The SURF platform enables you to easily and quickly create your own highâresolution limited area, nested ocean models.
This is the repository of an the Relocatable Ocean Modeling platform knwn as SURF,
which enables the nesting of NEMO
and SHYFEM codes into larger-scale ocean circulation models.
SURF is distributed embedded in a Virtual Machine Environment
in which the hydrodynamic model and several pre- and post-processing tools will be connected to the required inputs fields and the SURF numerical outputs.
SURF has developed pre-processing for bathymetry, initial and lateral boundary conditions and atmospheric forcing,
and it has a specific namelist interface to NEMO and/or SHYFEM namelist parameters.
The aim is that this namelist will be part of a web-based interface, which is currently under construction.
SURF provides a numerical platform for the forecasting of hydrodynamic and thermodynamic fields
at high spatial and temporal resolution. It is designed to be embedded in any region of a larger scale
ocean prediction system at a coarser resolution, and includes multiple nesting capabilities.
For each nesting, the coarser parent grid model fields provide the initial and lateral boundary conditions
for the SURF child components.
The sequential steps executed within the SURF-NEMO numerical platform (see the image below) can be grouped as follows:
Initialization: the user defines the simulation configuration parameters for the ocean model
in the configuration file (input data location, horizontal and vertical grids, subgrid scale parameterizations, etc).
Grid generation: this is an automated step, which generates the bathymetry on the child grid and the horizontal and vertical grids
for the child model.
Input data regridding: this is an automated step, which generates the
surface atmospheric forcing, the initial and open lateral boundary conditions datasets on the child grid.
Forecast: another automated step, which produces the final downscaled model outputs.
Post-processing: in this step the visualization and analysis procedures of the parent-child model forecast
are considered, and can be activated after the run execution (i.e. comparing parent/child fields,
validating the model results with in-situ or satellite datasets, and converting the datasets).