During the OceanPredict conference in Paris in November, representatives from research, industry, service providers, and users of ocean forecasting services gathered to discuss ocean-related issues and sustainable development. The aim of the conference was to facilitate collaboration and partnerships across disciplines and sectors of society.
Conditions in the ocean affect all life on earth. Good systems and services that record and forecast temperature, wave height, or the extent of sea ice are of great importance to the ocean industries and provide increased knowledge about the state of the ocean and important developments. Reliable knowledge forms the basis for meeting the challenges posed by climate change, and will contribute to sustainable resource management, strengthened ability to adapt to climate change and more effective climate preparedness.
Applications that benefit society include improved maritime safety, environmental protection, fisheries management, maritime rescue services, and climate monitoring.
International co-operation is of great importance in promoting research related to forecasting conditions in and on the ocean. Events such as OceanPredict (OP’24) enable the exchange of information and knowledge between research, industry, service providers and users. It became clear that there is a constant need to further develop the tools used to prepare ocean and sea-ice and climate forecasts, so that they can become even more accurate and usable.
Researchers from the Nansen Center had the opportunity to present the latest research results and ongoing developments in ocean and sea-ice modelling, and in climate prediction. Heather Regan was one of the conference’s keynote speakers with her presentation ‘Polar Ocean Predictions: Opportunities and Challenges in a Rapidly Changing Environment’. Laurent Bertino chaired the session on polar issues, and a number of other researchers from the Nansen Center contributed with presentations in the various sessions.
In the future, there will be more and more data from the ocean, both from buoys, drones and fixed sensors in the ocean, and from sensors mounted on board satellites in orbit around the Earth. Operational oceanography is about combining such data with advanced numerical modelling of the ocean to continuously monitor and predict the state of the ocean. With the help of new methods such as artificial intelligence, the systems are becoming faster and better, and with the help of digital twins it is possible to test the consequences of, for example, various management measures. The OceanPredict conference showed that there is a great need to develop this type of technology, and that this is a rapidly developing field in which researchers at the Nansen Center are at the forefront.
Nøkkelforskere: Laurent Bertino, Heather Regan, Annette Samuelsen, François Counillon
