Incorporating ROMS coupling and data assimilation into the NOAA Unified Forecast System and Marine JEDI to improve hurricane forecasting

The objective is to improve the initialization of high-resolution numerical ocean models, which are a key component of coupled atmosphere/ocean hurricane forecast models. The primary

output of the project will be the development of software that implements advanced methods for combining numerical model forecasts with all the real-time observations available from modern

ocean observing systems, which includes data from new and novel ocean instruments such as robotic platforms and high-resolution satellites. The anticipated impact of improved initialization of ocean models, in conjunction with sophisticated coupling of ocean and atmosphere models,will be more accurate forecasts of hurricane track and intensity, and of sea level variability at the coast that drives coastal inundation during storms.