Operational coastal modeling for the coastal waters of Korea using ROMS

Operational coastal modeling for the coastal waters of Korea using ROMS
Hak-Soo Lim1 , Chang S. Kim1, Kwang-Soon Park1, Jong-Kuk Choi1, and Insik Chun2
1Korea Ocean R&D Institute, Ansan 426-744, Korea
2Civil Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-719, Korea

Abstract
A high-resolution operational oceanographic system has been developed for the coastal waters of Korea using ROMS coupled with the wave model SWAN, internally coupled sediment transport model CSTMS and externally nested water quality model CE-QUAL-ICM. The hydrodynamic variables, such as sea surface elevation, currents, temperature, salinity, storm surge height, and wave information, are predicted twice a day for 3 days. The coastal information system, which is based on the web-GIS system, provides the predicted results with real-time monitoring data for dissemination to the public and validation of the operational model using various visualization techniques. The surface forcing for the operational models ROMS and SWAN is derived from the predicted results of the operational meteorological model WRF or UM, which forecasts atmospheric data for the East China Sea and the East Sea. The open boundary condition for the down-scaled ROMS is nested with the predicted results derived from another operational ROMS model for the Yellow Sea or global operational hybrid ocean model HYCOM, which forecasts ocean circulation with data assimilation. The previous results, simulated 12 hours before, are used as an initial condition for the operational oceanographic system. The hydrodynamic results have been calibrated with tidal surface elevation and verified with currents observed by bottom mounted acoustic current meters ADCP or AWAC data in the coastal waters of Korea. For the validation of predicted results, we use real-time monitoring data, such as: hydrodynamic observations monitored by a remote buoy system; and ocean observatory tower and 1 hour averaged surface currents derived from HF-Radar system. The suspended solid concentration (SSC) image retrieved from Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI), which is the main payload for the satellite COMS, will be used for the validation of model prediction of the suspended sediment transport for the coastal waters of Korea. This coastal forecasting system will support the Integrated-Maritime Prediction System (I-MAPS) as a part of the development of Korea Operational Oceanographic System (KOOS) with other operational oceanographic systems.