Significant Wave Height Prediction in the South China Sea Based on the ConvLSTM Algorithm

Deep learning methods have excellent prospects for application in wave forecasting research. This study employed the convolutional LSTM (ConvLSTM) algorithm to predict the South China Sea (SCS) significant wave height (SWH). Three prediction models were established to investigate the influences of setting different parameters and using multiple training data on the forecasting effects. Compared with the SWH data from the China-France Ocean Satellite (CFOSAT), the SWH of WAVEWATCH III (WWIII) from the pacific islands ocean observing system are accurate enough to be used as training data for the ConvLSTM-based SWH prediction model. Model A was preliminarily established by only using the SWH from WWIII as the training data, and 20 sensitivity experiments were carried out to investigate the influences of different parameter settings on the forecasting effect of Model A. The experimental results showed that Model A has the best forecasting effect when using three years of training data and three hourly input data. With the same parameter settings as the best prediction performance Model A, Model B and C were also established by using more different training data. Model B used the wind shear velocity and SWH as training and input data. When making a 24-h SWH forecast, compared with Model A, the root mean square error (RMSE) of Model B is decreased by 17.6%, the correlation coefficient (CC) is increased by 2.90%, and the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) is reduced by 12.2%. Model C used the SWH, wind shear velocity, wind and wave direction as training and input data. When making a 24-h SWH forecast, compared with Model A, the RMSE of Model C decreased by 19.0%, the CC increased by 2.65%, and the MAPE decreased by 14.8%. As the performance of the ConvLSTM-based prediction model mainly rely on the SWH training data. All the ConvLSTM-based prediction models show a greater RMSE in the nearshore area than that in the deep area of SCS and also show a greater RMSE during the period of typhoon transit than that without typhoon. Considering the wind shear velocity, wind, and wave direction also used as training data will improve the performance of SWH prediction.