Ocean modeling with flexible initialization for improved coupled tropical cyclone-ocean model prediction

This paper introduces the Message Passing Interface Princeton Ocean Model for Tropical Cyclones (MPIPOM-TC), created at University of Rhode Island (URI). MPIPOM-TC is derived from a combination of the parallelized version of the Princeton Ocean Model (POM), called the Stony Brook Parallel Ocean Model (sbPOM), and URI\u27s non-parallelized POM for Tropical Cyclones (POM-TC), which has been used for many years as the ocean component of NOAA\u27s and the U.S. Navy\u27s operational hurricane forecast models. In addition to parallelization, the flexible initialization capabilities of MPIPOM-TC and other elements of its architecture will facilitate further improvements to the ocean component of research-based and operational tropical cyclone (hurricane) forecast models worldwide