Application of ESMF/NUOPC Coupled Framework for Total Water Level Studies

The unstructured-mesh ADvanced CIRCulation (ADCIRC) model has a wide application both in research and as an operational tide and surge model. Similarly, WAVEWATCH III is a major ocean wave modeling system that is widely applied in both operational and research arenas. Also the National Water Model is NOAA's operational hydrologic model delivering streamflow forecasts on 2.7 million river reaches as well as gridded analyses of a host of other hydrologic variables across the Nation. Creating a coupled system among these models using a community-based coupling infrastructure is therefore a valuable contribution to a wide range of applications. As the first step, we have developed a fully coupled wave and storm surge model using the National Unified Operational Prediction Capability (NUOPC) framework. The wave-surge coupled sub-system was evaluated for Hurricane Ike, Isabel, Andrew and Sandy for the whole U.S. Atlantic coasts. ADCIRC component also interacts with NWM by providing water level and current velocities at the NWM coastal boundaries and receiving inland flooding discharge information as river inflow boundary condition in the landward side. The ADCIRC-NWM sub-system is being evaluated for Hurricane Isabel and Sandy for the Delaware Bay region before its final validation of ADCIRC-WW3-NWM for the whole U.S. Atlantic coast.