Development of the Nonhydrostatic Unified Model of the Atmosphere (NUMA)

Abstract

We are interested in constructing numerical methods for constructing non-hydrostatic mesoscale and global atmospheric models (for NWP applications); this is a unified model. The reason for this is economics - one (production) model is cheaper to support. Currently, in the U.S. there is a movement to construct one NWP model (NWS, Navy, and Air Force). This National Board (NUOPC=National Unified Operational Prediction Capability) aims to develop a new model that is: Highly scalable on current and future computer architectures; Global model that is valid at the meso-scale (i.e., non-hydrostatic); Applicable to medium-range NWP; Applicable to decadal time-scales. The following talk outlines a model development effort to meet these needs...