Sun, R., A. C. Subramanian, A. J. Miller, M. R. Mazloff, I. Hoteit and B. D. Cornuelle, 2019:
SKRIPS v1.0: A regional coupled ocean-atmosphere modeling
framework (MITgcm-WRF) using ESMF/NUOPC, description and
preliminary results for the Red Sea
Geoscientific Model Development, 12, 4221-4244.
Abstract.
A new regional coupled ocean-atmosphere model is developed and its implementation is presented in this paper.
The coupled model is based on two open-source community model components: (1) MITgcm ocean model; (2) Weather
Research and Forecasting (WRF) atmosphere model. The coupling between these components is performed using ESMF (Earth
System Modeling Framework) and implemented according to National United Operational Prediction Capability (NUOPC)
protocols. The coupled model is named the Scripps-KAUST Regional Integrated Prediction System (SKRIPS). The SKRIPS
is demonstrated with a real-world example by simulating a 30-day period including a series of extreme heat events occurring
on the eastern shore of the Red Sea region in June 2012. The results obtained by using the coupled model, along with those
in forced stand-alone oceanic or atmospheric simulations, are compared with observational data and reanalysis products. We
show that the coupled model is capable of performing coupled ocean-atmosphere simulation, although all configurations of
coupled and uncoupled models have good skill in modeling the heat events. In addition, a scalability test is performed to
investigate the parallelization of the coupled model. The results indicate that the coupled model code scales well and the
ESMF/NUOPC coupler accounts for less than 5% of the total computational resources in the Red Sea test case. The coupled
model and documentation are available at https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/collection/bb1847661c, and the source code is maintained
at https://github.com/iurnus/scripps_kaust_model.
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