The recent upgrade of CMEMS MEDWAVES wave system: description and evaluation.

The Med-waves system has been implemented in the framework of the Mediterranean component (MED MFC) of the Copernicus Marine Environment Service (CMEMS) and generates high-resolution analysis, forecast, and reanalysis wave products for the Mediterranean Sea area. The system which is based on the WAM wave model is operational since 2017 and is continuously upgraded in order to represent better the Mediterranean wave dynamics with a high forecast skill. The purpose of this work is to present a description of the various improvements introduced to the system and their impact on the wave product quality. The validation of the system which is done by comparing the model output against buoys and satellite altimeters measurements shows the product quality changes (improvements) due to the different upgrades of the Med-waves system. Based on this upgraded system, we will also give the detailed characteristics of the new reanalysis wave product which is driven by atmospheric forcing from ECMWF ERA5 and provides hourly wave parameters from 1993.