The Global Coastal Ocean (GOCO) division at CMCC focuses on advancing research and development in coastal climate and ocean forecasting, modelling, resilience-building and sustainable blue economy strategies and solutions. The division aims to address the pressing challenges posed by climate change, coastal hazards, and the sustainable development of marine and coastal society, environments and maritime sectors. GOCO plays a key role in international and European initiatives such as the European Digital Twin of the Ocean, Emodnet, and the Coast Predict and its Global Coast initiative, contributing to the global understanding of coastal dynamics and impacts and the development of solutions for coastal resilience. The Division collaborates with the UNESCO Decentralised Coordination Centre on Coastal Resilience (DCC-CR) at University of Bologna.
The GOCO division integrates cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, advanced oceanographic data systems, and coastal/ocean digital twins to create customizable applications, multi-hazard early warning systems, and comprehensive decision-making tools. Through collaborations with international institutions, GOCO is instrumental in delivering innovative solutions based on actionable science for risk management, marine spatial planning, pollution management, nature-based solutions, ship routing, and the advancement of sustainable practices for resilient coastal zones.
The division’s research spans several key areas:
- Multiscale coastal modelling and applications
- Integrated modelling of Coastal Earth System
- Subregional to coastal climate downscaling
- Advanced Observing systems for the global coastal ocean
- Development of a Cloud infrastructure for On-Demand Modeling, Data Analytics (AI), and Digital Twin of the Ocean (DTO)
- Nature based solutions and ecosystem restoration modelling, observing system and DTO
- Coastal adaptation applications
- Marine pollution and Maritime applications
- Operational Coastal Ocean Forecasting systems
- Support to the implementation of CoastPredict
GOCO Projects
The IRIDE program is an innovative project undertaken by the Italian government,…
The IRIDE program is an innovative project undertaken by the Italian government…
Black Sea – Monitoring and Forecasting Centre (BLK MFC) provides regular and…
GOCO Publications
Marine climate indicators in the Adriatic Sea
Santos Da Costa V. , Alessandri J.; Verri G., Mentaschi L.; Guerra R.; Pinardi N.
2024, Frontiers in Climate, Volume 6 - Article number 1449633, doi: 10.3389/fclim.2024.1449633
Published articles
Assessing storm surge model performance: what error indicators can measure the model’s skill?
Campos-Caba R.; Alessandri J.; Camus P.; Mazzino A.; Ferrari F.; Federico I., Vousdoukas M.; Tondello M.; Mentaschi L.;
2024, Ocean Sci., 20, 1513–1526, doi: 10.5194/os-20-1513-2024
Published articles
Habitat suitability modeling of loggerhead sea turtles in the Central-Eastern Mediterranean Sea: a machine learning approach using satellite tracking data
Maglietta R.; Caccioppoli R., Piazzolla D., Saccotelli L., Cherubini C.; Scagnoli E.; Piermattei V., Marcelli M., De Lucia G.A.; Lecci R., Causio S., Dimauro G.; De Franco F.; Scuro M., Coppini G.
2024, Frontiers in Marine Science, doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1493598
Published articles
Research Units
Leader
Ivan Federico
The research unit develops high-resolution modeling, focusing on unstructured grids, and AI-based tools for the global coastal ocean and nearshore applications to address coastal hazards (e.g., storm surge, flooding, coastal erosion), supporting disaster risk reduction. A limited-area multi-physics framework is designed to enhance the realism of coastal processes, integrated into Digital Twins of the Coastal Ocean, able to produce what-if scenarios and provide support for solutions such as Nature-based Solutions. The tools are portable thanks to the SURF relocatable modeling platform, enabling deployment in any ocean region. The research unit contributes to the development of coastal data assimilation prototypes tailored for unstructured grids and in transition-to-operations for all implemented and validated modeling systems, enabling short-term forecasting for coastal zones.
Leader
Giorgia Verri
The research unit focuses on advancing scientific knowledge of the multi-physics, multi-scale, and cross-scale processes that constitute the coastal water cycle through the integration of numerical models encompassing atmosphere, hydrology and marine hydrodynamics. It promotes the development and combined use of structured grid and unstructured grid models as well as physics-based and machine learning-based approaches. Specific objectives include:
a) Coupling and/or continuum modeling of terrestrial and marine waters for advanced representation of land-sea interface processes (e.g. estuarine and river plume dynamics, salinization, Nature-based Solutions planning) and their nonlinear interactions across different temporal scales.
b) Climate downscaling of the coastal water cycle using multiple-nesting and/or two-way coupling techniques, along with dynamic and statistical approaches, to enhance knowledge of local-scale climate.
Leader
Viviana Piermattei
This research unit focuses on the development and implementation of distributed relocatable advanced observing systems, including those based on low-cost sensors and Citizen Science, to study the global coastal ocean and to support scientific experiments, data assimilation and model validation, multi-hazard early warning systems, conservation and restoration efforts aimed at preserving ecosystem services, and coastal society adaptation. The development and deployment of relocatable, autonomous and low-cost technologies facilitate numerical model validation and the implementation of innovative coastal observing systems.
Leader:
Gianandrea Mannarini
The “Maritime Solutions” research unit tackles societal challenges linked to human activities at sea, focusing on environmental issues from seaborne transport, fossil fuel use, and plastics. It integrates marine, meteorological, in-situ, and remote-sensed data to develop numerical tools that optimise resource use and support decision-making. These tools drive prototypes for operational web services, enabling practical applications. The unit champions open-source, peer-reviewed approaches to share its models and findings. Key developments include the VISIR-2 ship routing model and MEDSLIK-II oil spill model, contributing to international efforts for decarbonisation and combating sea pollution.
Leader:
Megi Hoxhaj and Matteo Scuro
This research unit focuses on the development and monitoring of operational chains for oceanographic data production, as well as the design and development of “machine-to-machine” services, visualization and decision support systems. The unit is involved in the development and maintenance of forecasting systems for the Adriatic Sea and various national and international coastal areas, along with the creation of visualization and model validation tools. Strengthening monitoring tools for operational chains, developing backup systems, and implementing data delivery systems are also critical components. In addition, the research unit works on enhancing cybersecurity for operational services and designing interoperable systems capable of providing and/or consuming heterogeneous data sources.