This new comprehensive dataset provides support to future broad-scale analysis of historical wave climatology and variability as well as coastal risk and vulnerability assessments across offshore and coastal engineering applications.

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Published (Metadata Record) 03/03/2026
Last updated 03/03/2026
Organisation Australian Federal Government
License License Not Specified
Update Frequency Unknown