George Zodiatis*, Robin Lardner, Daniel R. Hayes and Georgios Georgiou - PDF document

George Zodiatis*, Robin Lardner, Daniel R. Hayes and Georgios GeorgiouAn ocean observatory has been added to CYCOFOS which measures conductivity andtemperature at five levels in the open, deep Levantine basin (Figure 4). It is called theMedGOOS-3 Ocean Observatory, and was deployed by Harris Maritime Communi-cation Services, who own and maintain the system. The sensors used are SBE-37MicroCAT C-T recorders which communicate with the surface using an inductivemodem. The deepest sensor also measures pressure. The data are collected every 30minutes, and retrieved every 24 hours with satellite communication. They are processedand posted on the CYCOFOS web site daily. There are plans to extend the observingdepth of this system beyond the current water depths with additional CT sensors. Data onbuoy attitude (heave, pitch, roll) will be used to calculate wave height and direction innear real time. Finally, all observatory data will be uploaded every one or two hoursrather than every 24 hours.The existing coastal sea level, water temperature, and air pressure MedGLOSS stationcontinues to operate, as it has since 2001 (Zodiatis et al., 2002; 2003a,b). Future similarcoastal stations are planned. The satellite ground receiving station also described inZodiatis et al. (2002, 2003a,b) has been operating successfully since 2001. It collectsimages of SST from NOAA AVHRR satellites. Cloud cover is generally not extensive orpersistent in the Eastern Mediterranean, so SST images are collected almost daily.Recently, SST images of the Eastern Mediterranean have been posted on the CYCOFOSweb page (Figure 5), rather than just the Levantine SST images as previously. Images arecurrently being produced for the Levantine basin depicting frontal zones based on SST,and these will be posted on the internet too. Also, the capability of producing images ofocean colour to visualise algal blooms will be achieved and made available in the nearfuture. Figure 5 AVHRR image of the Eastern Mediterranean captured and processed with theCYCOFOS receiving station and processing system. 3. Conclusions CYCOFOS, in close collaboration with other partners in EU promoting the operationaloceanography in Europe and the Mediterranean, may contribute to the GMES precursor An operational oceanographic forecasting and observing system for the Eastern Mediter-ranean Levantine basin: The Cyprus coastal ocean forecasting and observing systemservices, particularly on sub-regional and local scales. CYCOFOS is a well-roundedsystem consisting of both prediction and observational components. Most componentsare fully operational; they produce results every day and provide them to the generalpublic via the internet (www.ucy.ac.cy/cyocean ). The components are periodicallyimproved by providing higher resolution and more frequent oceanic forecasts, near-coastal wave forecasts, more open sea temperature, conductivity, and wave observationsfrom the existing observatory, more coastal sea level/temperature stations, and satelliteimages of algal blooms and frontal zones. The ongoing developments will increase ourknowledge of the Eastern Mediterranean Lethereby increasing the end users’ ability to manage, protect, and enjoy it safely.AcknowledgementsThe new developments and improvements of the CYCOFOS modules have been carriedout in the framework of European Union and other related international projectsincluding MFSTEP and MERSEA-strand 1. The authors acknowledge the support of: theEuropean Commission’s Marine Science and Technology Programme, contract MAS3–CT98–0171 of the European Commission’s Programme Energy, Environment andSustainable Development, contracts EVR1–CT–2001–20010, EVK3–CT–2002–0089and EVK3–CT–2002–00075, the CIESM providing the equipment for the CyprusMedGLOSS station, the MFS, ALERMO and SKIRON forecasting systems providingaccess to their forecasting products, Prof. Nadia Pinardi, coordinator of MFSTEP projectand of the MFS system, Prof. George Kallos coordinator of SKIRON system, Prof. AlexLascaratos coordinator of ALERMO system and his scientific team from the Universityof Athens, Dr. Sarantis Sofianos and Dr. Nicos Skliris. We are also grateful to Dr. DovRosen, coordinator of MedGLOSS and his scientific team from IOLR, Dr. IsaacGertman, Lazar Raskin and Irena Lunin for their valuable support and all CYCOFOScollaborators: Prof. Skevos Paraskeva, Dr. Vladimir Fomin, Dmitry Soloviev, TommyEleftheriou, Sotiris Savva, Marinos Ioannou, Marios Papaioannou, Iacovos Kostantinouand Andreas Kasenides for their contributions and to the system’s modules and thesystem’s operation, and Dr. Andrew Clark of MCS, USA for support of the CYCOFOSReferencesAuclair, F., P. Marsaleix, and C. Estournel (2000a). Truncation errors in coastalmodelling: evaluation and reduction by an inverse method. J. Atmos. Oceanic Tech.,17, 1348–1367. Auclair, F., S. Casitas and P. Marsaleix (2000b). Application of an inverse method toJ. Atmos. Oceanic Tech., 17, 1368–1391.Holthuijsen, L.H., N. Booij and R. Padilla-Hernandez (1997). A curvi-linear, third-generation coastal wave model, Conf. Coastal Dynamics ’97, Plymouth, 128–136. Kallos, G. and the SKIRON group (1998). The SKIRON forecasting system: VOL. I:Preprocessing ISBN 960–8468–15–9; VOL. II: Model description ISBN 960–8468–16–7; VOL. III: Numerical techniques ISBN 960–8468–17–5; VOL. IV:Parallelization ISBN 960–8468–18–3; VOL. V: Postprocessing ISBN 960–8468–19–1; VOL. VI: Procedures 960–8468–20–5. * Corresponding author, email: gzodiac@ucy.ac.cyCyprus coastal ocean Oceanography Centre, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus The Cyprus coastal ocean forecasting and observing system (CYCOFOS) consists ofseveral operational modules: high-resolution coastal–ocean forecasts in the NELevantine, offshore and near-coastal wave forecasts for the Mediterranean, Levantineand Cyprus basins, satellite remote sensremote monitoring stations, an ocean observatory, and an oil spill prediction model. Allide the following over the internet: daily ocean forecastsfor the NE Levantine Basin for the next five days, weekly ocean forecasts for the next 10days, a three-hourly offshore and near-coast sea state foLevantine and Cyprus basins for the next 60 hours, daily single remote sensing SSTimages with 1 km resolution for the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levantine basin,hourly in situ sea level and water temperature at certain coastal remote stations, and half- at various depths from the ocean observatory in the SELevantine Basin. Moreover, CYCOFOS provides daily and weekly forecasting data toend users, necessary for operational applications of the MEDSLIK (Mediterranean oilspill model).The ongoing development and improvement of CYCOFOS include the operationalposting of six-hourly ocean forecasts, upgrading of the ocean observatory, expansion ofthe coastal remote observing stations, and processing in near real time of remote sensingimages related to harmful algal blooms. Eastern Mediterranean, ocean forecasting, ocean obswave forecasting, operational oceanography1. Introduction The development of operational ocean monitoring and forecasting systems on global,regional, sub-regional and local scales will support, among others, a better managementof the marine environment and will assist the end users in their decisions for protectingand reducing the environmental problems that may arise from the various economicactivities in the marine sector. The Cyprus coastal ocean forecasting and observing system (CYCOFOS) was developedwithin the broad frame of GOOS (Global Ocean Observing System) and its regionalcomponents of EuroGOOS (European GOOS) and MedGOOS (Mediterranean GOOS),George Zodiatis*, Robin Lardner, Daniel R. Hayes and Georgios Georgiou