Ocean U.S. GODAE: Global Ocean Prediction with the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM)

摘要

During the past 5-10 years, a broad partnership of institutions has been collaborating in developing and demonstrating the performance and application of eddy-resolving, real-time global and basin-scale ocean prediction systems using the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM). These systems have been or are in the process of being transitioned for operational use by the U.S. Navy at the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO), Stennis Space Center, MS, and by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), Washington, D.C. The systems run efficiently on a variety of massively parallel computers and include sophisticated, but relatively inexpensive, 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 HYCOM partnership is a U.S. component of the international Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE). GODAE is a coordinated international effort envisioning 'a global system of observations, communications, modeling, and assimilation that will deliver regular, comprehensive information on the state of the oceans, in a way that will promote and engender wide utility and availability of this resource for maximum benefit to the community'. Navy applications and NOAA applications such as maritime safety, fisheries, the offshore industry, and management of shelf/coastal areas are among the expected beneficiaries of the HYCOM ocean prediction systems. More specifically, the precise knowledge and prediction of ocean mesoscale features is used by Navy, NOAA, the oil industry, and fisheries for an optimal use of their resources.