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Introduction

👋 Welcome to the SURF-NEMO Documentation!

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Overview

The Structured and Unstructured grid Relocatable Ocean Platform for Forecasting (SURF) is an on-demand ocean modeling platform designed to set up, execute, and analyze high-resolution nested ocean simulations in any region of the global ocean. SURF facilitates the downscaling of large-scale ocean fields to regional and coastal areas, providing the high-spatial resolution needed to capture fine-scale oceanographic processes that are typically unresolved by coarser models.

With its flexible and relocatable architecture, SURF allows for rapid deployment and provides high-resolution forecasts essential for Decision Support Systems (DSS), including oil spill monitoring, search and rescue operations, maritime navigation, fisheries management, and coastal tourism.

Core Ocean Models

SURF integrates two distinct core ocean models, with different characteristics and strengths:

  • SURF-NEMO is based on the NEMO model (Madec, G. and the NEMO System Team, 2024). It uses a structured grid and the finite difference method, making it well-suited for simulations in the open ocean and continental shelf regions.

  • SURF-SHYFEM is based on the SHYFEM-MPI model (Micaletto et al. (2022)). It operates on a triangular unstructured grid using the finite element method, which is ideal for complex coastal geometries, estuaries, and shallow seas.

This documentation focuses on SURF-NEMO (Trotta et al. 2016, Trotta et al. 2021). For the SURF-SHYFEM documentation, visit this page.

Key Features

SURF provides powerful capabilities designed for efficient and effective ocean modeling:

  • One-Way Nesting: Use a coarse-resolution parent model to supply initial and lateral boundary conditions to a high-resolution child model covering your specific area of interest.
  • High resolutions: Achieve high spatial resolutions down to a few hundred meters, enabling detailed analysis of fine-scale oceanographic processes.
  • Accurate Data Remapping: Ensure consistent model forcing by accurately remapping input data, including bathymetry, atmospheric fields, and lateral boundary conditions, onto the child model grid.
  • Intuitive Configuration: Set up simulations using a user-friendly JSON file.
  • Flexible deployment: Execute SURF across diverse systems using lightweight virtualized environments.

Learn More

Explore the Bibliography for technical references and peer-reviewed publications related to SURF development and applications.

Acknowledging or Citing SURF

Please cite if you use SURF

SURF is developed and maintained by the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC) Foundation. It is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL) and is freely available as an open-source project.

If you use SURF in your work, please acknowledge CMCC and cite the reference publication: Trotta et al. 2021.

Thank you — and happy SURFing!