Naval Oceanography Showcases Capability-Improvements at 103rd AMS Annual Meeting

Rear Admiral Ron J. Piret, Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (CNMOC) and other Naval Oceanography Sailors and Civilians—attended the 103^rd annual American Meteorological Society (AMS) meeting at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Jan. 7-12.
 
AMS is an opportunity for major meteorological stakeholders: government, industry, academic and enthusiast; to engage and share scientific and technical information through lectures, discussion panels, poster sessions and other compelling presentations.
 
This year’s theme at AMS was, “Data: Driving Science. Informing Decisions. Enriching Humanity.”
 
Piret spoke to the AMS audience about Naval Oceanography’s improved data modeling capabilities, and other meteorological-relevant achievements of its workforce-family.
 
“Our [Naval Oceanography] modeling capabilities are underpinned by our High Performance Computing (HPC) partnerships with DoD’s HPC Modernization Office, and at Stennis Space Center, we have access to the most advanced HPC supercomputers in the DoD,” said Piret.   
 
At the forefront of DOD’s data collection body, Naval Oceanography has leading-edge modeling systems that continually grow in aptitude.  From the ASM website, data is the engine of hypothesis-driven science and the fuel for inductive, empirical investigation. In recent years, atmospheric, oceanic, climate, and hydrological data have come to be as much of an asset as any natural resource.
 
“All the best models in the world are useless without the data necessary to initialize them,” Piret said. “Naval Oceanography is keen to improve our collection for the 70% of the globe that is covered by water…”
 
According to Piret, Naval Oceanography is responsible for millions of data impressions on a daily basis and has the proficiency to handle those vast amounts of data.   
 
“The Narwhal HPC system is being joined by the Nautilus system that will increase or HPC capabilities to more than 90,000 HPC cores directly available for our Navy Meteorology and Oceanography models… an increase from about 50,000 cores from last year,” said Piret.
 
During AMS, the Naval Oceanography enterprise was represented by Sailors and Civilians from Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC), Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC), Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVO) and CNMOC.
 
FNMOC’s Commanding Officer, CAPT Christi Montgomery, United States Navy, commented on the benefits of diversity in thought amongst meteorological stakeholders at AMS.
 
“AMS has been an exceptional experience and I’m energized by the opportunity to engage with colleagues, make new connections, and witness massive talent in American research and academic institutions,” said Montgomery.  “I continue to be grateful for collaborative relationships between FNMOC, Naval Oceanography and our government, academic, and industry for a chance to reinforce partnership during events like these.”
 
AMS is the nexus of preparation plus opportunity of the American meteorological community, that equals increases success for all stakeholders involved, namely in an in-person setting. 
 
“I was honored to represent Naval Oceanography on one of many panels at AMS along with colleagues from NOAA and private industry,” said Ms. Betty Jester, Chief Technology Officer, CNMOC. “Coming to this conference reinforces the importance of face-to-face interactions, allowing us to see advances in modeling, Artificial Intelligence and Data Science.”
 
During the conference, AMS was committed to ensuring meetings and events allowed for all attendees and presenters to share their science and connect with one another, virtual or in-person.
 
“The face-to-face opportunities at AMS are invaluable as they lead to collaboration with academia, industry, and other U.S. government entities,” said Mr. Kevin LaCroix, Weather Services Technical Lead, CNMOC. “We get to see researchers working on projects that will transition to our operations,” said LaCroix.  In addition, to meeting with brilliant students who are excited about meteorology is also rewarding to know our work will continue.”
 
Naval Oceanography also participated in the AMS career fair, offering insight to interested students on employment opportunities across the globe with the enterprise.
 
 “Being here [at AMS] has been very educational and an eye-opening experience for opportunity to meet and hear from students from around the world who are conducting relevant research in so many environmental fields,” said LT Jai Chappell, Operations Action Officers, CNMOC. “This experience boosted my confidence in the ability of future science minds to solve the difficult problems and challenges of tomorrow.”
 
Events like AMS are critical for America’s success in future defense components and the greater-good of science and technology communities overall—junior Naval Oceanography official are exited for what that future brings.
 
“AMS is where the latest and greatest research and innovations from all skill levels come together to showcase what they have learned.” said LT Sarena Padilla, METOC Officer from USNIC. “It is essential for gatherings like this to advance scientific knowledge for the good of the planet and our future generations."
 
Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command directs and oversees more than 2,500 globally-distributed military and civilian personnel who collect, process and exploit environmental information to assist Fleet and Joint Commanders in all warfare areas to make better decisions faster than the adversary.