Implementing the Nearshore Wave Prediction System as a Centralized, On-demand Marine Hazard Guidance System

The demand for high-resolution guidance of nearshore marine hazards such as waves, rip currents and wave runup has been steadily increasing over the past decade. To address this need, the Nearshore Wave Prediction System (NWPS) is being implemented on the National Weather Service's (NWS) operational supercomputer, where it will represent NWS's first truly on-demand, centrally hosted modeling system. To ensure consistency in their marine forecasting, NWPS is driven by forecaster-developed wind grids compiled locally at coastal Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs). The model runs are configured in real time using a GUI baselined in AWIPS 2, and subsequently submitted to the NWS operational supercomputer, where it is processed by the spectral wind wave model SWAN. The simulation also incorporates tidal and surge water levels from ESTOFS (extra-tropical conditions) and P-Surge (tropical conditions), and hazardous nearshore surface currents from RTOFS Global. This system is scheduled for operational implementation for all 23 coastal WFOs in NWS's Southern and Eastern Regions in late 2015. The forecast guidance provided by NWPS includes fields of integral wave parameters (e.g. total wave height, period and direction), as well as partitioned and tracked wave systems. In addition, four WFOs will feature downstream models that provide empirical guidance on rip currents and wave runup at selected pilot sites. This talk will present a description of the system and its functionality, along with validation results and applications.