COAMPS-OS®: An Atmospheric/Ocean/Wave Prediction System for the Coastal Environment

COAMPS-OS is a suite of software developed by the Marine Meteorology and Oceanography Divisions of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) that provides an interface to configure, schedule, and visualize output from the Navy's operational regional atmospheric/ocean/wave prediction models. The core component of COAMPS-OS is a two-way coupled atmospheric/ocean prediction model called COAMPS®, the Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System, which is capable of generating atmospheric and ocean forecasts at spatial and temporal scales required for Navy operations. In addition to atmospheric/ocean prediction, COAMPS-OS is capable of using forecasts from COAMPS as forcing for wave models such as Wave Watch III and SWAN (Simulating WAves Nearshore). A web-based, graphical user interface developed for COAMPS-OS allows users to enable and set attributes for each model such as the size, location, resolution, and forecast duration of each domain from their personal workstation. By automating the steps required to initialize, run, and visualize these models, COAMPS-OS provides a responsive interface for generating environmental prediction data for users who might otherwise lack the technical background in atmospheric/ocean modeling, high-performance computing, or software programming to easily configure and manage the models themselves.

This paper will describe both the core features of COAMPS-OS and “extensions” that allow environmental data products generated from COAMPS-OS to be propagated forward to users and tactical applications that require real-time or historical data. Strategies for the development and deployment of COAMPS-OS that encompass both science and engineering considerations and research to operations transitions will also be discussed. Recent research efforts by NRL including radar-based mesoscale data assimilation, tropical cyclone modeling, and a web-based wind service to support a transport/dispersion model called CT-Analyst will be described from the perspective of their implementation and demonstration within COAMPS-OS. Finally, specific applications of COAMPS-OS to other areas of NRL meteorological research such as real-time simulations of smoke emissions from biomass burning and environmental modeling in the urban environment will be presented.

* COAMPS® and COAMPS-OS® are registered trademarks of the Naval Research Laboratory