Advancing the Whole Atmosphere NEPTUNE System
In this talk we will present the ongoing development, testing, and evaluation efforts associated with the Advancing the Whole Atmosphere NEPTUNE Frontier project. NEPTUNE is the Navy’s new physics-based weather prediction system developed by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and recently transitioned to the Fleet Numerical Meteorological and Oceanographic Center (FNMOC). NEPTUNE is the future foundation of Naval atmospheric weather prediction and represents a 15-year advancement of capability and forecast accuracy for Naval applications.

The talk will focus on efforts made to test and evaluate the NEPTUNE system to support the initial operational transition, completed in January 2025. We will discuss the computational improvements necessary to achieve required throughput for operationalization. We will also present the work completed to update the model physics that lead to a significant enhancement for forecast skill for Naval relevant metrics, such as cloud cover, atmospheric boundary layer structure, and temperature bias, relative to the existing Navy global model.

Finally, we will discuss on-going work to support future transitions that will upgrade the system to support the Earth System Prediction Capability (ESPC), a high-altitude version of the model to couple to the ionosphere, and a data assimilation capability.
IMPACT
Accomplishment: Successfully integrated AFRL's approved Google Cloud platform with the High Performance Computing system for biotechnology applications; Result: Greatly increased the accessibility and usability of advanced AI protein modeling saving upwards of 50K USD / month in cloud computational costs and enabling advanced biomaterials development to enhance warfighter survivability and lethality in the future fight.
PRESENTER
Reinecke, Patrick
patrick.a.reinecke.civ@us.navy.mil
206-931-4694
Naval Research Laboratory
CO-AUTHOR(S)
James Doyle
Michael Diaz
Matus Martini
Dominikus Heinzeller
Bryan Flynt
Gerhard Theurich
John Michalakes
James Kelly
Steve Eckermann
Cory Barton
Sarah McDonald
David Kuhl
William Campbell
CATEGORY
Weather &  Ocean Modeling & Sim
SYSTEM(S) USED
Narwhal, Nautilus, Blueback, Jean, and Wheat