  During hurricanes, coupled wave-circulation models are critical tools for
public safety. The standard approach is to use a high fidelity circulation
model coupled with a wave model which uses the most advanced source terms. As a
result, the models can be highly computationally expensive and so this study
investigates the potential consequences of using highly simplified (reduced
order) source terms within the wave model component of the coupled
wave-circulation model. The trade-off between run time and accuracy with
respect to observations is quantified for a set of two storms that impacted the
Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Ike and Hurricane Ida. Water surface elevations as
well as wave statistics (significant wave height, peak period, and mean wave
direction) are compared to observations. The usage of the reduced order source
terms yielded significant savings in computational cost. Additionally,
relatively low amounts of additional error with respect to observations during
the simulations with reduced order source terms. However, large changes in
global model outputs of the wave statistics were observed based on the choice
of source terms particularly near the track of each hurricane.
