The Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecast System (ATCF) is a software application developed by Naval Research Laboratory, Marine Meteorology Division that provides a toolkit to assist the tropical cyclone (TC) forecaster and to automate and streamline the TC forecast process. The ATCF system is an interactive forecast application that directly addresses the specialized functionality needed to allow forecasters to efficiently prepare the necessary products for the U. S. tropical cyclone forecast centers. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), the National Hurricane Center (NHC), the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC) and the Naval Maritime Forecast Center (NMFC) in Norfolk provide the bulk of the operational usage. ATCF is provided in two forms: a dedicated application installed on the user’s computer and a web-based version with essentially the same functionality but an insignificant local footprint.
The ATCF system represents an on-going DoD/NOAA effort. The system is interconnected between DoD and NOAA sites (e.g. JTWC and NHC) and allows agencies to share TC data in a real-time mode on a common framework. The ATCF system is a uniquely specialized system and is used by the U.S. Navy and NOAA to safeguard civilian and military assets with timely TC warnings and advisories. Published papers providing information on ATCF use in operationsl appear in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (Sampson and Schrader 2000) and Weather and Forecasting (Rappaport et al. 2009) and there is an extensive users manual for JTWC use and other background material at www.nrlmry.navy.mil/atcf_web.
This manual provides useful information for the ATCF System Administrator. Section 2 describes the system itself and the key data flows and products. Section 3 discusses configuration options and the related files. Section 4 concerns system installation and updates. Section 5 discusses routine maintenance of the ATCF system. Section 6 addresses troubleshooting of commonly occurring problems. Section 7 provides a comprehensive list of the file names used within ATCF. Section 8 provides a list of referenced documents.