On the 1st of July at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon, the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and its Expert Team on Operational Ocean Forecasting Systems (ETOOFS) announced the release of a comprehensive technical guide on “Implementing Operational Ocean Monitoring and Forecasting Systems”.
“This technical guide sets a new highly-needed standard in digital oceanography. It will facilitate completion of the new, fuller value chain of modern operational ocean data processing and forecasting systems,” says Vladimir Ryabinin, the Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO.
Initiated at the request of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and funded by GOOS and Mercator Ocean International, it is the fruit of cooperation between 80 expert authors from 18 countries worldwide.
The guide aims to promote the development of new marine forecasting systems around the globe as well as advance the implementation of existing ones. It provides an overview of the entire value chain of an operational ocean monitoring and forecasting system as well as international standards and best practices for setting up such a service.
A unique and comprehensive reference document for the operational ocean modelling community, this best practice and technical guide covers key areas of ocean modelling and weighs in at over 390 pages. It gives new and existing systems careful guidance focused on current state of the art in operational ocean modelling and an outlook of future developments.
“This is a testament to the resolve of the ocean forecasting community to build upon and democratise oceanographic knowledge and expertise, and by doing so contributing to a more sustainable ocean for all,” says Pierre Bahurel (Director General of Mercator Ocean International) who is the editor of the guide together with Enrique Alvarez Fanjul (Technical Coordinator of the OceanPrediction Decade Collaborative Center at Mercator International) and Stefania Ciliberti (scientist at Ocean Predictions and Applications Division, Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici in Lecce, Italy).
“It is a truly defining moment due to persistent work to finally release the guide for the benefit of the ocean forecasting community and society. However, it is through people engagement, training and capacity building that we find the full value of such a rich knowledge product,” says Denis Chang Seng, GOOS ETOOFS officer and IOC Programme Specialist.
The guide is intended to provide guidelines and inspiration for professionals all around the globe, encouraging the reader to delve deeper into the vast field of operational ocean monitoring and forecasting systems. If this objective is achieved, this publication is expected to foster a generation of valuable information that will be used in decision-making processes and, therefore, to advocate for an informed and more sustainable relationship with our generous ocean.
Discover and download the guide and its summary:
ACCESS TO THE GUIDE – ACCESS TO THE SUMMARY
From left to right: Pierre Bahurel, Director General of Mercator Ocean International; Vladimir Ryabinin, Executive Secretary at Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO; Enrique Alvarez Fanjul, technical coordinator of the OceanPrediction Decade Collaborative Center at Mercator Ocean International.