AOSC Seminar by Dr. John A. Callahan & Dr. Analise Keeney, 02/20/2025
AOSC Seminar
John A. Callahan & Analise Keeney
Coastal Hazards Branch, NOAA National Ocean Service / University of Delaware
Title
NOAA’s Coastal Ocean ReAnalysis (CORA): High Resolution Observation-based Mapping of inundation along US Coasts
Abstract
NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) maintains and operates NOAA's National Water Level Observation Network (NWLON), which provides real-time and historic water level observations at over 200 locations across U.S. coastlines. While very useful for many purposes, these observations are primarily representative of the conditions in the immediate vicinity of each station, creating gaps in data and product coverage between stations that can exceed 200 miles. CO-OPS is leading a community-based numerical modeling reanalysis of water levels to bridge discontinuities to provide this information to more coastal communities. NOAA’s Coastal Ocean ReAnalysis (CORA) is the result of a collaboration across the Federal government, academic institutions, and private industry and is becoming an important benchmark for coastal water level analysis and derived flood products. By assimilating long-term tide gauge water level observations from 1979 to 2022 with ADCIRC + SWAN hydrodynamic modeling, CORA supports efforts to consistently fill gaps in the coastal-ocean observation record and improve our understanding in coastal water level change across multiple timescales. Numerical solutions on CORA’s unstructured meshes are also interpolated onto a continuous geospatial grid with 500m resolution to simplify product development. Skill assessments for the Gulf, Atlantic, and Caribbean thus far show that CORA performs well compared to NWLON observations for single events, monthly means, tidal datums, and long term trends. This talk will provide background on CORA development and its uses, summarize model data assimilation and validation, and highlight subseasonal to seasonal (S2S) prediction of high tide flooding as an example application of using CORA data to enhance an existing NOAA product. We will also describe future planned efforts and ongoing opportunities for student and research engagement regarding CORA.
Bio
Dr. John A. Callahan is an applied climate scientist working in the Coastal Hazards Branch of the NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS) Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS), contracted through Ocean Associates, Inc. At NOAA, John’s role is to provide guidance on sea level rise, coastal inundation, and natural hazards with a focus on climate timescales from subseasonal to decadal, and includes a combination of scientific research, operational products, and public and professional engagement. John has also contributed to state and national efforts, leading the development of SLR Planning Scenarios for the State of Delaware, and currently serves on the Delaware River Basin Commission Advisory Committee on Climate Change, the US Climate Variability and Predictability Program (US CLIVAR), and as an author on the National Climate Assessment (NCA5, NCA6).
Analise Keeney is a coastal hazards oceanographer with NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products & Services (CO-OPS). Her work centers around developing geospatial products and services to mitigate the impacts of coastal flooding. She brings a passion for developing operational products that make ocean science understandable, easier to interact with and in support of an informed, resilient, climate-ready Nation.
Contact
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AOSC Seminar
Pre-seminar refreshment: N/A
Seminar: 3:30-4:30pm, Room: ATL 2400(only when in-person)
Meet-the-Speaker: 4:30-5:00pm, Room: ATL 3400(only when in-person) [For AOSC Students only]
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