(2020). Copernicus Marine Service Ocean State Report, Issue 4. Journal of Operational Oceanography: Vol. 13, Copernicus Marine Service Ocean State Report, Issue 4, pp. S1-S172.

Madi was a category-2 cyclonic storm formed over the south-western Bay of Bengal (BoB) in December 2013. It formed on 6th December as a depression, and by 8th December it became a very severe cyclonic storm. Some unique features of Madi were: (a) an unexpected reduction in the intensity during its north-westward movement, (b) sudden change in track by almost 180o in a south-westerly direction, and

The upper ocean response of Bay of Bengal to two extremely severe post-monsoon tropical cyclones, Phailin and Hudhud, which occurred in the same time of the season (4–12 October 2013 and 6–12 October 2014 respectively) with very similar tracks and life cycles are presented in this study. It is observed that, even though the tropical cyclone Phailin was much stronger than tropical cyclone Hudhud, the

Observing system experiments have been carried out with two operational ocean data assimilation systems to assess the impact of assimilating satellite sea surface salinity (SSS) data. The SSS data reduces the errors in tropical Pacific salinity by 4% and 8% in the Met Office and Mercator Ocean systems respectively with an impact down to about 50 m depth on average. Salinity errors were reduced by up

For 30+ years, submarine cable voltage measurements have been a critical measurement system used to produce a highly valuable time series of daily Florida Current volume transport at 27°N in the Florida Straits. However, the high cost associated with replacing the measurement system, should the existing telecommunications cable break, represents a significant vulnerability to the continuation of this

Present study aims at the development of the Indian Ocean wave forecasting system for wind waves using WAVEWATCH-III wave model and a detailed validation of the same to ensure the model reliability for operational use. WAVEWATCH-III model has a multi-grid approach with resolution varying from 100 km (global grid) to 4 km (coastal grid), and is driven by the 10 m wind, produced by the ECMWF meteorological

The operational Australian Bluelink ocean forecast system is used to transform physical oceanographic observations into coherent analyses and predictions. These analyses and predictions form the basis for information services about the marine environment and its ecosystem, and can provide boundary data for weather predictions. Bluelink information services are available to marine industries (e.g. commercial

ABSTRACT The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) of the National Science Foundation in the USA includes a coastal observatory called the OOI Pioneer Array, which is focused on understanding shelf/slope exchange processes. The OOI Pioneer Array has been designed and constructed and is currently in operation. In order to fully understand the design principles and constraints, we first describe the basic

SAMOA (Sistema de Apoyo Meteorológico y Oceanográfico de la Autoridad Portuaria) is the latest initiative of Puertos del Estado, the Spanish Public State Port Agency, to enhance the delivery of user-customised operational met-ocean information to aid Spanish Port Authorities making harbour safety, environmental management and operational decisions. This initiative provides high-resolution coastal operational

WAM, SWAN and WAVEWATCH III® were implemented to the Finnish archipelago with a 0.1 nmi grid. A comparison with coastal wave buoy observations showed that the models agreed on the significant wave height, with biases and root-mean-square-errors (RMSE) differing at most 0.06 m. In a general sense, WAM propagated most long wave energy into the archipelago, while SWAN generated the highest local waves

Key elements of a Feature-oriented regional modelling system (FORMS) in the Western Equatorial Atlantic (1°–11°S) are developed for possible application in an operational forecast system as well as in process-oriented studies. This equatorial margin region is dominated by the northwestward flowing near surface North Brazil Undercurrent (NBUC) and the southeastward Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC)

The available wind datasets can be exploited to support the setup of accurate wave models, able to reproduce and forecast extreme event scenarios. It is of utmost importance in the actual context of climate change. This study focuses on evaluating the performance of a numerical wave model, using different wind datasets, helping to create a tool to assess coastal risks, and further on to support the

An environmental isotope study was conducted to assess the cause for the freshening of seawater observed in the Mahim Bay, Mumbai, India after a storm event during the southwest monsoon period. Water samples were collected from the various locations of the coastal water and the suspected inland water sources such as rain, river and groundwater and analysed for major ion species and stable isotopes

Based on the subsurface mooring observations at 159°59′E, 14°40′N from July 2014 to May 2016, the vertical structure and variability of the North Equatorial Current/Undercurrent (NEC/NEUC) are investigated. The NEC flows westward stably from the sea surface down to 500 m and is strongest with the magnitude of approximately 40 cm/s in January 2016, while in several months, the eastward current occurs

The objective of the present study is to give a contribution to the extreme wave climate assessment in the Black Sea, as studies of extreme storm waves are of great interest for coastal protection and maritime traffic. High resolution wind wave data sets are used to investigate trends and variability of the characteristics of extreme storm waves. Two different methodologies (Eulerian and Lagrangean)

ABSTRACT The sinking of the cargo ship SS El Faro is investigated by providing a comprehensive analysis of the wind, wave and ocean currents associated with Hurricane Joaquin. Using state-of-the-art reanalyses the event is assessed in high resolution and from a long-term climate perspective. The last known location of the SS El Faro was in the north-west eye-wall of Hurricane Joaquin when it was a

Cyclone Hudhud originated in the Andaman Sea on 6 October 2014. Later, it intensified into a cyclonic storm on 8 October and eventually made landfall at Visakhapatnam on 12 October as a very severe cyclonic storm. It was intensified off of Visakhapatnam by high stratified waters with a thick barrier layer that held significant heat content. In this study, we analysed the data along the cyclone track

In this study, the collocation method accompanied with variance component estimation is used for least square adjustment of crossover observations in order to determine the effects of radial errors on the observations of satellite altimetry. The collocation is used for time series analysis of sea surface height observations both for predicting the possible missing observations in each cycle, and for

(2019). Copernicus Marine Service Ocean State Report, Issue 3. Journal of Operational Oceanography: Vol. 12, Copernicus Marine Service Ocean State Report, Issue 3, pp. S1-S123.

Predictions of drift trajectories based on four drift models were compared with observations from drifting buoys deployed in 2014 and 2015 in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence to show the impact of the current vertical shear on the surface drift predictions. Input of ocean currents and winds are obtained from ISMER's 5 km resolution ocean circulation model and from the Canadian Regional Deterministic

A new conceptual framework, based on ocean bio-physical observations from different satellites, has been proposed to track fishing ground parameters to identify Potential Fishing Zones (PFZ) in the Bay of Bengal (BoB). The proposed technique also attempts to provide a short-term forecast based on feature propagation, even under cloudy conditions. The current study has been carried out to understand

The Regional Ocean Modelling System (ROMS) is utilised to estimate the cyclone-induced mixing and cooling associated with two tropical cyclones, namely Phet and Nilofar over the Arabian Sea (AS). Numerical experiments were carried out with realistic and idealistic oceanic conditions to assess the impact of oceanic initial condition and stratification on the interaction of upper ocean with the tropical

eReefs is a comprehensive interoperable information platform that has been developed for the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) region to provide users with access to improved environmental intelligence allowing them to assess past, present, and future conditions, as well as management options to mitigate the risks associated with multiple and sometimes competing uses of the GBR. eReefs is built upon an integrated

Using Offshore Wind Farm (OWF) siting in the Baltic Sea as a demonstration case, key issues on developing community data services (CDS) for Blue Growth sectors are explored: e.g. data and product requirements, level of fitness-for-the-purpose and data gaps on the marine CDS for OWF. Through analysing the Blue Growth and marine service value chain as well as user requirements, a list of value-added

We live on a blue planet, and Earth’s waters benefit many sectors of society. The future of our blue planet is increasingly reliant on the services delivered by marine, coastal and inland waters and on the advancement of effective, evidence-based decisions on sustainable development. ‘Oceans and Society: Blue Planet’ is an initiative of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) that aims to ensure the

The Integrated Management System for the Aquaculture (SIMA in Spanish) is a comprehensive interoperable information and modelling platform that has been developed to provide the Chilean Aquaculture industry and government agencies with access to improved environmental intelligence allowing them to make better informed strategic and operational decisions. SIMA is built upon an integrated system of biophysical

The existence of the Mid-Mediterranean Jet (MMJ) as part of the pathway of the Atlantic Water (AW) in Eastern Mediterranean is still debated and the reasons for its formation are unknown. The MMJ was investigated over the 2000–2015 summers using thermal and altimetry satellite data and ‘in situ’ casts. In the Levantine basin, the AW flowing along the Libyan-Egyptian coast splits into an along-shore

Among various factors influencing the ocean noise levels, shipping traffic radiated underwater noise levels were identified as the major contributors. The increase in ambient noise levels due to natural and anthropogenic sources threatens the marine species communication. India has a coastline of 7,516.6 Km with 12 major and ∼187 minor ports. The hydrophone system measured for 39 days helped in investigating

The iceberg hazard for the Grand Banks area to the east of Newfoundland varies dramatically from one year to the next. In some years no icebergs penetrate south of 48°N, while in others well over 1000 icebergs enter the main shipping lanes between Europe and NE North America. Advance knowledge of this seasonal hazard would have major implications for ship routing, as well as the resources required

Marine litter is identified as the major ocean pollution today, with a significant impact on the environment. The transport of litter by ocean circulation is still poorly understood, and the management of marine litter remains a major challenge for local authorities. This work investigates the transport of floating marine litter (FML) in the coastal area of the south-eastern Bay of Biscay. It provides

Simulated ocean currents from ocean circulation models along with the surface winds are generally used to force an oil spill trajectory model. Ocean circulation is a key factor in determining the drift of the spilled marine pollutants. The simulations of the drift pattern of spilled oil, when forced by the ocean currents from two ocean models, are presented here. Merchant Vessel (MV) Rak sunk at 72

The Brazilian Oceanographic Modeling and Observation Network (REMO, acronym for ‘Rede de Modelagem e Observação Oceanográfica’ in Portuguese) has developed the REMO Ocean Data Assimilation System (RODAS). It is based on an Ensemble Optimal Interpolation scheme applied into the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM). This study aims to investigate the extended-range predictability of the HYCOM + RODAS

The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) is a large and complex barrier island estuary on Florida’s East coast. The system is also one of the nation’s most biologically diverse, a major spawning and nursery ground for numerous species of fish and shellfish, and home to significant populations of dolphins and manatees. Ocean observing systems can play an integral role in evaluating the effects of both natural

ABSTRACT Modelling the drift of marine debris in quasi-real time can be of societal relevance. One pertinent example is Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. The aircraft is assumed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean, leaving floating wreckage to drift on the surface. Some of these items were recovered around the western Indian Ocean. We use ocean currents simulated by an operational ocean model in conjunction

The resolution of the model emerges to be an important factor in simulating the real oceanic features. In this paper, the performance of two coupled bio-physical models, having spatial resolutions 1/12° (∼9 km) and 1/4° (∼25 km) configured using Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS), have been evaluated in simulating upper ocean dynamics of the Arabian Sea. A comparison of the model simulated physical

In the last 10 years, new monitoring and modelling technologies have emerged allowing real-time observation and forecasting of the coastal ocean at regional and local scales. These technologies are at the core of multi-platform integrated observing and forecasting systems, such as the Balearic Islands Coastal Ocean Observing and Forecasting System (SOCIB). New capabilities to characterise the state

The operational Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) advisory generated and disseminated by the ESSO-Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services has a significant impact on the livelihood of coastal community of India. PFZs are identified as the relatively narrow zones in the ocean where horizontal gradients of physical and/or biological properties are enhanced. The advisories are provided to fishermen

The oceanographic forecast capability in coastal seas is often limited by the capacity of the numerical models in correctly reproducing the complex morphology of the coastline and the exchange processes between the shelf and the open seas. In the marginal Adriatic Sea this task is of uppermost importance due to the presence of several coastal water bodies and rivers. We present here a new operational

The upwelling in the Baltic Sea region is very common phenomenon. According to different studies, in some places it can exist almost one-third of the year leading to vertical mixing and transporting fresh, rich in nutrients water from deeper layers to the surface. The upwelling phenomenon has been analysed for years 2010–2016, during thermally stratified period, i.e. between May and September. Surface

The IMOS HF-Radar array in South Australia provides observations of the ocean waters south of Spencer Gulf. In addition to ocean surface currents, the data from this array can be processed to provide near real-time observations of wave statistics and wind direction. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology requires access to these observations for forecast modelling but currently only have a single Waverider

A three-site short-range (25 MHz) CODAR SeaSonde High-Frequency (HF) radar system has been operating in the Gulf of Naples (Tyrrhenian Sea) since 2004. HF radars use first-order echoes to determine surface currents, while second-order ones can be exploited to estimate the main parameters characterising the wave field: significant wave height, direction and period. Waves were studied in the Gulf of

The new level-4 daily chlorophyll-a interpolated products described in this paper and freely available in the Copernicus-Marine Environment Service, aim at providing daily continuous fields (cloud-free) of satellite-derived chlorophyll-a surface concentration at two different resolutions: 4*4 km over the world and 1*1 km resolution over Europe. The multi-sensor daily analyses, by filling the cloudy

The National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) produce global ocean analyses based on the Global Ocean Data Assimilation System (GODAS). This system uses a state of the art ocean general circulation model named moduler ocean model (MOM) and the 3D-Variational (3DVar) data assimilation technique. In this study we have evaluated

Sustained ocean observations, measurements and models provide a wide range of societal benefits underpinning the safety, operational and compliance needs of beneficiaries that operate around, on and under the ocean (In the context of this paper, the term ‘ocean’ is defined as encompassing the global ocean, enclosed seas and the US Great Lakes.) They also provide an essential input to ocean scientific

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®) is an integrated system of sensors concentrated in seaports that provide accurate and reliable real-time information about environmental conditions. PORTS measures and disseminates observations for water levels, currents, waves, bridge air gap, water temperature, salinity, and meteorological

To enhance the immediacy and accuracy of search and rescue missions conducted by Taiwan Coast Guard Administration (TCGA), this study examines the characteristics of ocean currents and estimates the drifting trajectory of objects for two cases of marine incidents. Two methods are used to predict object’s drift tracks: the first one is simply calculating the advection driven by currents and the second

Argo floats have been successfully used for more than 10 years in the world's ocean. The Finnish Meteorological Institute began to develop practices to use Argo floats in the shallow brackish water Baltic Sea in 2011. Since 2012, Argo floats have been in continuous use in the Baltic Sea and are now a part of the Euro–Argo European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC). The floats are kept in the

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration National Water Level Observation Network (NWLON) is the foundation of a comprehensive system for observing, communicating, and assessing the impact of changing water levels nationwide. The network also measures other oceanographic parameters in addition to water levels, including meteorological parameters. Although initially established to support

The identification and quantification of global change, including climate change, requires long time series of key variables. In this work, the fundamentals and operation of low-cost long-term coastal observatories are described, and preliminary data are shown. The vision is to offer a scientific platform of physicochemical data for at least the next 100 years, what requires establishing sustainable

A new 30-m spatial resolution global shoreline vector (GSV) was developed from annual composites of 2014 Landsat satellite imagery. The semi-automated classification of the imagery was accomplished by manual selection of training points representing water and non-water classes along the entire global coastline. Polygon topology was applied to the GSV, resulting in a new characterisation of the number

Tsunamis cause significant loss of life and damage to properties, ecosystems and marine structures and facilities. Tsunami modelling results are used for deriving robust design conditions for coastal and marine structures and facilities. The results are also used for emergency planning and decision-making to estimate the potential loss of life, damage to properties and marine facilities and to develop

Sustained global ocean observations are needed to recognise, understand, and manage changes in marine biodiversity, resources and habitats, and to implement wise conservation and sustainable development strategies. To meet this need, the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), a network of observing systems distributed around the world and coordinated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission

This paper reports ongoing exploration of X-band radar as an operational monitoring tool for coastal infrastructure development. Data have been continually gathered since 2013, helping a major energy developer (EDF Energy) better understand shoreline processes at a proposed new nuclear power station at Sizewell, UK, to inform considerations of engineering design. The continual coverage provided by

The structure and the temporal variability of modelled velocity fields at different depths are studied for the years 2002–2004 in the Northwestern Iberian Margin. The currents are simulated with the Regional Ocean Modeling System in a high resolution that is compatible with the input data from the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model reanalysis and the atmospheric forcing from the Climate Forecast System

(2018). Copernicus Marine Service Ocean State Report. Journal of Operational Oceanography: Vol. 11, Copernicus Marine Service Ocean State Report, Issue 2, pp. S1-S142.

The Kuroshio Extension Region (KER) has the most active oceanic mesoscale eddies within the North Pacific Ocean, nevertheless, there is a lack of observations on the three-dimensional (3D) fine structure of these eddies. Satellite altimeter data and underway observations were used in combination to conduct a fine-scale characterisation of the 3D thermohaline structure and circulation of a mesoscale

Satellite altimetry provides essential sea level observations to constrain ocean analysis and forecasting systems. New generation of nadir altimeters now provides enhanced capability thanks to a SAR mode that allows reducing the 1 Hz (7 km) measurement noise level from about 3 to 1 cm RMS. A first assessment of the impact of SAR altimetry for global ocean analysis and forecasting is carried out using

(2009). Present in the moment — operational oceanography and emergency response. Journal of Operational Oceanography: Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 2-2.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) established the Coral Reef Ecosystem Integrated Observing System (CREIOS) to provide integrated and interdisciplinary environmental and ecological observations. NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED) leads the Pacific portion of CREIOS, conducting biennial biological and hydrographic surveys

High resolution surface wind fields covering the global ocean, estimated from remotely sensed wind data and ECMWF wind analyses, have been available since 2005 with a spatial resolution of 0.25° in longitude and latitude, and a temporal resolution of 6h. Their quality is investigated through various comparisons with surface wind vectors from 190 buoys moored in various oceanic basins, from research