The Man–Machine Mix in Operational Product Quality Control and Verification at Fleet Numerical Oceanography Center

Abstract

The Quality Control (QC) Division of the U.S. Navy's Fleet Numerical Oceanography Center (FNOC) is responsible for the quality control of meteorological and oceanographic analyses and forecasts issued to operational users, and for the verification of FNOC numerical model products. The FNOC QC Division ensures the quality and consistency of data to be included in the meteorological and oceanographic analyses, adding artificial data (?bogus technique?) when needed in sparse areas or in cases of significant discrepancies. Bogus data from various sources have a direct effect on the optimum interpolation analyses for the global forecast model and are used to modify the marine wind field, the spectral wave model, the upper-level winds for the Optimum Path Aircraft Routing System, and tropical cyclone warnings. Bogus sea surface temperature data are used to enhance the FNOC ocean thermal structure analysis. The FNOC QC performs model verifications on a daily, monthly, and seasonal basis, providing a statistical summary of the performance of the meteorological and oceanographic models and identifying their strengths and weakness.