Chapter 14
MERCATOR OCEAN GLOBAL TO REGIONAL
OCEAN MONITORING AND FORECASTING
Pierre Bahurel and the MERCATOR Project Team
MERCATOR OCEAN, Ramonville St Agne, France
Abstract :
The MERCATOR OCEAN monitoring and forecasting system has been
routinely operated in Toulouse in near-real-time since early 2001.
MERCATOR OCEAN service is aiming at providing estimates of the ocean
circulation and thermodynamics at high resolution at the global scale. Products
are already used by more than 150 referenced users from various communities:
public bodies such as met services and agencies dealing with the ocean and its
environment, as well as private bodies that are directly linked with the
customers operating in the marine environment.
The system is based on high resolution ocean general circulation models
(OGCM), real-time processing of remotely sensed and in situ observations,
and data assimilation techniques. Its has been regularly upgraded, expanding
the geographical coverage from regional to global ocean, improving models
and assimilation schemes, adding new data and building new products. Three
prototypes of the MERCATOR system are currently running: one global
coarse resolution (2°) configuration, one in the north and equatorial Atlantic at
medium resolution (1/3°), and one with high resolution (1/15°) in the north
Atlantic and Mediterranean. The goal is to build a high resolution O(1/12°)
global unique system by the end of 2008. This service is one component of
GODAE in Europe, and is one of the key components of the GMES/MERSEA
European integrated project. A brief overview of MERCATOR OCEAN, the
project and the systems, some recent upgrades and some examples of
application using MERCATOR inputs are presented.
Keywords : MERCATOR, operational oceanography, ocean monitoring and forecasting,
data assimilation, scientific assessment, ocean services.
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E. P. Chassignet and J. Verron (eds.), Ocean Weather Forecasting, 381-395.
© 2006 Springer. Printed in the Netherlands.