contact: james.kessler@noaa.gov

NOAA/GLERL is not an operational center. We make every effort to ensure accuracy and minimize downtime, however, we cannot guarantee that data and products will always be available and/or accurate. Our forecasts and products should be considered experimental.  
Operational model info:  https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/models.html
Operational model output: https://opendap.co-ops.nos.noaa.gov/thredds/catalog.html 


The info below is a description of GLERL's *EXPERIMENTAL* output (and does not pertain to the operational output)

Lake monikers:
===============
sup=superior
mih=michian-huron
hec=huron-erie corridor
eri=erie
ont=ontario


File naming: 
=============
MMDDHH_0001.nc where MM,DD,HH, indicate the Month, Day, and Hour, respectively, of the run time.
 - for forecasts, MDH indicates the time of initialization (i.e. forecast hour 0)
 - since nowcasts simulate the preceeding 12 hours, MDH in the filename indicates the LAST valid hour


Rolling windows:
===============
`ncast` and `forc`
    - contain nowcast_output and nowcast_forcing which are archived for 2 weeks (based on modification time)
    - note that the number of forcing files varies by lake based on configuration (e.g. Erie has no rivers so has no *riv.nc)

`fcast`
    - contains forecasts (no forcing) and are archived for 3 days.


KML Files:
=================
nodes.kml spatial points which represent the FVCOM nodes in the model (most variables are represented on nodes)
elems.kml spatial polygons which represent the FVCOM elements in the model (vector variables are stored on elements)
voronoi.kml spatial polygons which represent the voronoi/theissen polygons surrounding each node (useful for making psuedocolor plots)