Output fields from the NOAA Atlantic Real-Time Ocean Forecast System (RTOFS) for 2006-05-31 to 2017-03-21

The dynamical model is HYCOM:
- The model uses curvilinear coordinates in the horizontal and hybrid vertical coordinates in the vertical.
- An overview of the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM)
- Orthogonal grid (1200 x 1684 points)
- 26 vertical coordinates (21 isopycnal, 5 z-level)
Surface Forcing:
- forcing fields from 3-hour NCEP (GDAS/GFS) model
Open Boundaries:
- Relaxed to NCEP climatology. Also relaxed to climatology in the Straits of Gibraltar region
Tides:
- M2, S2, N2, K1, P1, O1, K2, Q1 tidal modes - Body and boundary tides
Rivers:
- From daily USGS data and RIVDIS climatology
Data Assimilation:
- SST: from GOES AVHRR and in-situ
- SSH, T, S: using SLA from JASON GFO (not activated)
- T,S: from ARGOS, XBT, CTD (not activated)
Model Parameters:
- Time step: split-explicit 150 sec baroclinic, 5 sec barotropic
- Advection scheme: 2nd order Flux Corrected Transport (FCT) with density and salinity as the advected scalars
- Horizontal momentum viscosity: additive laplacian with biharmonic operators
--+ Laplacian: deformation factor = 0.1, diffusion velocity = 0.005 m/s
--+ Biharmonic: deformation factor = 0.0, diffusion velocity = 0.005 m/s
- Laplacian scalar diffusion (diffusion velocity: 0.005 m/s)
- Vertical viscosity and mixing: GISS
- Quadratic bottom friction coefficient: 0.003
- Bottom boundary layer thickness: 10 m

Documentation for RTOFS model output can be obtained from NCEI accession 0026419. As it becomes available, new documentation about RTOFS model output and/or processing will be added to NCEI accession 0026419.