HR: 1330h
AN: OS42A-0824    [PDF]
TI: MERCATOR-Ocean monitoring and forecasting : a 4D vision of the global ocean. Data policy and applications.
AU: * Toumazou, V
EM: Vincent.Toumazou@mercator-ocean.fr
AF: MERCATOR-OCEAN, 8/10, rue Hermes - Parc Technologique du Canal, Ramonville St-Agne, 31520 France
AU: Nouel, L
EM: Lucas.Nouel@mercator-ocean.fr
AF: SYNTEGRA, 5, avenue A. Durand, Blagnac, 31700 France
AU: Sureau, J
EM: Jerome.Sureau@mercator-ocean.fr
AF: MERCATOR-OCEAN, 8/10, rue Hermes - Parc Technologique du Canal, Ramonville St-Agne, 31520 France
AU: Greiner, E
EM: Eric.Greiner@mercator-ocean.fr
AF: CLS, 8/10, rue Hermes - Parc Technologique du Canal, Ramonville St-Agne, 31520 France
AU: Landes, V
EM: Veronique.Landes@mercator-ocean.fr
AF: MERCATOR-OCEAN, 8/10, rue Hermes - Parc Technologique du Canal, Ramonville St-Agne, 31520 France
AU: Dombrowsky, E
EM: Eric.Dombrowsky@mercator-ocean.fr
AF: CLS, 8/10, rue Hermes - Parc Technologique du Canal, Ramonville St-Agne, 31520 France
AU: Charon, I
EM: Isabelle.Charon@mercator-ocean.fr
AF: MERCATOR-OCEAN, 8/10, rue Hermes - Parc Technologique du Canal, Ramonville St-Agne, 31520 France
AB: Mercator Ocean is a public interest grouping formed in Toulouse in early 2002 by six major players in the French oceanography community: the space agency CNES, the scientific research centre CNRS, IFREMER (the institute of marine research and exploration), the development research institute IRD, the M\'et\'eo France weather service, and SHOM (the French Navy's hydrography \& oceanography department). In 1995, these same organizations gave themselves seven years to achieve a challenging objective: to conceive, develop and implement France's first operational oceanography system. The unique system would be capable of describing, analysing and predicting conditions at the ocean surface and subsurface in real time, anytime, anywhere in the world, even in the most inhospitable seas. That objective was met on 17 January 2001 with the release of the first Mercator ocean bulletin, providing a two-week forecast for the entire North Atlantic. Two thousands new forecast charts are now added to the MERCATOR bulletin every week. Building on these successes, a dedicated operational oceanography team, Mercator Ocean, was set up in 2002. Mercator Ocean's mission is to deliver incremental improvements in the service provided by this new operational oceanography capability by increasing the resolution and the geographic coverage of the models used. The new high-resolution model that is now on line offers 6 km grid resolution, and the first models offering global ocean coverage will be implemented late 2003. Over the next four years, Mercator Ocean also plans to establish a European Operational Oceanography Centre in Toulouse. Objective 1. Develop an operational oceanography system using three-dimensional simulation and a high-resolution primitive-equation model capable of assimilating satellite data (from the Jason altimetry satellite in particular) and in-situ ocean observation data (particularly those gathered by the CORIOLIS centre). 2. Support applications for commercial shipping and naval forces, promote sustainable stewardship of the world's oceans, oceanographic research, safety at sea, environmental monitoring and conservation, and further knowledge of the ocean's role in climatic change. 3. Contribute to the international GODAE initiative (Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment) through routine real-time analysis and forecasting of global ocean conditions. Our poster describes our data distribution policy and some of our major recent applications : Ocean racing, Fishing, Oil spill and Off-shore oil exploration.
UR: http://www.mercator-ocean.fr
DE: 4200 OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL
DE: 4251 Marine pollution
DE: 4263 Ocean prediction
DE: 4512 Currents
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting