OFFSHORE MAY LOSE ACCESS TO NAVY'S WEATHER DATA

The domestic and international offshore oil and gas industry's access to the U.S. Navy's weather data may cease because of planned budget cutbacks by the U.S. government.

The Ocean Applications Branch (OAB) in Monterey, Calif., is scheduled to close on Mar. 30, 1996. OAB is part of the National Ocean Service (NOS) of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

OAB distributes marine data at no cost to schools, universities, and U.S. government agencies and at nominal cost to commercial firms.

NODDS

The U.S. Naval Fleet Numerical Meteorology & Oceanography Center (Fnmoc) in Monterey provides global weather data and forecasts to U.S. Department of Defense users. The Naval Oceanographic Data Distribution system (Nodds) was initially developed to allow a large number of Department of Defense users access to the products and data available from Fnmoc. The latest version has a simple graphical user interface.

Fnmoc is one of two major centers in the U.S. for processing synoptic weather data (weather charts). The other center is the National Weather Service's National Meteorology Center in Maryland. Both centers analyze, predict, and fore-cast global atmospheric and oceanographic conditions. But, according to Ken Schaudt, an oceanographer for Marathon Oil Co., the Navy's products are tailored to global marine operations and, therefore, more closely match the needs of the offshore oil and gas industry.

Because of a growing civilian interest in Fnmoc products and because public data distribution was not in the Navy's charter, NOAA opened the OAB in 1985 in Monterey to distribute Nodds raw data to the civilian sector.

As usage of Nodds graphical interface increased within the Department of Defense and cold-war tensions eased, in June 1994, NOAA was authorized to provide civilian access to Nodds graphical interface.

Doug McClain of NOAA/NOS/OAB in Monterey explains that the latest generation Nodds allows users worldwide to obtain global forecasts, synoptic observations, satellite images, typhoon alerts, and oceanographic analysis.

McClain says use of Nodds is growing rapidly at about 10%/month, with over 50,000 downloads per month. A recent report from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on the costs and benefits of coastal weather forecasting called Nodds one of the most cost effective options NOAA could pursue.

AVAILABLE PRODUCTS

Currently about 20 products are available and several are planned.

Under the observations category both upper air soundings and synoptic reports are available. For weather analyses and forecasting the following reports can be downloaded:

Surface pressure
Surface temperature
Surface wind
12-hr precipitation
Ditch heading
Total cloud cover
Freezing level
Heights, temperature, winds, and relative humidity at the 1,000, 925, 850, and 700 millibar levels
Heights, temperature, and winds at the 400, 300, 250, and 200 millibar levels
Wind warning
High seas warnings
Ice edge
Tropical cyclone warnings.

Reports available that cover oceanographic analysis and forecasts include:

Sea height, period, and direction
Swell height, period, and direction
Significant wave height and period
Primary wave direction
Mixed layer depth.

Also available is the defense mapping satellite program infra-red and visual satellite imagery.

Two planned products are the analysis of the Gulf stream and ocean 3D temperature and sound.

INDUSTRY USE

In routine offshore oil and gas operations and construction, the day often starts with the morning weather forecast, usually provided by government or commercial weather services. Most often, operation staffs have neither the time nor interest to develop a forecast and monitor the ever-changing weather. The morning and afternoon fax and an update for serious changes is usually sufficient. Nodds is one of the tools used by offshore forecasters such as Alert Weather Services, Ocean Routes, Fairweather Forecasting, and even the National Weather Service. According to Schaudt, with Nodds, forecasters can quickly respond and obtain both conditions in the lease and the surrounding regional conditions.

For critical operations and for those involved in marine transportation, oil spill modeling, operations, and construction, Schaudt notes that direct access to Nodds has three significant benefits.

First, Nodds provides a clear picture of marine conditions for operations, shipping, and tows. Clear displays of the current and forecast winds, waves (height, period, and direction), and ice conditions are easily produced in more detail than provided by the standard marine weather fax.

As an example, the wave analyses for Hurricane Opal while in the central Gulf of Mexico and at landfall are shown in Figs. 1 (92923 bytes)and 2. (95528 bytes)Fig. 3 (106201 bytes) shows significant wave heights and primary wave direction in the Pacific.

Second, the system is useful for oil spill response. If a phone line is available, the oil spill response team will have access to the current conditions and detailed forecast maps. The data can also be output as gridded text for input into oil spill models.

The third benefit, of particular importance during summer when hurricanes and typhoons affect drilling operations from the Gulf of Mexico to China, is that conditions at far-flung leases can be quickly obtained and used for weather briefings.

FUTURE POSSIBILITIES

Although a useful tool today, Schaudt believes the system promises to become even more beneficial. He says that unlike the National Weather Service (NWS) products, Nodds was truly designed for marine operations and there-fore has capabilities not available in the NWS system.

Although currently produced but not distributed because of U.S. security concerns, global satellite imagery, high-resolution current model results, acoustic properties, and more-detailed resolution of weather systems are some of the products that Schaudt believes could become available as the cold war tensions continue to ease.

He adds, in regions affected by eddies, current model fore- casts would help improve the safety and efficiency of deep-water drilling operations throughout the world.