The Ocean Forecasting Co-Design Team (OFCT) was formed in the framework of the OceanPrediction Decade Collaborative Centre (OceanPrediction DCC) and its main mission is to design an Ocean forecasting architecture to deliver as one. Formed by Ocean science experts from all over the world, the OFCT met in Mercator Ocean International’s (MOi) headquarters in Toulouse on September 27-28 to discuss architecture design.
Shaping the Future of Ocean Forecasting
Ocean forecasting is a critical component of understanding and managing the Ocean, and it plays a pivotal role in various sectors, from maritime operations to climate research. To enhance the capabilities and effectiveness of Ocean forecasting, the OFCT – a main component of the OceanPrediction DCC, together with the Regional Teams – convened a two-day meeting from September 27th to 28th. The meeting aimed to foster collaboration among experts from different regions of the world to define an architecture to deliver as one based on tools and standards for Ocean forecasting.
The Team discussed about several tools and key standards of the Ocean forecasting value chain, dealing with several topics, ranging from observation to atmospheric forcing, river data, and downstream services. The experts explored model interfaces, downscaling, and data assimilation, while discussing artificial intelligence, ensemble forecasting, validation, and model intercomparison. The Ocean forecasting architecture will in fact leverage the concept of digital twinning, as this approach will enable a more straightforward, modular, and more robust development of systems in the future.
Outcomes and Next Steps
Depending on the role of the digital twins, the experts developed and focused on three different types of Ocean forecasting architectures, providing a valuable set of blueprints for further developments. These must not be necessarily seen as progressive steps toward a final solution but rather as valid approaches to addressing the forecasting problem, and each will have a role in the future.
Looking ahead, the OFCT has outlined key areas for future work, including ongoing efforts, white paper preparation, mechanisms for endorsing architecture and its results, collaboration with other Decade actions, and addressing regional differences and capacity development needs. These collective efforts hold the promise of significantly improving Ocean forecasting, with far-reaching benefits for industries and communities worldwide.
About the Ocean Decade and OceanPrediction DCC
The Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 is being coordinated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) to promote transformational, large-scale change to advance urgent action on moving from the “Ocean we have” to the “Ocean we want”.
The OceanPrediction Decade Collaborative Center (OceanPrediction DCC), hosted by MOi, is a Decade cross-cutting structure that will work at the global scale to develop collaboration between Decade Actions and other key actors related to Ocean prediction.