NT-20-05 : High Resolution Modeling of the Gulf of Mexico. | M20AS00194

Opportunity Information: Apply for M20AS00194

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) grant opportunity NT-20-05: High Resolution Modeling of the Gulf of Mexico (Funding Opportunity Number M20AS00194) focuses on improving how ocean circulation is represented in numerical models of the Gulf of Mexico, with a direct goal of producing better current fields for oil spill risk and trajectory analysis. The scientific motivation is that Gulf circulation is heavily shaped by the Loop Current and the Loop Current eddies that detach from it at irregular, multi-month intervals. A key complication is the role of much smaller, short-lived cyclonic eddies that can strongly influence how and when larger Loop Current eddies form and separate, yet these cyclonic features are difficult to capture because they can persist for only weeks and may be on spatial scales of 20 km or less. Because these smaller eddies can meaningfully alter transport pathways, representing them well is essential for realistic simulations of surface and subsurface movement, including the movement of oil.

At the center of the project is a major resolution upgrade to the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) for the Gulf of Mexico. The opportunity calls for configuring and running HYCOM at approximately 1/100 degree horizontal grid resolution, paired with improved vertical resolution and accurate bathymetry, and then producing a long hindcast-style simulation lasting about 20 years. This is a substantial refinement compared to an existing, commonly used 1/25 degree HYCOM Gulf hindcast. Alongside the resolution increase, the solicitation emphasizes that the model numerical schemes need to be carefully reviewed to ensure they behave appropriately at very high resolution, rather than simply assuming that finer grids automatically produce better physics. The work is expected to include rigorous verification and validation using statistical tools, so the final product is not just a high-resolution run, but a defensible dataset with quantified performance.

A major deliverable is a set of 20-year HYCOM results provided to BOEM for use in its Oil Spill Risk Analysis (OSRA) applications in the Gulf of Mexico. BOEM is specifically seeking better information on currents and eddy dynamics, including how often eddies occur, where they travel, and how they influence overall Gulf circulation. That matters because mesoscale ocean features can dominate where floating material goes, and oil trajectory models are highly sensitive to the placement, intensity, and evolution of the Loop Current system and associated eddies. By improving the underlying currents that drive particle advection in OSRA, BOEM expects more accurate estimates of oil spill transport, better characterization of risk, and a clearer understanding of how model spatial resolution affects OSRA performance.

The opportunity also highlights subsurface and vertical processes, not just surface circulation. The proposed modeling is expected to examine how vertical circulation interacts with subsurface water mass structure (hydrography) and the horizontal flow field, with an eye toward predicting lateral displacement and subsurface transport of oil released at depth. This has practical relevance for deepwater spill scenarios and also ties into broader ecological questions, such as connectivity and resilience of deep communities that live in areas with complex, small-scale seafloor topography, where local circulation patterns can be strongly shaped by bathymetric features.

Administratively, this was a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement instrument under an environmental activity category (CFDA 15.423). Eligible applicants included public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and other eligible entities. The posting lists an award ceiling of $490,000, with an original closing date of 2020-09-12 and a creation date of 2020-08-13. The budget was intended to cover labor, high-performance computing time, travel, publication, and administrative costs. The practical bottom line is that BOEM was funding the creation and delivery of a validated, very high-resolution, long-duration Gulf of Mexico ocean simulation specifically tailored to strengthen OSRA oil spill trajectory and risk assessments by capturing the small-to-mesoscale eddy dynamics that coarser models often miss.

• The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in the environment sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NT-20-05 : High Resolution Modeling of the Gulf of Mexico." and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.423.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-08-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-09-12. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $490,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Others.

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