FOAM
407
covered by sea-ice were introduced in July 1999 (Bell et al. 2000b).
Significant amendments to the advection and diffusion within the ocean
model were introduced in September 2000. A configuration of FOAM
covering the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans with a 1/3
o grid, nested inside
the global model, was introduced into the operational suite in January 2001
and assimilation of altimeter data based on the Cooper-Haines scheme
(Cooper & Haines 1996 and Forbes 1996) was introduced in November
2001. The capability to implement quickly high resolution configurations for
new areas was also demonstrated in 2001. Daily pre-operational running of a
North Atlantic configuration with a 1/9
o grid and distribution of the output
via a Live Access Server first for GODAE and then for the MERSEA
intercomparison project started in April 2002. The major changes to the
assimilation scheme described in section 2.3 were introduced into the
operational suite in November 2003 and July 2004.
4.2
Changing priorities
The FOAM project was devised towards the end of the Cold War and the
development of FOAM has been supported largely by Navy funding. By
1995 the Navy’s requirement for high-resolution open ocean forecasts had
weakened and the main value of deep ocean forecasts was seen to be in the
provision of boundary conditions for forecasts of shelf-seas and coastal
waters. The Met Office started to collaborate with Proudman Oceanography
Laboratory (POL) to implement a shelf-seas system for the North-West
European continental shelf. Configurations of POLCOMS (POL Coastal
Ocean Model System) have been run in the operational suite at the Met
Office since June 2000.
Proposals for a Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE)
and an Argo system of autonomous profiling floats emerged during 1997.
Since then the Argo system has revolutionised the sub-surface in situ
observing system. GODAE is motivated by the need to demonstrate the
value of the oceanographic observational networks; both space-based (e.g.
altimeter, scatterometer and surface temperature) and in situ. This is
essential to justify their transition from research to operational funding and
urgent in view of the extended planning periods and expense of satellite
programs. In order to accelerate this demonstration, the International
GODAE Steering Team (IGST) has championed open scientific
collaboration. This includes open access to the inputs to the systems (e.g.
surface fluxes) and forecasts from them, shared documentation of the input
and output data sets, development of shared tools for serving of data and
products, and detailed intercomparisons of methods and results.
During 2001, the European Commission (EC) and European Space
Agency (ESA) started to implement the GMES (Global Monitoring for
Environment and Security) program which aims to supply the environmental
407
covered by sea-ice were introduced in July 1999 (Bell et al. 2000b).
Significant amendments to the advection and diffusion within the ocean
model were introduced in September 2000. A configuration of FOAM
covering the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans with a 1/3
o grid, nested inside
the global model, was introduced into the operational suite in January 2001
and assimilation of altimeter data based on the Cooper-Haines scheme
(Cooper & Haines 1996 and Forbes 1996) was introduced in November
2001. The capability to implement quickly high resolution configurations for
new areas was also demonstrated in 2001. Daily pre-operational running of a
North Atlantic configuration with a 1/9
o grid and distribution of the output
via a Live Access Server first for GODAE and then for the MERSEA
intercomparison project started in April 2002. The major changes to the
assimilation scheme described in section 2.3 were introduced into the
operational suite in November 2003 and July 2004.
4.2
Changing priorities
The FOAM project was devised towards the end of the Cold War and the
development of FOAM has been supported largely by Navy funding. By
1995 the Navy’s requirement for high-resolution open ocean forecasts had
weakened and the main value of deep ocean forecasts was seen to be in the
provision of boundary conditions for forecasts of shelf-seas and coastal
waters. The Met Office started to collaborate with Proudman Oceanography
Laboratory (POL) to implement a shelf-seas system for the North-West
European continental shelf. Configurations of POLCOMS (POL Coastal
Ocean Model System) have been run in the operational suite at the Met
Office since June 2000.
Proposals for a Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE)
and an Argo system of autonomous profiling floats emerged during 1997.
Since then the Argo system has revolutionised the sub-surface in situ
observing system. GODAE is motivated by the need to demonstrate the
value of the oceanographic observational networks; both space-based (e.g.
altimeter, scatterometer and surface temperature) and in situ. This is
essential to justify their transition from research to operational funding and
urgent in view of the extended planning periods and expense of satellite
programs. In order to accelerate this demonstration, the International
GODAE Steering Team (IGST) has championed open scientific
collaboration. This includes open access to the inputs to the systems (e.g.
surface fluxes) and forecasts from them, shared documentation of the input
and output data sets, development of shared tools for serving of data and
products, and detailed intercomparisons of methods and results.
During 2001, the European Commission (EC) and European Space
Agency (ESA) started to implement the GMES (Global Monitoring for
Environment and Security) program which aims to supply the environmental