Oceanography > Issues > Archive > Volume 15 > Issue 1

2002, Oceanography 15(1):29–43, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2002.34

Navy Real-time Global Modeling Systems

Authors | First Paragraph | Full Article | Citation







Authors

Robert C. Rhodes | Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, USA

Harley E. Hurlburt | Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, USA

Alan J. Wallcraft | Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, USA

Charlie N. Barron | Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, USA

Paul J. Martin | Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, USA

E. Joseph Metzger | Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, USA

Jay F. Shriver | Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, USA

Dong S. Ko | Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, USA

Ole Martin Smedstad | Planning Systems, Inc., Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, USA

Scott L. Cross | Naval Oceanographic Office, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, USA

A. Birol Kara | Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA

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First Paragraph

The global ocean has its own "weather" phenomena, although with greatly different time and space scales compared to the atmosphere. Oceanic mesoscale eddies are typically about 100 km in diameter which makes them 20–30 times smaller than comparable atmospheric highs and lows. The ocean's "jet streams" are the western boundary currents and their extensions into the interior ocean. The currents have speeds on the order of 1 m/s compared to atmospheric speeds that can be 100 times this value. The space scales of the meanders on these high-speed streams are similar to those for the eddies mentioned above. Knowing and predicting these oceanic mesoscale features have numerous naval applications which include tactical planning, optimum track ship routing, search and rescue and supplying boundary conditions for high resolution coastal models, to name a few.

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Full Article

2.37 MB pdf

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Citation

Rhodes, R.C., H.E. Hurlburt, A.J. Wallcraft, C.N. Barron, P.J. Martin, E.J. Metzger, J.F. Shriver, D.S. Ko, O.M. Smedstad, S.L. Cross, and A.B. Kara. 2002. Navy real-time global modeling systems. Oceanography 15(1):29–43, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2002.34.

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