The Marine Working Group contends with a range of modeling and forecast issues in the UFS that happen over two-thirds of the Earth’s surface, our oceans and seas. It is currently working on several projects, which have a well-defined path for the next 3-5 years and those which are targeted towards delivering a long-term (5-10 years) strategy that will later result in new capabilities. These projects include ocean data assimilation; marine model coupling, which has several interesting aspects such as moving high-resolution “nests” for hurricanes, the development of a coupled atmosphere-ocean-ice-waves system for sub-seasonal to seasonal forecasts; integrated water prediction at the coasts, where hydrology, and storm surge and tides meet; and ecosystems and eco-forecasting. The other major component of the Earth’s
surface, land, is addressed by the Land and Hydrology Working Group.