FOREWORD 



The Navy and combat forces have had continuing requirements for 

 improved forecasts of ocean surface waves. The needs expressed during World 

 War II provided a strong motivating force which led to the development of wave 

 forecast techniques which produced consistent results. Techniques developed 

 by Sverdrup and Munk and published in 1947 as H. O. Publication No. 601 

 provided forecasts of significant wave heights and periods. Later adaptation of 

 random processes to the study of ocean waves resulted in the spectral forecast 

 technique described in H. O. Publication No. 603. A recent outgrowth of 

 the spectral technique has been the development of numerical computer models 

 to forecast the directional wave spectrum. This new capability offers an 

 opportunity to develop shallow water wave forecast models and to automate 

 ship routing techniques. The purpose of this study is to evaluate this recent 

 application of numerical techniques to computerized wave forecasts. 



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