GODAE is sponsored by
5.1 Marine pollution monitoring and prediction
Lead author: Bruce Hackett (Met.no)
Author/co-authors: Bruce Hackett1, Pierre Daniel2, Eric Comerma3, Hitoshi Ichikawa4
1 Norwegian Meteorological Institute (met.no)
2 Météo-France, France
3 Applied Science Associates (ASA)
4 Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)
Abstract
Monitoring and forecasting the fate of marine pollution, including oil spill, is one of the most important applications for operational oceanography. Most coastal nations support monitoring and response services for oil spill response inasmuch as the responsibility for preventive and remedial actions is national. Prediction services can play an important role both in decision-making during incidents and in designing response services.
Figure 1: Ship-drift and oil spill: "Prestige"
The monitoring, prediction and, to a certain degree, detection of marine pollution are critically dependent on reliable and fast access to environmental data products, observations and predictions. These products provide an overall picture of the present and future status of the meteorological and oceanographic conditions. They may also be used to drive prediction models, either directly or as boundary conditions to high resolution nested local models of the weather and ocean. There is therefore a need to make access to large geophysical data sets interoperable with regional and sub-regional (national) observing and modeling systems, through the use of standard formats and service specifications. For the global and regional oceans, GODAE has been a driver in the development and interoperable dissemination of the required numerical and observational products, specifically, operational ocean forecast products.
For marine pollution prediction, ocean data is still the forcing component with greatest scope for improve¬ment, primarily because ocean forecast modeling is less mature than weather and wave forecasting. The two main issues are forecast accuracy and forecast reach, both geographical and temporal. Operational systems emerging from the GODAE program, including global and basin-scale models, are therefore important developments.
Over the last few years, a number of marine pollution monitoring and prediction providers around the world have implemented GODAE operational ocean data products to improve and enhance their services to authorities, industry and the public. Some representative examples are included.
In Europe, the UK Met Office and Mercator-Ocean provide GODAE data sets at global and regional scales. In the EU-funded Mersea Integrated Project, their products have been further developed and implemented at several agencies - including met.no and Météo-France - for use in oil spill prediction services. A series of demonstration exercises has shown improvements to the existing services, as well as pinpoint weaknesses in the ocean data. A prime motivation for this work is the damage resulting from tanker spills over the last decade, including the "Prestige" accident in 2002. Analogously, the "Nakhodka" accident in 1997 sparked a revision of the oil spill prediction capabilities at JMA. This has resulted in an improved oil spill model and improved forcing data. For the ocean data, the Ocean Comprehensive Analysis System, a GODAE operational ocean data set, is used; it has recently been upgraded to the MOVE/MRI.COM model code. The upgraded system has been validated and applied to several spill incidents.
Alongside these national services, ASA represents a commercial "middle user" to provide relevant data to a range of users requiring information for marine pollution response, bridging the gap between data producers and users. For example, ASA is working with U.S. and international agencies, including the U.S Coast Guard, U.S. Navy and NOAA, to enable access to relevant data using commonly used software tools and web-enabled applications. The use of a web services architecture and standard data, such as NetCDF, GIS formats and OGC standards, is important for sharing data across applications.
In recent years, international collaboration on marine pollution has been developing through intergovernmental bodies, not least in order to ensure services beyond national territorial waters. The IOC/WMO Joint Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM) has been created to facilitate the development and application of globally distributed marine meteorological and oceanographic services and their supporting observational, data management and capacity building programs. It encompasses applications within the Maritime Accident and Emergency Support (MAES) topic, including the Marine Pollution Emergency Response Support System (MPERSS). The follow-on to GODAE, including the development of standards and recommended best practices for operational ocean products and services, is a major outcome of interest for JCOMM.
(Last Updated: 13-10-2008)