Near real time weather and ocean model data access with rNOMADS

• Timely access to weather and ocean model data is crucial in many areas in geoscience.
• We made an R interface to the NOAA Operational Model Archive and Distribution System.
• The package facilitates delivery of global and regional model outputs.
• Fifty-eight near real time and 10 archived weather and ocean model products are available.
• Models include the Global Forecast System and North American Mesoscale.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Operational Model Archive and Distribution System (NOMADS) facilitates rapid delivery of real time and archived atmospheric and oceanic model outputs from multiple agencies. These data are free to the scientific community, industry, and the public. The rNOMADS package provides an interface between NOMADS and the R programming language. Like R itself, rNOMADS is open source and cross platform. It utilizes server-side functionality on the NOMADS system to subset model outputs for delivery to client R users. We discuss rNOMADS implementation and usage as well as provide two case studies. Users can download rNOMADS from within the R interpreter or from the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN).