Linking the coastal zone to GOOS

The EC project GRAND aims at supporting the GOOS Regional Alliances (GRAs) to improve local operations in coastal waters by using products from the Global Ocean Observing System. The GRAs link over 100 institutions from 83 countries all around the world. They have begun to co-ordinate their efforts to maximise the benefits of GOOS for operational oceanography. EuroGOOS is leading the way. In GRAND the GRAs have identified two key technical problems that must be overcome to link the coastal zone to GOOS: 1. Bridging the gap in scales between global observations and local needs 2. adding ecosystem information. GRAND is designing a regional strategy to address these problems by using advanced technologies and methods. It will start by adapting two state-of-the-art European modelling technologies using unstructured adaptive meshes and Lagrangian Ensemble ecology. These technologies will then be integrated into a prototype What-If? Prediction system. GRAND is also assessing the status of assets and needs of each regional system. These activities lie in the mainstream policy of the IOC/UNESCO Inter-governmental Committee for GOOS.peer-reviewe

MeDir-OP, a Mediterranean directory for operational oceanography developed within the MAMA Project

The Mediterranean network to Assess and upgrade the Monitoring and forecasting Activity (MAMA), a 3-year thematic network project shared by leading marine research institutions from all the Mediterranean countries, has contributed to strengthening the institutional and scientific platform for the establishment of operational oceanography in the region. A key task in the MAMA project consisted in the stocktaking of activities and identifi- cation of current capabilities in operational oceanography on a country basis with a focus on availability of technological infrastructures, human resources and funding, applica- tions and product needs. The information was collected by: 1. Country Profiles on the operations of institutes/agencies/organisations dealing with marine monitoring; national structures supporting such activities and marine affairs in general; relevance of marine sectors in the economic activities of each country 2. a structured questionnaire targeting a comprehensive inventory on the routine marine monitoring activities in the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean Directory on Operational Oceanography (MeDir-OP) presents this information through the use of a user-friendly internet-based graphical interface allowing easy viewing of the metadata according to a number of categories. Specific information sets are collated into searchable mini-databases. MeDir-OP provides the basis for assessing the needs and potentials for operational oceanography in the region. It serves as an essential step to identifying gaps in infrastruc- tures, to underpin further research and technological developments specific to the region, and to designing an observing system that meets the needs of end-users.peer-reviewe