Tropical Cyclone Applications Software System (TCASS)

Tropical cyclones can pose a serious threat to the safety of ship and battle group operations. TCASS is designed to be used by Aerographer personnel to evaluate the probability that dangerous tropical cyclone winds will threaten the ship or battle group. These tropical cyclone applications programs can also be used to evaluate the threat of tropical cyclone winds at ports and other locations. In the event that the probability of encountering dangerous winds exceeds the critical probability specified by the operator, these tropical cyclone applications programs may also be used to reroute the ship around hazardous areas.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Identify Geophysics Fleet Mission Program Library (GFMPL) products used as aids in assessing surge threats.

The greatest danger to coastal areas being threatened by a tropical cyclone is not necessarily the extreme winds, but the wall of water being pushed ahead of the storm by those winds. Tropical storm surges have caused much devastation over the last 50 years to structures along the coastline. Forecasting of maximum surge heights will allow preparations to be made accordingly.

The GFMPL Summary, GFMPL-SUM-91-01, contains a program called SURGE that serves as an aid in the planning of the surge threat.

The SURGE program provides an approximation of peak storm surge for tropical cyclones moving onshore or alongshore on the Atlantic or Gulf coasts of the United States (a similar program for the Pacific region is not yet available). This estimate provides a "worst case" storm surge for any given storm and location. This information can be used in choosing precautionary actions for coastal activities. The estimated peak storm surge is a function of storm and coastline characteristics. Radius of maximum winds, central pressure drop, and storm speed and direction are inferred from the tropical cyclone warning. The user may specify a coastal station of interest from the list provided by SURGE, in which case the shoaling factor (the effect of the surge approaching shallower water) and coastline orientation are retrieved from the SURGE data base, or the user may also enter these values directly. Now lets look at METOC effects on various warfare operations.

METOC EFFECTS ON VARIOUS WARFARE OPERATIONS

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Identify the publication that outlines the contents of antisubmarine (ASW), space and electronic warfare (SEW), strike warfare (STW), antisurface warfare (ASUW), and antiair warfare (AAW) briefs.

It is beyond the scope of this text to discuss all the information considered important for the various METOC briefs listed below. Significant information regarding these briefs, for the most part, is confidential. Refer to the text Environmental Effects on Weapon Systems and

Naval Warfare, (S)RP1, for a discussion of these topics:

. Environmental effects on chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) operations

. Environmental considerations for STW operations

. Environmental considerations for ASUW operations

. Environmental considerations for AAW operations

Now lets discuss those elements of importance during the planning and execution of minewarfare (MIW) operations.

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