Challenges of Maintaining a Global Weather Prediction Capability for Naval Operations

The military and civilian team of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (NMOC) are on-
watch 24/7, poised to communicate meteorology and oceanography (METOC) effects to the US Navy
and national leaders. Core to the meteorological operations of sense, analyze, predict, and forecast are
the collection, processing, exploitation, and dissemination of data to ensure safe navigation and
maneuverability while increasing lethality of Naval combat systems. We will describe the creation of
operational products from precise time to the characterization of meteorological, oceanographic, and
space environments. Specific efforts are underway to enhance data collection with unmanned systems
and industry partners. Ongoing research and development is transitioning the next generation of global
weather prediction models that are fully coupled from the seabed to space. We will discuss the
challenges for computing, processing, storing, and distributing the relatively large data sets that will
result from the next generation of global weather prediction models.