What will the ocean be like tomorrow?
Mercator Ocean
Will sea-level rise chase Nile, Ganges and Mekong Delta river’s inhabitants from their homes? Are changes in oceanographic conditions a reason for the Blue Whale to return from the coast of California to the Gulf of Alaska? How to win the Historical Seas Tall Ships Regatta 2010? Can the high-tech Spanish coastal protection vessels prevent oil spill from reaching the Valencia coastline? MyOcean provides expert ‘ingredient’ information for experts and citizens all over the globe to find the answers to these kinds of questions.
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MyOcean in figures
- A consortium of 29
European countries.
- 61 Partners, both public
institutions and private
enterprises.
- 350 European experts in
oceanography, observation
analysis and digital models
describing the ocean.
- A 55 million euro budget,
of which 33.8 million euro
co-financed by the European
Commission.
- Fully operational services by
the end of 2010.
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Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) are higher than climatology (1980-2008) across
southern oceans for May-June-July 2009 (top). Seasonal quarterly evolution of SST
shows ‘El Nino’ signals after the event (1983, 1987, 1998 and 2001), except for 1991
when the seasonal maximum appears before the El Nino event. Minimum values
increase continuously from 1980 onwards (bottom). |
A European marine core service
Organisations and enterprises globally need to combine and strengthen forces to adequately respond to today’s climate and development changes. The European Commission launched the MyOcean project on 1st April 2009. This three-year project is one of the pillars for the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), a European initiative to establish an autonomous and operational Earth observation Service System. MyOcean’s objective is to unite European expertise on oceanography and to provide a pan-European ‘Marine Core Service’ by the end of 2012, based on a worldwide capacity for ocean monitoring and forecasting by means of data assembly, modelling and assimilation systems. This free service will give access to reliable, accurate and up-to-date information on the state of oceans and seas for professional and personal use.
No less than 29 European countries and 61 partners, research institutes, national agencies and small and medium enterprises are part of the MyOcean consortium coordinated by Mercator Ocean. MyOcean network of 12 oceanographic information production centres assures accurate response to scientific and European governmental user demands, e.g. from the European Environment Agency (EEA) or the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).
“350 European experts in analysis and oceanographic data treatment are working together to have our services operational by 2012”, confirms Pierre Bahurel, Coordinator of the European MyOcean project and Director of Mercator Ocean in Toulouse, France. “To give you an idea of the data that will be available on the website of the MyOcean consortium, I could quickly sail the blue planet with you. Information originating from MyOcean services will help to pilot ships around the isle of Malta, to survey polar ice extent in Antarctica and Greenland, to monitor water quality in the Baltic Sea or to predict floating oil slicks’ drift that threaten to reach the Spanish shoreline. MyOcean information will make oceans and seas accessible to all of us.”
Worldwide monitoring
MyOcean products use in-situ and space observations data and their assimilation in digital models. Real-time data is collected from satellites, buoys and ocean vessels, and leads to more than 700,000 billion daily operations on super computers. MyOcean products, like temperature, salinity, currents, ice extent, sea level and primary ecosystems, cover the globe from surface to bottom with special products dedicated to European zones. Free real-time analysis and 14-day ocean forecast bulletins are being diffused via the project website www.myocean.eu.
MyOcean products are already widely applied to maritime safety, combating oil spills, marine resources management, seasonal forecast or polar ice surveillance. Its data has decisively contributed to climate change research, safer and fuel efficient navigation, efficient oil spill control, improved monitoring of sea-level rise, accurate seasonal weather forecasting, continuous monitoring of polar ice, sustainable ecosystems and better forecast of hurricanes and major storms. The combination of forecast and analysis over several decades offers an essential tool to actors in the field to a better comprehension of the ocean ‘machine’ and its interactions with climate.
Expert ingredients
MyOcean foundations are based on the participation and commitment of the most advanced ocean centres in Europe, involving the best scientists and managers in oceanography. MyOcean is a European project that provides worldwide services for ocean monitoring and forecasting. Since the project finds its roots in scientific, operational, service and governance organisations, it can address a wide range of issues. MyOcean plays an international key role in the European GMES and the global operational oceanography project GODAE Ocean View.
On-going progress and successful integration of worldwide knowledge and operational services is fundamental to the way forward. In MyOcean, users will find a reliable partner for the best oceanographic ingredients for accurate forecasts and suitable solutions for tomorrow’s global demands.
MyOcean services for ocean monitoring and forecasting
W: www.myocean.eu
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