The Marine Meteorology Division of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is currently developing two automated on-scene systems to deliver high-resolution meteorological information to the fleet's operational forecasters, war fighters, and decision-makers. These systems are operational extensions of existing and evolving research efforts in real-time data fusion and data assimilation. The state-of-the-art for the assessment of battlespace environmental conditions is advancing from an infrequent, single-station perspective to a 4-D awareness by continuous fusion of multi-source observations and on-scene short-term mesoscale model predictions. Meteorological information in the 0-2h ("nowcast") timeframe is critical to tactical decision-making within the battlegroup, and until now, observations and real-time mesoscale forecasts have not been effectively bridged for Naval interests. NOWCAST for the Next Generation Navy, together with the NRL Coupled Ocean/Atmospheric Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS^TM) - On-Scene (COAMPS-OS^TM) at theater centers and shipboard, compose the on-scene, tactical-scale tier of NRL's telescoping strategy for mission success.

NOWCAST for the Next Generation Navy is an enterprise-class, network-centric data fusion system that will allow the forward-deployed battlegroup to automatically and continuously blend meteorological data from available sources to characterize the battlespace virtual natural environment. NOWCAST continuously transmits updated products directly to end-users and allows grouping and tailoring of the products to specific war-fighting and decision-making requirements, thus providing a capability for common environmental situational awareness. COAMPS-OS^TM is described in Part II.

The synthesis of COAMPS-OS^TM and NOWCAST as components of Fleet Battle Experiment Juliet (FBE-J), July-August 2002, will be described. FBE-J is the Naval component of the US Joint Forces Command Millennium Challenge 02, in which live and simulated exercises involving technological innovations support various experiment initiatives. NOWCAST and COAMPS-OS^TM clients during FBE-J include the USS Coronado, Naval Pacific Meteorology and Oceanography Center - San Diego (NPMOC-SD), and Naval Air Warfare Centers (NAWC) at Pt. Mugu and China Lake, CA.