The US GODAE Monterey Data Server

The Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) is an international effort intended to be a practical demonstration of near-real-time global ocean data assimilation. It will provide complete descriptions of the temperature, salinity and velocity structures of the world ocean in support of operational oceanography, seasonal-to-decadal climate forecasts and analyses, and oceanographic research. GODAE will begin in 2003 and run through 2005. An extension of the program through 2007 is likely.

With oversight from the U.S. GODAE Steering Committee and funding from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the USGODAE Monterey Data Server has been established at the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC). This server will contain in situ oceanographic data, atmospheric forcing fields suitable for driving ocean models, and unique GODAE data sets, including demonstration ocean model products. It will support GODAE participants and become a significant node in the international GODAE program.

In light of the substantial overlap between GODAE requirements for data distribution and those of the Cooperative Opportunity for NCEP Data Using Internet data distribution Technology (CONDUIT) program, it made sense to expand the role of the USGODAE Data Server to address CONDUIT. In this capacity, the server will make fields from the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) available to the research community using Unidata Local Data Manager (LDM) and Internet Data Distribution (IDD) software.

This paper provides an overview of the USGODAE Monterey Data Server and discusses its future role in the distribution of meteorological and oceanographic data.