Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS)
In the fall of 1995, Hernan G. Arango (hereafter HGA) started working at the Ocean Modeling Lab (OML), Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences (IMCS), Rutgers University. His first ssignment from OML's group leader Dale B. Haigvogel was to work on the classic baroclinic, wind-driven, double gyre problem with the now-extinct S-Coordinate Rutgers University Model (SCRUM, Song and Haidvogel, 1994), which was derived from SPEM (Semi-spectral Primitive Equation Model; Haidvogel et al., 1991). The double-gyre application is affectionately known as Big Bad Basin (nowadays, BASIN test case) by several OML modelers because of its stability issues in long simulations. After a couple of months of struggling with the BASIN problem, HGA decided to rewrite SCRUM from scratch and modify its numerical kernel, including time-stepping, advection schemes, and implementing a split-explicit treatment coupling between barotropic (fast) and barotropic (slow) governing equations. In addition, a complete overhaul of the model metadata, input, and output files with NetCDF files. And voilà, the BASIN application ran successfully for several years. The new model became SCRUM version 2.0, which later evolved into the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). The acronym ROMS was inspired by the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS). Thus, at the time, there was a regional numerical model for the atmosphere and ocean.
