Editing Numerical weather prediction (section)

===Ocean surface modeling===
[[File:NOAA Wavewatch III Sample Forecast.gif|right|thumb|280px|NOAA Wavewatch III 120-hour wind and wave forecast for the North Atlantic|alt=A wind and wave forecast for the North Atlantic Ocean. Two areas of high waves are identified: One west of the southern tip of Greenland, and the other in the North Sea. Calm seas are forecast for the Gulf of Mexico. Wind barbs show the expected wind strengths and directions at regularly spaced intervals over the North Atlantic.]]
{{main|Marine weather forecasting|Ocean dynamics|Wind wave model}}
The transfer of energy between the wind blowing over the surface of an ocean and the ocean's upper layer is an important element in wave dynamics.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Chalikov|first=D. V.|title=The numerical simulation of wind-wave interaction|journal=[[Journal of Fluid Mechanics]]|date=August 1978|volume=87|issue=3|pages=561–82|doi=10.1017/S0022112078001767|bibcode=1978JFM....87..561C|s2cid=122742282 }}</ref> The [[spectral wave transport equation]] is used to describe the change in wave spectrum over changing topography. It simulates wave generation, wave movement (propagation within a fluid), [[wave shoaling]], [[refraction]], energy transfer between waves, and wave dissipation.<ref>{{cite book|page=270|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yBtOwfUG6cgC|title=Numerical modeling of water waves|author=Lin, Pengzhi|publisher=Psychology Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-415-41578-1}}</ref> Since surface winds are the primary forcing mechanism in the spectral wave transport equation, ocean wave models use information produced by numerical weather prediction models as inputs to determine how much energy is transferred from the atmosphere into the layer at the surface of the ocean. Along with dissipation of energy through [[Wind wave|whitecaps]] and [[resonance]] between waves, surface winds from numerical weather models allow for more accurate predictions of the state of the sea surface.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bender|first=Leslie C.|title=Modification of the Physics and Numerics in a Third-Generation Ocean Wave Model|journal=[[Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology]]|date=January 1996|volume=13|issue=3|pages=726–750 |doi=10.1175/1520-0426(1996)013<0726:MOTPAN>2.0.CO;2|bibcode=1996JAtOT..13..726B|doi-access=free}}</ref>