{"id":3534,"date":"2026-08-12T14:47:50","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marine.usf.edu\/comit\/?p=3534"},"modified":"2026-08-12T14:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:51:11","slug":"ufs-coastal-applications-team-report-round-2-summary-of-a-unified-forecast-system-model-evaluation-for-marine-navigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marine.usf.edu\/comit\/2026\/08\/12\/ufs-coastal-applications-team-report-round-2-summary-of-a-unified-forecast-system-model-evaluation-for-marine-navigation\/","title":{"rendered":"UFS Coastal Applications Team Report: Round 2 Summary of a Unified Forecast System Model Evaluation for Marine Navigation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fujisaki-Manome, A., G. Seroka, J. Kelley, et al. (31 co-authors including Y. Liu). 2025. NOAA NOS Coastal Survey Development Laboratory, 37 pages, April 2025. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS, 37, https:\/\/repository.library.noaa.gov\/view\/noaa\/69898<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Executive Summary:<\/strong> This report documents the second round of the model evaluation effort of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Unified Forecast System (UFS) Coastal Application
Team (CAT) Marine Navigation Sub-Application. The effort follows the 1) the first phase of the
project, which included gathering user requirements, generating an initial list of oceanographic
models to evaluate, and defining skill assessment guidelines for the future model evaluation
(Seroka et al. 2022), and 2) the first round of the second phase of the project\u2013 the model
evaluation (Seroka et al. 2024). The project has worked toward the major goals of UFS CAT,
which are 1) to evaluate potential coastal ocean models for the coastal ocean model
components of the UFS and 2) to train the next generation of coastal modelers to accelerate the
Research-to-Operations (R2O) process within the National Ocean Service (NOS).
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly to the first round of the model evaluation, two coastal ocean models were used for
evaluation: 1) Finite Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM); and 2) Semi-implicit Cross-
scale Hydroscience Integrated System Model (SCHISM). These two ocean models to date have
demonstrated sufficient skill to meet NOS forecast skill requirements. Therefore, specific model
results are not shown in this report; some testers\u2019 results can be found in journal publications
that have resulted from this work. Instead, the report focuses on successes, challenges, and
lessons learned that aid future advancement of these models in NOAA Readiness Levels as
potential candidates for the UFS\u2019 operational coastal ocean model components.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the second round, the researchers participating in the evaluation effort (i.e., testers) refined
the model mesh for 3D simulations and incorporated atmospheric forcing in a 3D (multiple
vertical layers) baroclinic mode whereas the first round focused on 2D simulations and tidal
forcing only. The testers used atmospheric forcing from commonly used models [i.e., NOAA\u2019s
High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR), Global Forecast System (GFS), and\/or the ECMWF
Reanalysis v5 (ERA5)]. In addition, the testers used output from NOAA\u2019s Global Real-Time
Ocean Forecast System (G-RTOFS) or datasets from Copernicus Marine Environment
Monitoring Service (CMEMS) and Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) in order to create
subtidal ocean lateral boundary conditions. For river boundary conditions, testers used river
discharge observations at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) river gauges. The model predictions
were evaluated against available water levels, currents, temperature, and salinity observations
during January 1 – March 31, 2022 and July 1 – September 30, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The key steps of this round two model evaluation include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n