Regional marine forecasting on horizon for Indian Ocean Rim
ECOS magazine: Indian Ocean nations met in Perth last week to discuss opportunities to develop regional ocean forecasting. As well as its importance to Western Australia, the Indian Ocean region is influential for the climate and rainfall of the south-western and southern parts of the continent.
Royal Australian Navy
The BLUElink program, a collaboration between scientists and the Australian Navy, is central to this regional initiative. Here, HMAS Ararat (II) renders assistance to the Lady Amber, a 35-foot schooner that has been conducting oceanographic research in the Indian Ocean. Deployed in 2011, the schooner has criss-crossed the Southern Indian Ocean launching dozens of Argo drifting robots to gather data about the health of the ocean.
Credit: Royal Australian Navy
Almost all member countries of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) attended the week-long workshop, designed to advance cooperation and understanding on international ocean forecasting capabilities and needs in the Indian Ocean.
Australia’s ocean forecasting system, BLUElink which is used to predict sub-surface ocean conditions for environmental and industrial applications, was a guide for the meeting.
BLUElink utilises the full suite of ocean (Argo, drifting, moored) and satellite (sea surface height) observations, and models these to simulate ocean conditions for up to seven days. It generates forecasts for marine industries (fishing, shipping, oil and gas); for search and rescue; for environmental protection in the case of oil spills, and for environmental management of fish stocks.
Full article: http://www.ecosmagazine.com/?paper=EC13130