Linking the coastal zone to GOOS

Abstract

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.