Met Office FOAM North Atlantic model

UKMET-NEATL-FOAM-FOR

Ocean forecast

Gridded (analysis)

General description : The UK Met Office has been running operational ocean models since 1997. There is global coverage at low resolution (1°) with suites of nested models giving higher resolution coverage at basin scale and local scale. Nowcasts and forecasts up to 6 days ahead are produced on a daily basis for physical variables such as temperature, salinity, currents and sea surface height.

Processing information : Ocean modelling at the Met Office is currently based on two core modelling systems :

• The FOAM deep-ocean forecasting system is based on the ocean component of the Met Office Unified Model, a Bryan-Cox type primitive-equation, z-coordinate model and a simple dynamic/thermodynamic sea-ice model. The FOAM system includes an Optimal Interpolation assimilation scheme and assimilates a range of variables including in-situ temperature and salinity data, satellite SST and altimetry data and satellite ice concentration data. 6-hourly surface forcing is provided from the Met Office NWP.
• Suites of nested models are run at up to 12km resolution.The Shelf Seas forecasting system is based on the POLCOMS primitive equation, s-coordinate model developed at the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, Liverpool, UK. Surface forcing is provided from the Met Office Mesoscale NWP model with hourly wind and pressure forcing and 3-hourly heat fluxes. Freshwater input is included from 47 sources - rivers and the Baltic. At lateral boundaries, the model is forced with dynamical fields from the FOAM model and tidal harmonics. The configurations available as part of the MERSEA system consist of a 12km FOAM configuration covering the North Atlantic and a 6km Shelf-Seas configuration covering the North-West European Shelf (MRCS model).

1. Nowcasts and forecasts of mixed-layer depth, currents and visibility for defence applications.
2. Lateral boundary conditions for coastal ocean forecasting systems.
3. Forecast surface current data for oil spill prediction, search and rescue applications and ship routing.
4. Forecast SST lower boundary conditions for NWP models, eg. for hurricane prediction, sea fog prediction.
5. Shelf-break currents forecasts for oil exploration and drilling.
6. Real-time monitoring of oceanographic quantities relevant to climate change studies, eg. meridional overturning circulation.
7. Host model for biological models to provide information on water quality, harmful algal blooms, information for fisheries management.
8. Hindcast capability back to 1997.

• Bell, .M.J., Barciela, R., Hines, A., Martin, .M.J., McCulloch, M.E., and Storkey, D., 2003 : The Forecasting Ocean Assimilation Model (FOAM) system. In : Building the European Capacity in Operational Oceanography - Proceedings of the Third International Conference on EuroGOOS.Elsevier, 2003
• Holt, J.T. and James, I.D., 2001: An s coordinate density evloving model of the northwest European continental shelf 1, Model description and density structure. J. Geophysical Res., 106, C7, 14015-14034

• eastward_sea_water_velocity,m s-1,CF
• northward_sea_water_velocity,m s-1,CF
• ocean_mixed_layer_thickness,m,CF
• sea_surface_height_above_sea_level,m,CF
• sea_water_potential_temperature,K,CF
• sea_water_salinity,1e-3,CF

Regional scale

1/8 degree

from 0 to -3000 meters.