Mercator Ocean international, the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and the Expert Team on Operational Ocean Forecasting Systems (ETOOFS) under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), are hosting a high-level event on ‘Understanding the benefits and Implementing Operational Ocean Monitoring and Forecasting Systems’ in June 2021. 

Amidst the publication of an ETOOFS guide on ‘Operational Ocean Monitoring and Forecasting Systems’ (see summary here) and the launch of the UN Decade of Ocean Science, this online workshop aims at sharing key information and tools to understand and implement Operational Ocean Monitoring and Forecasting Systems (OOFS) across different countries.

 With both an ‘Awareness Workshop’ (June 14th-16th) and a ‘Practical Workshop’ (June 22nd-24th) held twice a day to cover different time-zones, the event will be open to a large international public and will be organised as follow:

• To provide an extensive introduction on Operational Ocean Monitoring and Forecasting Systems, the Ocean Teaching Global Academy (OTGA) will host e-learning material on its platform throughout June. Following the ETOOFS guide structure, each chapter will be presented through a variety of types of content, from articles and video to forums and quizzes.
• The ‘Awareness workshop’ aims to give the attendees a general understanding about Operational Ocean Monitoring and Forecasting Systems (OOFS), addressing three main topics: international context and motivations, ocean modelling and operating systems, as well as dissemination of ocean information. Through roundtables, interviews and presentations, the speakers will explain the current practices for ocean monitoring and forecasting systems and how to strengthen the implementation of new OOFS.
• The ‘Practical workshop’ aims to give the attendees the vision of the entire value chain of a centre operating an Operational Ocean Monitoring and Forecasting Systems (OOFS), from the system to the interface with users. It will be composed of demonstrations on graphical user and command line interfaces to visualize data, as well as of practical sessions on Assimilation & Validation and Downscaling. Attending the ‘Awareness Workshop’ the week before is mandatory to follow the ‘Practical Workshop’, as it is building on it. Its access is restricted to a limited number of attendees, on application.

 Certificates of participation will be delivered after the workshops.

 Are you interested in attending? Fill out this form to register!