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Services | |
ESEOO Forecast | |
ESEOMED Zone | |
Technical Desccription of the ESEOO Forecast System:
ESEOMED Aplication
The ESEOO Forecast System
consists on a set of different applications, which objective is to
produce a real-time short-term (72-hours) forecast of currents and
other oceanographic variables, temperature and salinity among others,
as well as to obtain a better understanding of the ocean dynamic in the
Spanish waters. The forecast system is based on the use of numerical
models driven by meteorological and oceanographical forcing.
The regional ESEOMED application has been set-up to fulfil the objective
of providing oceanographic forecast over the western Mediterranean Sea, closest to the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Island.
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| Geographical limits of the ESEOMED domain |
The DieCAST circulation model
DieCAST is a z-level, hydrostatic,
primitive equation ocean model (Dietrich, 1997; Dietrich and
Lin, 2002), which provides high computational accuracy and
low numerical dissipation and dispersion (Dietrich et al.,
2004). The model uses a rigid lid approximation, with a sea
surface pressure formulation, and the Boussinesq approximation.
The governing equations are solved using a blend of
collocated and staggered grid structures (Arakawa A and C
grids) and fourth-order-accurate control volume approximation
for the horizontal pressure gradient and advection terms,
except in zones adjacent to boundaries where conventional
second order accuracy is used (Sanderson, 1998; Sanderson
and Brassington, 1998). For further information, go to the
DieCAST web site:
http://oceanmodels.coas.oregonstate.edu/DieCOM/
The ESEOMED Application
The ESEOMED forecast is performed by means of an application based on the DieCAST ocean model,
running with a spatial resolution of 1/20° both in latitude and longitude (~ 4-5 km) and 32
Z-levels in the vertical. Initial and boundary conditions, the later updated every 6 hours, are taken from the Mediterranean global model
MFS. This forcing data is provided, once a day, by the Mediterranean Ocean Forecasting System at the National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).
Likewise, the ESEOMED run is forced every 6 hours with atmospheric fields
(i.e. 10-m wind, surface preassure, 2-m temperature and relative humidity,
surface latent and sensible heat fluxes, as well as some other variables needed to calculate
surface radiative and hidric balances). The source of the needed atmospheric data is the
operational Forecast System, based on
the HIRLAM model,
of the Spanish Meteorological Service (Instituto Nacional de Meteorología, INM).
The following figure illustrates and summarizes the current scheme of the ESEOMED application developed by IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB)
