 |
|
|
|
|
|
Background:
The multi-institutional HYCOM consortium is funded by the National Ocean
Partnership Program (NOPP) as part of the U. S. Global Ocean Data
Assimilation Experiment (GODAE). The GODAE objectives of
three-dimensional depiction of the ocean state at fine resolution in
real time, provision of boundary conditions for coastal and regional
models, and provision of oceanic boundary conditions for a global
coupled ocean-atmosphere prediction model, are being addressed by a
partnership of institutions that represent a broad spectrum of the
oceanographic community.
The partnership members are the
University of Miami
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (UM/RSMAS),
the Naval Research Laboratory/Stennis Space Center (NRL/STENNIS),
the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO),
the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC),
the Naval Research Laboratory/Monterey (NRL/MONTEREY),
the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration/National Centers for
Atmospheric Prediction/Marine Modeling and Analysis Branch (NOAA/NCEP/MMAB),
the NOAA National Ocean Service (NOAA/NOS),
the NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (NOAA/AOML),
the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (NOAA/PMEL),
Planning Systems Inc.,
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL),
Service Hydrographique et Océanographique de la Marine (SHOM),
Laboratoire des Ecoulements Géophysiques et Industriels (LEGI),
The Open Source Project for a Network Data Access Protocol (OPeNDAP),
the University of North Carolina (UNC),
Rutgers University,
the University of South Florida (USF),
Fugro-GEOS/Ocean Numerics,
Horizon Marine Inc.,
Roffer's Ocean Fishing Forecasting Service Inc. (ROFFS),
Orbimage,
Shell Oil Company,
ExxonMobil Corp.,
the NOAA/National Weather Service/Tropical Prediction Center (NOAA/NWS/TPC),
and the NOAA/National Weather Service/Ocean Prediction Center (NOAA/NWS/OPC).
The academic, governmental, and commercial entities involved in the
partnership have long histories of supporting and carrying out a wide range
of oceanographic and ocean prediction-related research. All institutions are
committed to developing and demonstrating the performance and application of
eddy-resolving, real-time global, Atlantic, and Pacific ocean prediction
systems using the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM), a
data-assimilative hybrid isopycnal-sigma-pressure (generalized) coordinate
ocean model.
The prediction systems will be transitioned for
operational use by the U.S. Navy at the Naval Oceanographic Office
(NAVOCEANO), Stennis Space Center, MS, and at the Fleet Numerical Meteorology
and Oceanography Centre (FNMOC), Monterey, CA, and by NOAA at the National
Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), Washington, D.C. The systems
will run efficiently on a variety of massively parallel computers and will
include sophisticated data assimilation techniques for assimilation of
satellite altimeter sea surface height and sea surface temperature as well
as in situ temperature, salinity, and float displacement.
The partners intend to make results
available to the GODAE modeling community and to general users on a
24/7 basis via a comprehensive data management strategy.
This collaborative partnership provides the means to leverage and
accelerate the efforts of existing and planned projects, as well as
new opportunities for collaboration and cooperation among the partners
ranging from research to the operational level.
The anticipated results
of this effort include integrated analyses/reanalyses for
research programs, a foundation for model enhancement based on
testing of hypotheses, synthesis of remotely sensed and in situ data,
and inputs to coastal, regional, atmospheric, and ice prediction systems.
Improved open-ocean nowcasts and forecasts will be applied to
search and rescue operations, shipping routes,
tracking of icebergs and major pollutants, commercial fisheries, etc.
Last revised: 17 December 2003
|
||||