1. MARINE METEOROLOGY DIVISION
NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY
MARINE METEOROLOGY DIVISION
Monterey, California

2. NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY
Overview (Ted Tsui)
Data Assimilation (Jim Goerss)
Modeling (Jim Doyle)
On Scene (John Cook)
Satellite Applications (Jeff Hawkins)

3. NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY
The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the Department of the Navy’s corporate laboratory; it is under the Chief of Naval Research and receives base funding from the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
Meteorology and oceanography were integrated into NRL in 1992 with the merger of smaller laboratories in Monterey and Mississippi into the much larger NRL in Washington DC.
SECRETARY OF THE NAVY
NRL was suggested by Thomas Edison and commissioned by Congress in NRL has a long history of conducting pioneering research and advancing technology directed toward maritime applications.
Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development, Acquisition)
CHIEF OF NAVAL RESEARCH / ONR
NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY
3300 people

4. NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY
Six Divisions performing scientific and technological research and development from the bottom of the sea floor to the top of the atmosphere.
Space Sciences
Remote Sensing
Marine Meteorology
Oceanography
Acoustics
Marine Geosciences

5. NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY MARINE METEOROLOGY DIVISION
Our Division’s Mission
To understand and simulate the behavior of the atmosphere on local, regional, and global scales, including its interaction with the ocean, land and cryosphere…
To apply that knowledge to the development and implementation of objective analysis and prediction systems and automated weather interpretation systems for Navy/DoD users …
To study the effect of atmospheric conditions on Navy weapons systems and provide meteorological data support for input to tactical decision aids…
…Meeting identified and anticipated Navy needs.

6. Marine Meteorology Division Research Staff
Government Research Staff
2/3 Ph.D., 1/3 M.S.
50 Meteorologists
6 Physicists
2 Physical Scientists
1 Mathematician
3 Computer Scientists
2 Oceanographers (one 7300)
2 Military METOC
900+ yrs experience in NWP!
200+ yrs in Remote Sensing!
Visiting Research Staff On-Site Contractor Staff
4 Postdoctoral Fellows, Long-term Visiting Scientists
6 IT Support Professionals Computer Scientists Met/Ocean/Physics Scientists
Total Staff On-Site at Any One Time

7. Local Environmental Characterization Requires a Telescoping Strategy
Observations
BC, IC
NOGAPS/NAAPS
Global coverage
Meso- to synoptic scale
1–5d guidance (-10d ensmbl)
COAMPS™/”COAAMPS”
Nested regional coverage
Nonhydrostatic scale
0-72h forecaster guidance
Down-scale Nesting
4D Cube
TDAs
Target
On-Scene Obs
Radar
Satellite
Local Model Output
Through The Sensor
COAMPS-OS™
On-scene Data Assimilation system
Tactical scale/local coverage
1-12h data assimilation cycle
Anytime, anywhere
On-Scene Obs
COAMPS™ and COAMPS-OS™ are trademarks of the Naval Research Laboratory.
NOWCAST
Real-time, automatic, data fusion
Warfighter time & space requirements (0-6h, rapid update)
Common situational awareness
Data Fusion AI
Nowcast
4D Cube
TDAs
Target

8. NRL 7500 CORE SYSTEMS NAVDAS NOGAPS To Ops COAMPS® NAAPS On-Scene
Transition mission-relevant products for the
warfighter
To Ops
NOGAPS
NAAPS
NAVDAS
COAMPS®
On-Scene
Satellite
Develop Core Systems
Applied Res
TAWS
ATCF
TDAs
Increase understanding of
atmospheric phenomena
Basic Res

9. Marine Meteorology Division National Collaborations (1999-2003)
Universities
Brown University
University of California San Diego/ Scripps
University of California LA
N. Carolina State University
Colorado State University
Florida State University
University of Hawaii
University of Massachusetts
Mississippi State University
University of S. Mississippi
Naval Postgraduate School
University of Nevada/DRI
University of New Mexico
State University of New York, Stonybrook
University of Oklahoma
Oregon State University
Pennsylvania State University
Rutgers University
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin
Yale University
National Interagency Programs
USWRP - US Weather Research Program
WRF – Weather and Research Forecast model
JCSDA – Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation
Laboratories
Federally Funded R&D Centers
NCAR, JPL, Lincoln Lab,
Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, Argonne
NOAA Environmental Laboratories
AL, AOML, ETL, FSL, GFDL, NSSL, PMEL
NASA Goddard, NASA AMES
Air Force Research Laboratory
Army Research Laboratory
Army Topographic Engineering Center
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab
SPAWAR Systems Center
National Field Experiments
ADAM – Asian Dust Above Monterey (2003)
SWADE - Surface Wave Dynamic Experiment
CBLAST - Coupled Boundary Layer/Air-Sea Transfer
DYCOMS II – Dynamics and Chemistry of Marine Stratocumulus Phase II
WALLOPS Wallops Island Propagation Experiment
KWAJEX – Kwajalein Experiment
CALJET - California Landfalling Jets Experiment
CAMEX - Convection and Moisture Experiment
PACJET - Pacific Landfalling Jets Experiment
COSAT - COAMPS Operational Satellite and Aircraft Test
VOCAR - Variability of Coastal Atmospheric Refractivity Experiment
FBE-I, FBE-J, FBE-K – Fleet Battle Experiments India, Juliet, and Kilo
Other DOD
Naval Warfare Development Command
Naval War College
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren
Naval Air Warfare Center, Pt. Mugu
Naval Strike Warfare Center, Fallon
Naval Professional Development Center
Air Force Technical Applications Center
U.S. Strategic Command
USAF Weapons School
Air Combat Command
Other Agencies
Federal Aviation Administration
Flight Safety Foundation
NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service
San Diego Supercomputer Center
National Imagery and Mapping Center
Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology
Defense Threat Reduction Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
Operational Weather Centers
FNMOC, NAVO, Naval Regional Centers
JTWC; NOAA CPHC & TPC
AFWA; AFCCC
NCEP (EMC, CPC, AWC)
NWS Forecast Offices (various)

10. Marine Meteorology Division International Collaborations (1999-2003)
Laboratories
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Italy)
Instituto de Fisica dell “Atmosfera’ (Italy)
Johannes Gutenberg Institut (Germany)
Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre, (Australia)
Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique (France)
Center for Geologic Data Studies (Russia)
Institue of Oceanology, Polska Akademia Nauk (Poland)
Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modeling (Poland)
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (Japan)
National Environmental Research Institute (Denmark)
Universities
University of W. Australia
University of Bremen
University of L’Aquila
University of Leeds
Universidad Polytecnica de Madrid
University of Lisbon
University of Manchester
University of Munich
University of Paris VI
University of Reading
University of Quebec at Montreal
University of Rome “La Sapienza”
Seoul National University
Stockholm University
University of Stuttgart
National Taiwan University
University of Warsaw
Yonsei University
Other Agencies
Environment Canada
Ministry of Defence, UK
National Environmental Research Institute, Denmark
TNO Defence Research, Netherlands
EUMETSAT
EURAINSAT
DLR – German Aerospace Center
World Meteorological Organization
Thales Inc., UK
Eva Airways Corp., Taiwan
International Field Programs
FASTEX -- Fronts and Atlantic Storms Experiment (1997)
LABSEA -- Labrador Sea Experiment (1997)
NORPEX -- North Pacific Experiment (1998)
MAP -- Mesoscale Alpine Experiment (1999)
ACE-ASIA – Asian Pacific Regional Aerosol Characterization Experiment (2001)
ITCT-2K2 –Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation Experiment (2002)
THORPEX -- The Hemispheric Observing System Research and Predictability Experiment ( )
DOTSTAR – Typhoon surveillance dropsonde missions (2004-)
Operational Weather Centers
European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasts
United Kingdom Meteorological Office
Meteorological Service of Canada
Meteo-France
Taiwan Central Weather Bureau
The Netherlands Weather Service (KNMI)
Korean Meteorological Agency
Navy Meteorology and Oceanography Centers
Japan, Spain, Bahrain

11. NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY Selected Research Highlights
Marine Meteorology Division
Selected Research Highlights

12. NOGAPS Transitions Improvements to Tropical Cyclone Forecasts
Floyd Sortie Cost: $7.7 Million
Total Cost to CINCLANTFLT
due to Floyd: $17.2 Million
Dennis Sortie Cost Avoided: $6.2 Million
Irene Sortie Cost Avoided: $7.4 Million
The decision to sortie ships and airplanes must be made 3-5 days in advance, which requires use of a global model (mesoscale forecasts are for <72 hrs).
New requirements (MET 03-06) want tropical cyclone forecasting skill extended out to 144 hours.
1999
SORTIES: 18 ports, 83 ships, 1127 planes
DIVERSIONS: 169 ships
1999 Atlantic Fleet
2002 Atlantic Fleet
SORTIES: 4 ports, 12 units
DIVERSIONS: 34 ships
NOGAPS TC Forecast Track Error (nm)
Western North Pacific (3-yr Weighted Mean)
Distance in nm
48-hr
72-hr
NOGAPS was “world’s best” for 2002 Atlantic TC season!

13. Marine Meteorology Division
Investments for the Future – SkyHigh NOGAPS
Extended effective time range of weather prediction skill.
Improved exploitation of satellite data (radiance assimilation, in-orbit sensor calibrations, analysis of ozone variability).
Better support for consequence assessment, defense against weapons of mass destruction, theater ballistic missile defense support, re-entry orbital prediction, reconnaissance, and non-proliferation monitoring.

14. NOGAPS-Next Generation Spectral Element Grid
New Dynamic Core
Icosahedral
Hexahedral
Telescoping
Improved efficiency on massively parallel computers
Potential for unified global/mesoscale model
No “pole” problem
Has interest from other NWP centers
In spectral element methods the high-order polynomials are constructed inside an element which are the basic building-blocks of the discretization. One can pick these to be quadrilaterals or triangles.
Quad-based SE have been used throughout CFD and one can use them quite effectively for computations but constructing completely unstructured or adaptive grids with Quads is difficult. Ocean models that use Quad-based SE construct the grid tediously by hand.
Tri-based SE can take full advantage of the volume of mesh generation packages for triangles. This is the interest in exploring these methods.However, the methods being explored in this work are completely new methods that are not being explore anywhere else. Thus much research still is required but the benefits are significant.
Icosahedral
Thin
Adaptive

15. High Resolution COAMPS® Potential Cost Savings from Improved Aviation Weather
High-resolution forecasts of weather parameters, dust, and other aerosols from COAAMPS can help improve these statistics in the future.
Turbulence calculated from COAMPS TKE (inside black areas) verified by United Airlines encounter of CAT at 9km
Weather related flight mishaps accounted for 95 deaths and $663 million in damage during FY90-98.
56% of weather-related mishaps were believed preventable if a perfect forecast was used.
UA CAT Encounter
At ~9 km
COAMPS
Dx=333 m
Data provided by LCDR Cantu, NPS, 2001 W E

16. Impact of COAMPS® Urban Parameterization Passive Tracer 16-h Forecast
Release: Site #6--DOE Building: Height: 2-m
Urban
16-h forecast valid 04 UTC 14 July m dosage (color) 2-m winds (arrows) Gray area = urban
5 ms-1 B
Control A
Smaller footprint of high 2-m dosage for Urban
due to decrease in low-level stability, increase
in turbulent mixing, and decrease in wind speed
Brunt-Vaisala Freq
red=stable
yellow=neutral
blue=unstable
Winds (streamlines)
Concentration
(blue contour) A B
Height (m)
400
200
300
100
500
urban
Rock
Creek
Park
Potomac

17. Marine Meteorology Division Coupled Air/Ocean Models
Animation by Rich Signell, NATO Undersea Research Centre

18. Marine Meteorology Division
COAMPS® Aerosol Model
SeaWiFS BHR valid
0740 UTC 10 Oct 2001
Afghanistan dust source grid fraction--9km grid
Navy-unique Capability
NRL high-resolution dust source database supports the COAMPS™ embedded aerosol prediction capability.
Dust optical depth, 9km grid hr forecast valid 06Z 10 Oct 2001
Dust eminating from source regions
Dust patterns affected by terrain and wind conditions
COAMPS surface winds, 9km grid 6hr forecast valid 06z 10 Oct 2001
Strong Northerly Winds
COAMPS™ is a trademark of the Naval Research Laboratory

19. Multi-scale Aerosol Prediction
48hr Forecasts of Aerosol Optical Depth
“World First”
GLOBAL NAAPS
REGIONAL COAMPS

20. Satellite Applications New Sensors, New Algorithms
AFWA Dust Product
NRL Dust Products
Detecting dust in black/white imagery often requires the skills of a seasoned analyst.
NRL has developed algorithms for dust enhancement using new sensor suites that allowed easy-to-interpret products to be automatically generated.

21. Aerosol Effects on Visibility Not Just a SW Asia Problem
COAMPS Forecast Dust Plume
Dust Plume
Gobi Desert Dust Storms Plague East Asia
NRL Modeling and Field Programs (Asian Dust Above Monterey) have studied the characteristics of this dust as it crosses the Pacific Ocean to the west coast of the U.S.
Korea, Japan Mar 2002
Korea, Japan Apr 2002
Aerosols have potential to impact a wide range of Navy activities, with occasional catastrophic consequences.
Tactical planning and execution Iranian hostage rescue mission failed partly due to aerosols. Heavy amounts can cause engine failure (volcanic, dust). Weapon selection determined by expected visibility and weather. Many missions in Desert Storm were aborted due to aerosols.
Defense Ship defense in coastal waters. Navy concern is whether they can detect incoming weapons. Surf-generated aerosol obscures hostile attacks. Aerosol locally generated (sulfur chemistry, sea salt) as well as transported from distant sources.
Strategic planning/Counter-proliferation Important to minimize collateral damage from strategic and counter-proliferation activities
Weather prediction Weather modified by the direct and indirect effects of aerosols. Radiative heating modifies mass and momentum fields. SST retrievals degraded by presence of aerosols. Aerosols modify cloud microphysics and optical properties.

22. Satellite Applications Products from New Sensors
Snow
High Clouds
Low Clouds
vs.
Aircraft Contrails
Smoke
Plume
Yemen Oil Tanker Attack: 10/06/02
Tanker
Examples:
Upper left—MODIS contrail enhancement showing multiple trails entering Arabian Gulf
Lower left—MODIS low cloud at night, green == bright surface mask. Note some low clouds detectable upon mask
Upper right—MODIS dust enhancement. Note: left of yellow line == glint zone
Lower right—MODIS deep convection with example of CloudSat/CALIPSO validation points
Only deepest convective elements are analyzed
Cloud Top Altitudes in Kilofeet
Low Clouds at Night
Dry Lake Beds
Dust

23. Benefits of Collocation
NRL / FNMOC / NPS
Joint Planning
Shared Computational & Data Resources
Educational Opportunities for Staff
Shared Operational Testbeds
Academic Support from Staff
Research
Joint Transition Teams
Rapid Response; Troubleshooting
Education
Operations
Exposure of students to broader activities
Joint Projects that Leverage Local Expertise
Rapid Transition of R&D

24. NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY
Marine Meteorology Division
Ted Tsui