US NAVY OPERATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHY
473
Operations Center provides data for ongoing quality control of prediction
products. Synoptic data available from both the World Meteorological
System Global Telecommunication System (GTS) as well as directly from
Navy ships and aircraft provide measurements available for data assimilation
and real-time quality control. Remote-sensing data, primarily multi-channel
sea surface temperature (MCSST) and altimetry from both national and
international satellites, yield wide-area, near-real-time information available
for data assimilation. The MSRC has already been noted as the primary
source for HPC computing for the large-scale prediction systems. Fleet
Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC), the sister
production center to NAVOCEANO, provides the global and regional
atmospheric forcing to drive the ocean models (Rosmond et al., 2002; Hodur
et al., 2002).
4.1
Ocean data collection
Oceanographic data serve multiple purposes as applied to the ocean
prediction challenge: for building ocean climatologies, for creating synoptic
analyses, for assimilating directly into dynamic models, and for providing
quality control and evaluation information for ocean prediction systems.
Conductivity/Temperature/Depth
(CTD)
probes,
expendable
bathythermographs (XBT), AC9 optical probes, Acoustic Doppler Current
Profilers (ADCP), and conventional current meters used during a typical
NAVOCEANO oceanographic survey mission provide primarily the data
supporting the production of ocean climatologies and to a lesser extent,
evaluation of ocean prediction products.
Real-time, remote in situ data collection supports not only the longer
term input for climatologies but also, more importantly, the data required for
synoptic statistical analyses and assimilation into real-time Navy prediction
systems. This data collection effort includes the Integrated Drifting Buoy
Program that makes use of MiniMet, WOCE, APEX, and Davis Drifters to
relay real-time oceanographic data back to NAVOCEANO. This program
also represents the NAVOCEANO participation in the international ARGO
profiler program. Real-time XBT data are accessed directly from Navy
aircraft and ships while XBT, CTD, ADCP, and mooring data available from
other national and international sources are accessed via the GTS.
Finally, remotely-sensed SST, altimetry, and ocean color measurements
from satellite supply data for analyses, assimilation, evaluation and quality
control. Polar orbiting and geostationary satellites provide MCSST data
(Robinson, 2005, this volume). Altimetry data, processed within the
Oceanography Department Altimetry Data Fusion Center, provide sea
surface height (SSH) data presently from the Navy GEOSAT Follow On
(GFO), NASA/CNES JASON, and ESA ENVISAT satellites (Jacobs et al.,
2002). Finally, while not yet assimilated, ocean color data yield useful
473
Operations Center provides data for ongoing quality control of prediction
products. Synoptic data available from both the World Meteorological
System Global Telecommunication System (GTS) as well as directly from
Navy ships and aircraft provide measurements available for data assimilation
and real-time quality control. Remote-sensing data, primarily multi-channel
sea surface temperature (MCSST) and altimetry from both national and
international satellites, yield wide-area, near-real-time information available
for data assimilation. The MSRC has already been noted as the primary
source for HPC computing for the large-scale prediction systems. Fleet
Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC), the sister
production center to NAVOCEANO, provides the global and regional
atmospheric forcing to drive the ocean models (Rosmond et al., 2002; Hodur
et al., 2002).
4.1
Ocean data collection
Oceanographic data serve multiple purposes as applied to the ocean
prediction challenge: for building ocean climatologies, for creating synoptic
analyses, for assimilating directly into dynamic models, and for providing
quality control and evaluation information for ocean prediction systems.
Conductivity/Temperature/Depth
(CTD)
probes,
expendable
bathythermographs (XBT), AC9 optical probes, Acoustic Doppler Current
Profilers (ADCP), and conventional current meters used during a typical
NAVOCEANO oceanographic survey mission provide primarily the data
supporting the production of ocean climatologies and to a lesser extent,
evaluation of ocean prediction products.
Real-time, remote in situ data collection supports not only the longer
term input for climatologies but also, more importantly, the data required for
synoptic statistical analyses and assimilation into real-time Navy prediction
systems. This data collection effort includes the Integrated Drifting Buoy
Program that makes use of MiniMet, WOCE, APEX, and Davis Drifters to
relay real-time oceanographic data back to NAVOCEANO. This program
also represents the NAVOCEANO participation in the international ARGO
profiler program. Real-time XBT data are accessed directly from Navy
aircraft and ships while XBT, CTD, ADCP, and mooring data available from
other national and international sources are accessed via the GTS.
Finally, remotely-sensed SST, altimetry, and ocean color measurements
from satellite supply data for analyses, assimilation, evaluation and quality
control. Polar orbiting and geostationary satellites provide MCSST data
(Robinson, 2005, this volume). Altimetry data, processed within the
Oceanography Department Altimetry Data Fusion Center, provide sea
surface height (SSH) data presently from the Navy GEOSAT Follow On
(GFO), NASA/CNES JASON, and ESA ENVISAT satellites (Jacobs et al.,
2002). Finally, while not yet assimilated, ocean color data yield useful