Chapter 18
OPERATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHY: A
EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE
Jean-François Minster
IFREMER, Paris, France
1.
Introduction
Operational oceanography aims at providing services and products to
users of the ocean, and to help in sustainable exploitation of its resources.
Indeed, one observes worldwide an increasing perception of ocean issues,
such as its environment and climate, resource exploitation, or usage of the
ocean space.
There are a lot of international legislations, treaties and declarations on
environmental protection, marine resources, transport, fisheries, policies to
take into account. These include for example KYOTO, UNFCCC,
UNCLOS, AMAP, OSPARCOM, MARPOL, BARCELONE, and
HELCOM. This variety induces public policies which are among the main
drivers for operational oceanography.
The huge range of users interested in operational prediction systems,
include among others:
x European Environmental Agency (EEA)
x Meteorological services
x Coastal protection agencies
x National and international environment administrators
x Water basin authorities
x Climate and environmental research organisations and communities
Knowledge and technologies developed during the last decades allows us
to propose new services for all intermediate and end users, including
monitoring activities, systems allowing impact studies, and prediction
systems, all three aspects being complementary. In general, operational
oceanography is used to describe prediction systems for ocean currents and
its ecosystem: indeed, it is the new development which can potentially
encompass observation and impact study systems. Many operational and
441
E. P. Chassignet and J. Verron (eds.), Ocean Weather Forecasting, 441-447.
© 2006 Springer. Printed in the Netherlands.
OPERATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHY: A
EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE
Jean-François Minster
IFREMER, Paris, France
1.
Introduction
Operational oceanography aims at providing services and products to
users of the ocean, and to help in sustainable exploitation of its resources.
Indeed, one observes worldwide an increasing perception of ocean issues,
such as its environment and climate, resource exploitation, or usage of the
ocean space.
There are a lot of international legislations, treaties and declarations on
environmental protection, marine resources, transport, fisheries, policies to
take into account. These include for example KYOTO, UNFCCC,
UNCLOS, AMAP, OSPARCOM, MARPOL, BARCELONE, and
HELCOM. This variety induces public policies which are among the main
drivers for operational oceanography.
The huge range of users interested in operational prediction systems,
include among others:
x European Environmental Agency (EEA)
x Meteorological services
x Coastal protection agencies
x National and international environment administrators
x Water basin authorities
x Climate and environmental research organisations and communities
Knowledge and technologies developed during the last decades allows us
to propose new services for all intermediate and end users, including
monitoring activities, systems allowing impact studies, and prediction
systems, all three aspects being complementary. In general, operational
oceanography is used to describe prediction systems for ocean currents and
its ecosystem: indeed, it is the new development which can potentially
encompass observation and impact study systems. Many operational and
441
E. P. Chassignet and J. Verron (eds.), Ocean Weather Forecasting, 441-447.
© 2006 Springer. Printed in the Netherlands.