Ocean Forecasting in the Decade, Session 2

Session 1 and Session 2: 

The Ocean Decade’s mission, promoted by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO) is to provide “transformative ocean science solutions for sustainable development, connecting people and our ocean”: this collocates the provisioning of reliable and accurate ocean predictions as a backbone for implementing new services for supporting users and for progressing and advancing in ocean science. To have a predicted ocean, the OceanPrediction Decade Collaborative Center (DCC), operated by Mercator Ocean International and endorsed by the IOC, is serving as a global convener of multi-disciplinary ocean prediction expertise to liaise Intergovernmental Programmes (e.g., GOOS, ETOOFS, IODE, OBPS, etc.) and is linking to relevant Ocean Decade Programmes (e.g., Foresea, DITTO, Coastpredict, etc.). As part of this work, the Ocean Forecasting Co Design Team, a group of worldwide experts, is analyzing the status of ocean forecasting, identifying gaps and ways forward, and designing an ocean forecasting architecture that will facilitate the implementation of new and robust forecasting services that could be later integrated into clouds and/or Digital Twins. To succeed, the definition of the architecture components will identify the required data standards and best practices to ease future implementations and operations of operational ocean forecasting systems. The sessions will explore such connections and opportunities, outlining the need for science-based solutions with technological advancements, and benefiting from regional groups that are focused on community development and capacity building for progressing in ocean forecasting. Dialogues with representatives from key Decade Programmes and with the regional Teams of the OceanPrediction DCC community will help in identifying priorities for “connecting the world around ocean forecasting”.