Ocean Circulation Lab
USF College of Marine Science
Ocean Circulation Lab
Florida Flood Hub for Applied Research and Innovation
USF College of Marine Science


Surface Currents and Salinity Simulated by the WFCOM Nowcast/Forecast System

The West Florida Coastal Ocean Model (WFCOM) is an application of unstructured grid model FVCOM in the coastal region of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. It downscales from the deep ocean, across the continental shelf and into Tampa Bay by nesting within the Global HYCOM with added tides. It is set to be an automated coastal ocean circulation nowcast/forecast system that updates each day providing 1-day hindcast and a 3.5-day forecast. This movie shows the surface currents and salinity simulated by the WFCOM Nowcast/Forecast system in the whole West Florida Shelf coast region. The above animation is also shown as an interactive movie.

More detailed current patterns can be seen from zoomed-in movies for a series of sub-regions along the West Florida Shelf coast:

  • Northern Gulf coast
  • West Florida Shelf
  • Florida Big Bend
  • The larger Tampa Bay - Charlotte Harbor region
  • Charlotte Harbor
  • Southern West Florida Shelf
  • Florida Bay - Florida Keys



    • Disclaimer:

    These research products are approximate model simulations under development. No warranty is made, expressed or implied, regarding accuracy, or regarding the suitability for any particular application. All rights reserved: University of South Florida, College of Marine Science - Ocean Circulation Lab. Copyright, 2023.