GMAO Announces the Release of GEOS-S2S-3

The GMAO announces the release of GEOS-S2S-3, the Goddard Earth Observing System Subseasonal to Seasonal assimilation and forecast system, Version 3, to replace GEOS-S2S-2 for assimilation and near real time forecasts. GEOS-S2S-3 includes upgrades to the coupled assimilation, the model, and the ensemble forecasts.

The upgrades to the coupled assimilation include the assimilation of sea surface salinity, the addition of an expanded suite of altimeters, and inclusion of analyzed aerosol optical depth values. The upgrades to the model include an increase in the ocean horizontal resolution from ~50 to ~25 km, and the use of an objective parameter estimation methodology for increasing model fidelity. The upgrades to the ensemble forecast system include the use of a new ensemble perturbation strategy that allows a truly seamless forecast, traversing smoothly from subseasonal to seasonal scales, and the expansion of the number of ensembles in each forecast. The expanded suite of users of the forecasts includes the US Seasonal Forecast for Health, and all users are finalizing their use of GEOS-S2S-3 output.

Further information on GEOS-S2S-3, including forecasts, can be accessed here.