EDS Newsletter #1: Ocean Current Products

BlueLink (v3.4)

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) upgraded their Ocean Forecasting Australia Model to its current version 3.4 (OFAM3). This global ocean model is also known by the name of OceanMAPS (Ocean Modelling, Analysis, and Prediction System) within the wider technical community, while historically this product has been referred to as Bluelink owing to the original project name it was developed under. As a result of this, the product is referred to as Bluelink v3 in our EDS Catalog.

The updates to Bluelink v3.4 include enhancements to the data assimilation scheme. The new algorithms include First Guess at Appropriate Time and Multi-scale, two time step data assimilation. These data assimilation updates have resulted in increased forecast skill relative to the previous version for temperature, salinity, and sea level anomalies. The temporal and spatial resolution of the product remains the same, providing a seamless experience for the end user.

Additional information on the upgraded Bluelink v3.4 data can be found on the corresponding EDS Catalog and the BoM’s website.

Also available on the EDS are the corresponding products from the BoM for winds and waves, ACCESS-G, AusWave-R and AusWave-G.

Global Copernicus

Under the EU Copernicus framework for European Earth observation program, the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) made available its Global Copernicus Ocean Model, a global analysis and forecasting system that uses satellite and on-site observational data. It provides 10 days of global 3D ocean forecasts updated daily. This product includes hourly averaged surface fields for height, temperature, and sea level currents. Global ocean output files are displayed at a horizontal resolution of 1/12 degrees with regular longitude/latitude equirectangular projection. It also offers a special data set for surface current that includes derived waves and tides called SMOC (Surface and Merged Ocean Currents).

Before its global ocean product become available, we integrated in EDS the different regional CMEMS operational forecasting datasets for the Mediterranean Sea, the Iberia-Biscay-Irish area, the European Atlantic North West Shelf, the Baltic and the Black Seas. Some of these Copernicus Regional models are using the Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean (NEMO v3.6), driven by high frequency meteorological and oceanographic forcing, and bathymetry derived from the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO). All these models also include data of temperature, salinity, sea level and satellite data of sea level, and assimilating in situ and satellite data.

We also integrated in EDS the corresponding matching wind forecasts from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) – this dataset has currently a limited access. This global atmospheric model captures the dynamical evolution of the atmosphere for medium-range forecasts and is also coupled to the ECMWF Ocean Wave Model (ECWAM) and the NEMO model application. This coupling facilitates getting important feedback to the atmosphere and capturing the change of ocean state on a daily timescale.