The quality of wave measurements is of primary importance for the validation of wave forecasting models, satellite wave calibration and validation, wave physics, offshore operations and design and climate monitoring. Validation of global wave forecasts revealed significant regional differences, which were linked to the different wave buoy systems used by different countries. To fully understand the differences between the wave measurement systems, it is necessary to go beyond investigations of the integral wave parameters height, period and direction, into the frequency spectra and the four directional Fourier parameters that are used to estimate the directional distribution. We here analyse wave data measured from three different sensors (non-directional Datawell Waverider buoy, WaveRadar Rex, Optech laser) operating at the Ekofisk oil production platform located in the central North Sea over a period of several months, with significant wave height ranging from 1 to 10 m. In general, all three sensors provide similar measurements of the integral wave properties and frequency spectra, although there are some significant differences which could impact design and operations, forecast verification and climate monitoring. For example, the radar underestimates energy in frequency bands higher than 8 s by 3–5%, swell (12.5–16 s) by 5–13%, while the laser has 1–2% more energy than the Waverider in the most energetic bands. Lee effects of structures are also estimated. Lower energy at the frequency tail with the radar has an effect on wave periods (they are higher); wave steepness is seen to be reduced by 10% in the wind seas. Goda peakedness and the unidirectional Benjamin-Feir index are also examined for the three sensors.

波浪测量的质量对于波浪预测模型的验证、卫星波浪校准和验证、波浪物理学、海上作业和设计以及气候监测至关重要。全球波浪预报的验证揭示了显着的区域差异，这与不同国家使用的不同波浪浮标系统有关。为了充分理解波浪测量系统之间的差异，有必要超越对整体波浪参数高度、周期和方向的研究，进入频谱和用于估计方向分布的四个方向傅立叶参数。我们在这里分析了从三个不同传感器（非定向 Datawell Waverider 浮标、WaveRadar Rex、Optech 激光）在位于北海中部的 Ekofisk 石油生产平台上运行了几个月，显着波高范围为 1 至 10 m。一般而言，所有三个传感器都提供了对整体波特性和频谱的类似测量，尽管存在一些可能影响设计和操作、预报验证和气候监测的显着差异。例如，雷达将高于 8 秒的频段中的能量低估了 3-5%，将膨胀（12.5-16 秒）低估了 5-13%，而激光在能量最高的频段中的能量比 Waverider 高 1-2%。乐队。还估计了结构的 Lee 效应。雷达频率尾部的较低能量对波周期有影响（它们较高）；在风海中，波浪陡度被认为降低了 10%。