[nws-changes] [20071114: amended-upgrade to NOAA Wave Watch model-Fwd: ADMIN NOTICE NOUS41 KWBC]

[Linda Miller]

-------- Original Message --------

444 
NOUS41 KWBC 141325
PNSWSH

TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICE 07-51...AMENDED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
825 AM EST WED NOV 14 2007

TO:       FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAA WEATHER 
          WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/ SUBSCRIBERS...EMERGENCY MANAGERS
          WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK /EMWIN/SUBSCRIBERS...
          OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE /NWS/ PARTNERS AND
          OTHER USERS...NWS EMPLOYEES

FROM:     PAUL HIRSCHBERG
          CHIEF...SCIENCE PLANS BRANCH
          OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY /OST/

SUBJECT:  AMENDED: UPGRADE TO NOAA WAVE WATCH III MODEL IS
          DELAYED UNTIL NOVEMBER 27 2007
          
REFER TO: TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICE /TIN/ 07-51 
          TRANSMITTED ON AUG 2 2007 
          AMENDED TIN 07-51 TRANSMITTED ON SEP 17 2007
          AMENDED TIN 07-51 TRANSMITTED ON SEP 18 2007
          AMENDED TIN 07-51 TRANSMITTED ON SEP 25 2007

AMENDED TO POSTPONE THE IMPLEMENTATION DATE TO NOVEMBER 27 2007. 

EFFECTIVE TUESDAY NOVEMBER 27 2007...WITH THE 1200 COORDINATED 
UNIVERSAL TIME /UTC/ RUN...THE NATIONAL CENTERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL 
PREDICTION /NCEP/ WILL UPGRADE THE NOAA WAVE WATCH III /NWW3/ 
MODEL.

EXPECTED DATA DELIVERY TIMING/VOLUME/CONTENT CHANGES:

NOAAPORT DATA:

- AT THE CURRENT TIME...GRIDDED DATA SETS FOR THE FOLLOWING
  DOMAINS ARE DISSEMINATED TO NOAAPORT/AWIPS USERS: 
  GLOBAL...EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC...WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC/GULF OF
  MEXICO...NORTH ATLANTIC HURRICANE...NORTH PACIFIC HURRICANE AND
  ALASKA.  ALSO BUOY BULLETIN DATA IS DISSEMINATED FOR THE SAME
  DOMAINS.

- ALL OF THESE PRODUCTS WILL BE OUTPUT BY THE NEW MODELING
  SYSTEM...BUT THE ONLY RESULTANT CHANGE WILL BE IN THE FORECAST
  QUALITY DUE TO THE IMPROVED RESOLUTION OF THE MODEL WHICH 
  PRODUCES THE DATA SET.

- IN THE COOK INLET REGION OF ALASKA...VALID GRID POINT
  INFORMATION WILL REPLACE SOME OF THE MISSING VALUES WHICH
  CURRENLTY POPULATE GRID POINTS IN THAT REGION.

- NO CHANGE IS EXPECTED IN THE CONTENT DELIVERY TIME.

- NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN DATA VOLUMES ARE EXPECTED.

- NO CHANGE IN PDS CONTENT IS EXPECTED.

- AT SOME FUTURE DATE...ANOTHER NWS TIN WILL BE ISSUED TO ALERT
  USERS THAT THE HIGHER RESOLUTION DATA WILL BECOME AVAILABLE ON
  NOAAPORT.

NCEP/NWS FTP SERVERS:

- ALL OF THESE PRODUCTS WILL BE OUTPUT BY THE NEW MODELING
  SYSTEM...BUT THE ONLY RESULTANT CHANGE WILL BE IN THE FORECAST
  QUALITY DUE TO THE IMPROVED RESOLUTION OF THE MODEL WHICH
  PRODUCES THE DATA SET.

- IN THE COOK INLET REGION OF ALASKA...VALID GRID POINT
  INFORMATION WILL REPLACE SOME OF THE MISSING VALUES WHICH
  CURRENLTY POPULATE GRID POINTS IN THAT REGION.

- NO CHANGE IS EXPECTED IN THE CONTENT DELIVERY TIME.

- NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN DATA VOLUMES ARE EXPECTED.

- NO CHANGE IN PDS CONTENT IS EXPECTED.

- NEW HIGHER RESOLUTION DATA SETS WILL BECOME AVAILABLE ON THE
  NCEP FTP SERVER.

NCEP ENCOURAGES ALL USERS TO ENSURE THEIR DECODERS ARE FLEXIBLE 
AND ARE ABLE TO ADEQUATELY HANDLE CHANGES IN CONTENT 
ORDER...PARAMETER FIELDS CHANGING ORDER...CHANGES IN THE SCALING 
FACTOR COMPONENT WITHIN THE PDS OF THE GRIB FILES AND ANY VOLUME 
CHANGES THAT MAY BE FORTHCOMING. THESE ELEMENTS MAY CHANGE WITH 
FUTURE NCEP MODEL IMPLEMENTATIONS. NCEP WILL MAKE EVERY ATTEMPT 
TO ALERT USERS TO THESE CHANGES PRIOR TO ANY IMPLEMENTATIONS.

MODELING SYSTEM CHANGES: 

1.     A MULTI-GRID GLOBAL MODEL THAT PROVIDES FORECAST PRODUCTS   
       ON SEVERAL DIFFERENT GRIDS.  ALL THE GRIDS HAVE INTERNAL 
       TWO-WAY COUPLING AND EXCHANGE INFORMATION DURING THE 
       COMPUTATION CYCLE.  THE NEW GRIDS ARE: 

       A.  A 30 MINUTE RESOLUTION GLOBAL GRID  
       B.  THREE 10 MINUTE RESOLUTION REGIONAL GRIDS COVERING THE   
           UNITED STATES /US/ EAST/WEST COASTS AND EASTERN   
           PACIFIC ISLANDS INCLUDING HAWAII 
       C.  AN ALASKA REGIONAL GRID WITH A 15 MINUTE RESOLUTION IN    
           LONGITUDE AND A 10 MINUTE RESOLUTION IN LATITUDE  
       D.  TWO 4 MINUTE RESOLUTION COASTAL GRIDS FOR THE US 
           EAST/WEST COASTS.  THE US WEST COAST GRID ALSO 
           INCLUDES THE COASTAL WATERS OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
       E.  AN ALASKAN COASTAL GRID WITH A RESOLUTION OF 8 MINUTES  
           IN LONGITUDE AND 4 MINUTES IN LATITUDE  
  
2.     FIELD OUTPUT WILL BE AVAILABLE IN GRIB2 FORMAT.  

3.     THE ENERGY SPECTRUM WILL BE PROPERLY PARTITIONED.  THE     
       FOLLOWING ADDITIONAL OUTPUT GRIDS WILL BE AVAILABLE:

       A.  PARTITIONED WAVE HEIGHT DATA FOR WIND SEAS-KPDS ID=102
           PRIMARY SWELLS-KPDS ID=105-LEVEL 1
           SECONDARY SWELLS-KPDS ID=105-LEVEL 2
       B.  PARTITIONED PEAK PERIOD DATA FOR WIND SEAS-KPDS ID=103
           PRIMARY SWELLS-KPDS ID=106-LEVEL 1
           SECONDARY SWELLS-KPDS ID=106-LEVEL 2
       C.  PARTITIONED MEAN DIRECTION FOR WIND SEAS-KPDS ID=101
           PRIMARY SWELLS-KPDS ID=104-LEVEL 1
           SECONDARY SWELLS-KPDS ID=104-LEVEL 2

4.     MINOR CHANGES TO THE PHYSICS INCLUDING:

       A.  LINEAR WAVE GROWTH TERM TO IMPROVE INITIAL WAVE GROWTH      
           RESULTS
       B.  A SURF ZONE BREAKING TERM TO PROVIDE MORE REALISTIC  
           ESTIMATES OF WAVE HEIGHT FOR LAND FALLING TROPICAL      
           SYSTEMS
  
5.     THE FORECAST RUN WILL NOW START 9 FORECAST HOURS BEFORE 
       THE ORIGINATING TIME OF THE CYCLE AS OPPOSED TO 6 HOURS
       BEFORE ALLOWING FOR THREE ADDITIONAL HOURS OF 
       ASSIMILATION. FORECAST OUTPUT CONTINUES OUT TO 180 HOURS. 

ON TUESDAY NOVEMBER 27 2007...PARALLEL DATA SETS FOR THE CURRENT 
PRODUCTS AND NEW HIGHER RESOLUTION PRODUCTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE 
AVAILABLE ON THE NCEP FTP SERVER AT THE LINK BELOW.  NCEP 
ENCOURAGES ALL USERS TO EVALUATE THESE DATA SETS TO ENSURE THAT 
THEIR SYSTEMS ARE PREPARED FOR THE UPCOMING CHANGE. 
/PLEASE USE LOWERCASE LETTERS/

  FTP://FTPPRD.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/PUB/DATA/NCCF/COM/WAVE/PARA

THE ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING CENTER /EMC/ HAS A PUBLICLY AVAILABLE 
WEB SITE WHICH CAN PROVIDE USERS MORE INFORMATION CONCERNING ALL 
NCEP MODELING SYSTEMS. /PLEASE USE LOWERCASE LETTERS/

  HTTP://WWW.EMC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV

SPECIFIC INFORMATION REGARDING THE NEW WAVE MODEL IMPLEMENTATION 
CAN BE FOUND AT THE LINK BELOW: /PLEASE USE LOWERCASE LETTERS/

  HTTP://POLAR.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/NEW.WAVES/WELCOME.HTML

FOR QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE SCIENTIFIC CHANGES WITHIN THE 
MODELING SYSTEM...PLEASE CONTACT: 

HENDRIK TOLMAN
NCEP/EMC...CHIEF MARINE MODELING BRANCH
CAMP SPRINGS MARYLAND
PHONE: 301 763 8000 X7253
EMAIL: HENDRIK.TOLMAN at NOAA.GOV

FOR QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE DATAFLOW ASPECTS OF THIS 
IMPLEMENTATION...EMAIL THE NCEP/NCO/PMB DATAFLOW HELPDESK: /USE 
UPPERCASE LETTERS FOR THE NCEP.PMB.D PORTION OF EMAIL ADDRESS AND 
LOWERCASE LETTERS FOR THE REMAINDER/

  NCEP.PMB.DATAFLOW at NOAA.GOV 

THIS AND OTHER NWS TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICES ARE AVAILABLE 
ONLINE AT /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/: 

  HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OM/NOTIF.HTM

$$