Development and Performance of a Scalable Version of a Nonhydrostatic Atmospheric Model

The atmospheric forecast model of the Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL) Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS) has been developed into a parallel, scalable model in a joint collaborative effort with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The new version of COAMPS has become the standard model of use at NRL and in LLNL's Atmospheric Science Division. The main purpose of this enterprise has been to take advantage of emerging scalable technology, to treat finer spatial and temporal resolutions needed in complex topographical or atmospheric conditions, as well as to allow the utilization of improved but computationally expensive physics packages. The parallel implementation facilitates the ability to provide real-time, high-resolution, multi-day numerical weather predictions for forecaster guidance, input to atmospheric dispersion simulations, and forecast ensembles.