Operational Forecast

Operational forecast systems can be programmed as a stand alone implementation of a weather forecast model, an ocean circulation model or a wave model, or a coupled implementation where all three models work in interactive mode.

Operational forecast system can also make use of data assimilation, in which case each forecast cycle will be executed with assimilation of all data that is available for assimilation, such as satellite Sea Level Anomalies (SLA), satellite Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and vertical profiles of temperature and salinity observed by ARGO buoys. The important part is that the data has to be available for operational download (operational bash scripts to download data using a verified credential).

Operational forecast models can also include a biogeochemical model, which will deliver forecasts of biology components, such as phytoplankton, zooplankton and nutrients. 

The figure below shows an example of an operational system that we are developing for The Ocean Cleanup. The system is based on a hydrodynamic model (ROMS), a biogeochemical model (BGC) and a wave model (WW3). The outputs of the hydrodynamic model, i.e. surface velocities, feeds a particle advection model (ADVECTOR), which will then deliver daily forecast of plastic debris trajectories in the Great Pacific garbage Patch (GPGP).