Regional Ocean Modelling System - ROMS

ROMS is a free-surface, terrain-following, primative equations ocean model widely used for a variety of applications. Regional ROMS configurations have been developed, including one for the Central and Northern California Coastal Ocean, centered around Monterey Bay. More information about ROMS can be found here, and information about the California-specific configuration can be found here.

A number of online tools exist making use of ROMS data output. A few such tools, focused on the California coast, are listed here:

http://ourocean.jpl.nasa.gov/MB/

http://cencoos.jpl.nasa.gov/CENCOOS/scbmangen.jsp

http://www.sccoos.org/data/roms/

Examples of ROMS output

This plot shows both diatom chlorophyll and small phytoplankton chlorophyll at the Santa Cruz Wharf between January 1, 2003 and December 12, 2008. The data were extracted from ROMS model output for the pixel closest to the wharf. The x-axis is in Julian days, and the y-axis is mg chl/m3. For more ROMS-generated data from the Santa Cruz Wharf, click here.

The figure below, generated with ROMS data, shows Lagrangian Coherent Structures (LCS), which is a technique that can be used to process the velocity field of ocean currents. LCS can help determine particle behavior, which can be a useful predictive tool when combined with model output. This figure shows that particles (or drifters) in the green lobe travel out to sea, while those in the brown lobe are recirculated towards the coast (Ramp et al., 2009)