III.5: Ocean Surface Current Simulator

Upgrade the ability to visualize changes in ocean surface currents

Other Information:

The Ocean Surface Current Simulator (OSCURS) numerical model is a research tool that allows oceanographers and fisheries scientists to perform retrospective analyses of daily ocean surface currents anywhere in a ocean-wide grid of 90 km cells that stretches from Baja California to China and from 10 degrees north of the equator to the Bering Strait. The model is used to measure the movement of surface currents over time, as well as the movement of what is in, or on, the water. Ocean surface currents affect organisms suspended in the water column—such as fish eggs, small larvae, and plankton–and may affect their survival by determining their location after a few months of drift. Even swimming or migrating fish or mammals may have their destinations significantly offset by currents or the annual variability of currents. OSCURS has gained visibility as an accidental debris tracker to analyze accidental but fortuitous at-sea events beyond the scale of normal oceanographic science. Investigations of events such as spills of cargo containers loaded with plastic bathtub toys have been used to fine-tune the OSCURS model. The model has been served for many years by a Live Access Server (LAS) at NOAA and has been used heavily. However, LAS requires the outdated Netscape browser and only allows the user to visualize and download one OSCURS run at a time. Data serving technology has greatly improved, and NOAA is developing a new interface to serve the OSCURS model (http://las.pfeg.noaa.gov/oscurs) that uses Google Maps as the visualization tool and the latest in AJAX technology to improve users’ experience. Users will be able to visualize many runs at a time and possibly view other relevant environmental data using the same interface. This project should be ready for public use by the end of calendar year 2010.

Stakeholder(s):

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Indicator(s):

Indicator:1

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