Transition

Coast Survey Development Laboratory National Ocean Service,

NOAA

Mary EricksonMarch 2011

The Developing NOAA Strategy

Space

Time

Phenomena of Interest

Space

Time

Observing Systems

Observations & OSSEIOOS, NESDIS, OAR, JCSDA

Data Assimilation & OSENESDIS, NWS, OAR, JCSDA

Operational Ocean and Coastal Forecast GuidanceNOS, NWS Ops

Products and Services

Research Operations

Giant Bluefin TunaHAB Bulletin

ENSO Update

The Pathway from Research to Operations and Applications

Actively manage these interfaces, through community

modeling partnerships

Research and Development

Academia, IOOS Regional Associations, Research components of NOAA & other Fed Agencies

Private Sector

Evaluation and Testing,

Development, Transition to Operations

OperationsValue Added

Product Development

“Operational” defined

Requirements-driven; ◦ Meets a well defined mission need

Timely and Reliable;◦ Runs regularly & automatically in real time (24x7)

Demonstrates improvement; decreased uncertainty

Can fit well in the operational framework◦ Standardized formats, methodologies

Integrated QC (integrity guaranteed) Stability & commitment for the model life-cycle

A community approach…◦ Allows for open discussion of strengths and

weaknesses of different models◦ Elucidates the requirements of a common

shared infrastructure◦ Allows model improvements to be shared

effectively◦ Advances the science (R2O/ O2R)◦ Leverages resources and amplifies the voice of

the community

The Community Approach

1. Define criteria for transition and actively use these guidelines in partnership activities Includes methods, standards and criteria for

evaluating modeling systems (skill scores, etc.) Support transition through NOAA modeling

involvement in key partnerships with academia, state and local governments, and industry.

Examples: ROMS; ADCIRC; HYCOM communities2. Create environments for evaluation and

prototyping; shared datasets Working, high quality grids, forcing, observations,

in a shared resource Example: Grid catalog; Delaware Bay Model

Evaluation Environment

Goals and Shared Practices

3. Articulate “best” data management practices Ex: Model outputs in standard formats for ingest into GIS for analysis, mapping, and visualization

4. Follow and develop community framework and infrastructure: Earth System Modeling Framework- Model coupling, numerics, gridding techniques, etc.

5. Systems Approach: Integrating streamflow, runoff, water levels, waves, currents, T, S, etc.

Ocean and atmosphere systems linkedPhysical-biochemical systems linked

Goals and Shared Practices

Early involvements of Operations Center; agreed to operational or “applications” pathway

Clear plans and schedules; business case (ties back to customer value)

Clear funding for full life-cycle, including O+M

Routine check-in with key stakeholders – including management

Anticipate the unexpected

Other ingredients for successful transition

NOS/NOAA Marine Modeling Requirements

o Support of safe & efficient navigation o Water levels for under-keel clearanceo Currents for right-of-way, maneuverabilityo Future-chart w/forecast water levels and real timeo bathymetry

o Inundation o Storm Surgeo Sea Level Rise

o Note also: Coastal flooding, tsunami

o Emergency response HAZMAT Homeland Security Search & Rescue

o For environmentally sound management of the coastal zone

Ecosystem applications Marine geospatial applications (CMSP) Energy, Arctic

Salinity

SST

Already seeing benefits from improved communication and awareness of operational constructs.

Which sets of issues are we trying to improve on? Which part of the cycle?

Interdisciplinary is key; and its hard

Discussion Points (one perspective)

Backup

Coastal Ocean Modeling FrameworkConsists of middleware to manage workflow

PURPOSE: Simplify Data Handling & Maintenance Provide a Single System for all Locations Provide a Single Source Graphics and Web Pages Share Skill Assessment and Evaluation Tools Provide a Single NOS Model Image to Users

(NetCDF) Various Models considered

◦ ADCIRC, ECOM, EFDC, ELCIRC, FVCOM, MECCA, POM, QUODDY, ROMS

◦ NOS has selected ROMS and FVCOM as the basis for new OFSsto select two or three “corporate” models