Ocean Predictions and Applications

The OPA Division deals with the development of models and methods for interdisciplinary research on marine operational forecasting, on the interactions between coastal areas and the open ocean, on the development of services and applications for all maritime economy sectors, including transport, security and management of coastal areas and marine resources, in the context of climate change adaptation problems.

OPA Division coordinates the European Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS, http://marine.copernicus.eu/) Monitoring Forecasting Center for the Mediterranean Sea (http://marine.copernicus.eu/about-us/about-producers/med-mfc/) and develops and maintains the physical modelling part of the CMEMS Monitoring Forecasting Center for the Black Sea (http://marine.copernicus.eu/about-us/about-producers/bs-mfc/).

To learn more, please visit the Ocean-Lab website.

Division Director

Giovanni Coppini

Division Manager

Emanuela Mergola

Contacts

Via Marco Biagi, 5 — 73100 Lecce, Italy
[email protected]
0832 1902411

Research Units

Leader: Emanuela Clementi

The primary objective of the unit is to develop and implement a coupled wave-ocean modeling system in the Mediterranean Sea. The numerical system developed by this group represents the core of the operational system provided in the framework of the Copernicus Marine Service, which operationally provides information on the main physical characteristics of the Mediterranean Sea: temperature, salinity, currents, sea surface height, mixed layer depth, in terms of analysis of the previous days, forecast of the following 10 days and reanalysis of the previous years.

The activities of the group focus on the continuous upgrade of the Mediterranean Sea analysis and forecast modeling system at both technical and scientific levels by planning model developments, designing experiments, analysing and validating the results through the comparison with in-situ and satellite remote sensing observations. The numerical ocean prediction system is implemented in the Mediterranean Sea at 1/24 degree (ca. 4.5 km) horizontal resolution, it is based on a ocean circulation model NEMO (Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean) 2-way coupled with the 3rd generation spectral model WaveWatch3 and includes a Data Assimilation component (OceanVar) for the assimilation of Sea Level Anomaly, Temperature and Salinity profiles.

The group has also an active role in the NEMO System Team contributing to the development of the ocean circulation model and is primary involved in the developments of wave-current interactions processes.

The group collaborates with the “Data Assimilation and Ocean Forecasting” and “Global Ocean and Sea-Ice Modeling” groups of the ODA division, as well as with other CMCC divisions, in particular with the Ocean Prediction and Applications (OPA) division on the OceanVar development for the Black Sea and the reanalysis production.

Ivano Barletta, Salvatore Causio

OPA Publications

Evaluation of operational ocean forecasting systems from the perspective of the users and the experts

Ciliberti S.A., Fanjul E.A., Pearlman J., Wilmer-Becker K., Bahurel P., Ardhuin F., Arnaud A., Bell M., Berthou S., Bertino L., Capet A., Chassignet E., Ciavatta S., Cirano M.,Clementi E., Cossarini G., Coro G., Corney S., Davidson F., Drevillon M., Drillet Y., Dussurget R., El Serafy G., Fennel K., Sotillo M.G., Heimbach P., Hernandez F., Hogan P., Hoteit I., Joseph S., Josey S., Le Traon P-Y., Libralato S., Mancini M., Matte P., Melet A., Miyazawa Y., Moore A.M., Novellino A., Porter A., Regan H., Romero L., Schiller A., Siddorn J., Staneva J., Thomas-Courcoux C., Tonani M., Garcia-Valdecasa J.M., Veitch J., von Schuckmann K., Wan L., Wilkin J., Zufic R.
2023, State of the Planet, 1-osr7, 2, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/sp-1-osr7-2-2023, web page


Storm Surge Ensemble Prediction System for Lagoons and Transitional Environments

Alessandri J., Pinardi N., Federico I., Valentini A.,
2023, Weather and Forecasting, Volume 38, Issue 9, Pages 1791 - 1806, DOI: 10.1175/WAF-D-23-0040.1, web page


Maritime transportation and people mobility in the early diffusion of COVID-19 in Croatia

Cot C., Aksentijević D., Jugović A., Cacciapaglia G., Mannarini G.
2023, Frontiers in Public Health, vol. 11, DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1183047, web page

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