OFS Cook Inlet (Alaska) Currents
| Provider: | Center for Operational Oceanographic Products (NOAA) |
| Model scope: | North American West Coast |
| Update frequency: | every 12 hours |
| Resolution: | 0.3nm, 0.6km |
| Model duration: | 40 forecasts starting at 1 hr, ending at 2 days |
| Parameters: | current, tide |
| GRIB model date: | Sat Feb 22 00:00:00 2025 UTC |
| Download date: | Sat Feb 22 03:37:53 2025 UTC |
| Download delay: | 3hr 37min |
Note: the Download delay is the amount of time required for the GRIB model to compute its forecast and then for the LuckGrib cluster to download the data and make it available. The LuckGrib delay is generally less than 10 minutes, the remainder of the delay is the model compute time.
Description
The following text has been taken from the OFS site which describes this model:
For decades, mariners in the United States have depended on NOAA’s Tide Tables for the best estimate of expected water levels. These tables provide accurate predictions of the astronomical tide (i.e., the change in water level due to the gravitational effects of the moon and sun and the rotation of the Earth); however, they cannot predict water-level changes due to wind, atmospheric pressure, and river flow, which are often significant.
To better serve maritime community, a new three-dimensional Cook Inlet Operational Forecast System (CIOFS) was developed by the NOAA/National Ocean Service/Office of Coast Survey in a joint project with the NOAA/NOS/Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) and the NOAA/National Weather Service/National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Central Operations (NCO) using Rutgers University’s Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). CIOFS generates water level, wind, water temperature, salinity, and current nowcast and forecast guidance out to 48 hours, four times per day. Aerial animations of the Cook Inlet, as well as time series at particular stations or points of interest, are available for over 44 locations for the five parameters (water level, wind, currents, water temperature, and/or salinity). CIOFS will assist U.S. port authorities and mariners in efficiently navigating the Cook Inlet without compromising safety.
CIOFS runs on NOAA’s High Performance Computing Systems (HPCS) in a standard Coastal Ocean Modeling Framework (COMF) developed by CO-OPS. As a result, CIOFS has direct access to National Weather Service operational meteorological products that it needs to run reliably.
Grid
https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/images/ciofs_grid.pngThe Cook Inlet OFS model is calculated using a bathymetry following irregular grid. The results of this computation are then sampled, by OFS, into a regular latitude / longitude aligned grid. The data on this regular grid are then converted to GRIB format by LuckGrib.
Additional information
For additional information, see: