Distributed Coastal Laboratory to improve coastal predictions
Numerical models predict water level and waves around the clock. They run 24/7 in a distributed computing environment, where they function as data providers in the system architecture. Model output can be downloaded from archives or accessed via OGC-compliant Web services. These open-access, shared resources comprise a Distributed Coastal Laboratory (DCL) prototype that allows the scientific community to improve coastal predictions.

Verifying simulations with the data network
Model predictions are compared directly with networked observations of water level and waves along the U.S. East Coast and Gulf of Mexico. These plots use the same OGC-compliant web services as the real-time sensor web.

Comparing different models
The distributed system supports a variety of numerical models. When two different models predict the same region at the same time, Web services support real-time model intercomparisons. These test-bed capabilities have been prototyped in the Chesapeake Bay.

Contributing to a community modeling test bed
Archived simulations can be accessed via a catalog of modeling resources.