Latest Advances in Operational Oceanography in Spain Regarding Ocean Monitoring and Forecasting

Date/Time:

15 Mar 2012
14:55-15:20

Location:

South Galleries

Mr Enrique Alvarez Fanjul, Puertos del Estado

Seminar Details
The expansion of ocean observing networks worldwide together with increasing capabilities of ocean model forecasting and related services are resulting in a qualitative improvement in fields like safe navigation, fight against marine pollution, coastal engineering and fisheries management, search and rescueâ?¦ This paper gives firstly a general outlook about operational oceanography in Spain and about the Public Organism Puertos del Estado's recent activities in this field. Secondly, attention will be paid to present the TRADE Transregional HF RADar network for Environmental Applications which is being implemented by the Portuguese Instituto Hidrografico and the Spanish Puertos del Estado with the scientific participation of the University of Cadiz. TRADE is monitoring, as part of it, the Gibraltar Strait (with one of the heaviest concentration of shipping traffic worldwide) providing operational 2D surface currents mapping and wave monitoring. In this same area, Puertos del Estado is developing new high-resolution models for forecasting improvement and early warning systems. These developments together with the above mentioned HF radar network being deployed in the area, will provide more reliable metocean forecasts and observations and though an improvement in physical ocean processes knowledge, harbour operations, safe navigation and other marine related activities. Finally, recent developments around Marine Information System PORTUS are discussed. PORTUS integrates ocean data from different observing technologies and sources and provides added value information for multiple purposes in Spanish Coastal Waters. This system has been implemented at the Spanish Public Organism Puertos del Estado in collaboration with the engineering company QUALITAS. All this information is freely accessible through Puertos del Estado's website to serve Spanish Harbor Authorities and society at large. AUTHORS: Enrique Álvarez(1), M.Isabel Ruíz(1), Pablo Lorente(1), Vicente Fernández(2), Pedro Agostinho(2), Jorge Sánchez(2) (1) Puertos del Estado (2) QUALITAS Remos S.L.