Global Real Time Ocean Forecasting System (RTOFS)
The global operational Real-Time Ocean Forecast System (Global RTOFS) at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction is based on an eddy resolving 1/12° global HYCOM (HYbrid Coordinates Ocean Model) and is part of a larger national backbone capability of ocean modeling at the National Weather Service in a strong partnership with the US Navy.
Nowcast/Forecast Viewer |
Data Access |
Metrics |
Gulf Stream Location |
WOCE Sections |
About the Model |
The GEFSv12 Service Change Notice (issued 8/20/2020, PDF) is here, and you can find information on the evaluation of the GEFS-Waves portion of the GEFS system in the Model Evaluation Group (MEG) Summary page on the GEFSv12 upgrade here.
The model data is available four times a day (0, 6, 12, 18)Z from:
- Production FTP (gefs.YYYYMMDD -->cycle-->waves)
- NOMADS (Ocean Models-->GFS Ensemble Wave-->(grib filter or https file download).
NOAA WAVEWATCH III®
A third generation wave model run four times a day (00Z, 06Z, 12Z, and 18Z). Each run starts with 9-, 6- and 3-hour hindcasts and produces forecasts of every 3 hours from the initial time out to 180 hours (84 hours for the Great Lakes).
Model Suite
Sea Ice Home Page
The Polar and Great Lakes Ice group works on sea ice analysis from satellite,
sea ice modeling, and ice-atmosphere-ocean coupling. Our work supports
the Alaska Region of the
National Weather Service, the Great
Lakes Marine Forecasting group in the Cleveland
NWSFO, and other groups, as well as the Environmental
Modeling Center, of which the ice group is a part.
Marine Meteorology Group Products
- Ocean Winds
- Satellite Remote Sensing:
Sensors: SSM/I and QuikSCAT
Products: wind speeds, wind vectors, atmospheric water vapor & liquid water concentrations
Marine Archive
- Fukushima Tracers
NCEP/NWS deployed three-dimensional particle tracing within our Global RTOFS system to predict the long-term movement of radionuclides in the ocean shortly after the Japanese nuclear disaster near Fukushima. - Fukushima Surface Plume Study
NCEP/NWS conducted a surface plume study using data from our Global RTOFS system to predict the first 100 days of movement of radionuclides in the ocean shortly after the Japanese nuclear disaster near Fukushima.