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Project Description:

Title: California coastal wind and wind-generated waves for boaters
P.I.: D. Koracin
Duration: Ph. I: July 2003 - June 2004
Duration: Ph. II: July 2004 - June 2005
Sponsor: California Department of Boating and Waterways

The main objective of the study was to establish high-resolution real-time MM5 mesoscale forecasting of the winds along the California coast in support of California boating operations. This is the first MM5 real time forecasting system developed at DRI on a dedicated PC cluster and operations commenced in February 2004. The coarse grid with 27 km horizontal resolution encompasses most of the eastern Pacific and western US, the inner grid with 9 km resolution covers California, while the innermost grid with 3 km resolution focuses on the Santa Barbara channel and the LA basin. The 26-hr forecasts will be performed on a 12-node PC cluster will be updated every 12 hours and displayed on the web. The wind forecasts and will be continuously verified against buoy measurements and the statistical and numerical comparison will be posted on a web site in a real time. Although the primary use of the forecasts is for surface winds and temperature along the West Coast, the system provides all weather parameters as well as online (user-selected) model evaluation. Besides the use for shipping and boating activities, this system can be used for other research and application studies such as air quality forecasting, estimates of renewable energies, optimization of utility planning, DOT and NWS support, forecasting relevant to DOD activities, and climate modeling. The evaluated modeling database will be used as an essential input for improved wind-generated ocean wave predictions.