Numéro : 2277 - Year : 1996
Construction of ocean climate statistics from satellite measurements
M.OLAGNON, IFREMER Centre de Brest
Metocean parameters such as wave height, period and direction, and wind ôpeed and direction, are key factors for the design of ships and offshore structures. They play a leading part in the preparation and conducting of the routeing of ships and tow-outs, and of operations at sea such as deck-mating of oil production platforms for instance.
New data sources for these parameters appeared recently with the availability of measurements made from satellites GEOSAT, ERS1, ERS2 or TOPEX. These satellites provide a dense coverage of the oceans worldwide, they measure wind and waves characteristics without being significantly affected by meteorological conditions. and after several years of their exploitation, it is appears now possible to build reliable statistics from them.
The present paper studies the processing methods required to extract from satellite measurements the metocean parameters of common use in ocean engineering. and the procedures of their statistical gathering in order to build high quality ocean climate descriptions for any area in the world. On the basis of the CLIOSAT products. developed by Ifremer and \tlétéomer, the accuracy and confidence that may be expected from a satellite climate atlas are examined.
These aspects are dealt with in a constant view of practical applications, as well for fatigue prediction as for extrapolation of extreme conditions.
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