Update May 2011. As the ECOOP project ended in 2010, there may be a number of data feeds in the portal which have also ended, or are unstable. However, the majority of data feeds are still running. For more information about the portal, see the following resources:
- A paper written on the portal and its related back-end and data feeds is available here
- Conference presentations on the portal can be found here (zipped PPT and movie), and here (PPT). The former contains a movie of the portal in action.
This web portal has been created as part of the European Framework 6 project ECOOP (European Coastal Sea Operational Observing and Forecasting). ECOOP involves 71 partners representing most countries of the European Union. It aims to develop systems to apply operational oceanography to coastal and regional sea management issues around Europe. Operational oceanography is the routine production of information about the current and future state of the ocean from ocean measurements and numerical ocean models.
This portal is part of an initiative to develop 'Decision Support Systems' - which are systems that aim to provide decision makers with the information they need to inform and support their decisions. It addresses the area of 'Ecosystem Health in the North Sea', and the decision makers it targets are those concerned with monitoring and predicting the health of marine ecosystems - for example whether there is a risk of algal bloom, poor water quality, or danger to marine organisms.
The information provided is past, present and forecast ocean information from the UK Met Office Shelf-Seas physical and ecosystem numerical model (which is called MRCS-ERSEM), together with ocean measurements from several fixed and moving platforms. These include:
- SmartBuoys operated by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science
- Ferrybox systems operated by the UK National Oceanography Centre, and the Norwegian Institute for Water Research
- Fixed platforms that contribute observations to EuroGOOS, through the SEPRISE project
To use the portal:
- From the menus on the left you can select a model dataset and variable. Those with comparable observations are marked.
- Today's date will be selected by default. You can select another date using the calendar, including future dates where forecasts are available.
- A pseudo-colour image showing the model values will be displayed in the map. You can drag the map, move it using the controls, or use the controls to zoom in or out.
- Markers will appear showing where observations are available in the 10 days up to the selected date, with a different symbol for each type.
- Clicking a marker will bring up a time series of model and observed values for the 10 days up to the selected date. Some of these are directly comparable (where they have the same unit of measurement or can be converted into the same unit), for others they are related but not numerically comparable. This is explained on each time series diagram.
We welcome your user comments on any aspect of this web site. Please send us feedback via the enquiry form at the National Centre for Ocean Forecasting web site (NCOF).
