OBPS Workshop VIII / 14 -18 October 2024 [ONLINE]
Stimulating Ocean Best Practices
Dialogues across Science and Technology for Innovative Solutions
and Effective Governance
The eighth Ocean Best Practices System Workshop (OBPS VIII) will focus on advancing best practices and standards in operational oceanography, in the era of Digital Twins for the Ocean, by promoting dialogues across science, technology, and governance.
See the full agenda and register for the Workshop now
The workshop includes plenaries and sessions from October 14-18, with presentations and discussions organized across global time zones. Workshop sessions that are led by CoastPredict partners:
Climate downscaling to the coastal Ocean .
Session 1: 16 October 2024 [ONLINE] – 08:30-10:00 UTC – Registration Link
Two sessions are timed to allow participation from different time zones. Different speakers will be featured in the two different sessions, so it’s an option to join both.
Leads: Jason Holt and Anna Katavouta – National Oceanographic Centre (NOC)
These sessions are led by one of CoastPredict’s Core Projects, FLAME – Future Coastal Ocean Climates. The sessions will address the challenges of downscaling global climate models to better understand the impacts of climate change on coastal ocean regions. Global models often miss the local-scale dynamics necessary for accurate coastal projections. Downscaling methodologies, bias correction, and addressing computational limitations will be explored, with a focus on improving regional climate projections for coastal areas where land, ocean, and human systems interact. The sessions will also highlight the goals of the “Future Coastal Ocean Climates” (FLAME) initiative and the importance of building a coordinated research community towards a Global Coastal Ocean Model Intercomparison Programme.
Lead: Giovanni Coppini – Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC)
This workshop session will explore the need for new practices to optimize the use of cloud-based technologies that can enhance coastal ocean observing, forecasting, and management by improving data accessibility and reproducibility. Examples from leading experts will be presented including case studies showcasing the use of cloud technologies for scalable and open ocean science. Key challenges are standardizing data formats, ensuring interoperability, and optimizing open-source tools. This workshop will serve as a foundation to ensure alignment on standards for interoperability and exchange for a paradigm of coastal ocean observing and forecasting where data and information are more accessible, analysis tools are open and reproducible, and collaborations are more seamless.
Ocean Circulation Predictions from Global to Coastal scale
Two sessions are timed to allow participation from different time zones. Different speakers will be featured in the two different sessions, so it’s an option to join both.
Leads: Nadia Pinardi – University of Bologna (UNIBO)
Emanuela Clementi – Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC)
These sessions will focus on recent advancements in operational ocean forecasting, particularly at regional and coastal scales, which have been made possible by innovations in satellite altimetry, ARGO floats, and optimization techniques. Discussions will cover best practices for enhancing forecast accuracy and reliability, including downscaling strategies, boundary conditions, atmospheric forcing, and ensemble forecasting. Participants will explore the role of these practices in developing operational oceanographic products that benefit society.
Ocean Forecasting in the Decade
Also of interest is this session led by the OceanPrediction Decade Collaborative Center (DCC), where Nadia Pinardi will present the CoastPredict Programme during Session 1. Two sessions are timed to allow participation from different time zones. Different speakers will be featured in the two different sessions, so it’s an option to join both.
Lead: Enrique Alvarez (MOi)
These sessions will focus on the role of ocean predictions as a foundation for developing new services and advancing ocean science, as part of the Ocean Decade’s mission to provide solutions for sustainable development. It will explore the efforts of the OceanPrediction Decade Collaborative Center (DCC), which connects global ocean prediction expertise and programs like GOOS, CoastPredict, and DITTO. The session will highlight the work of the Ocean Forecasting Co-Design Team, which is designing a robust ocean forecasting architecture to support future services and technologies, such as Digital Twins and cloud systems. Discussions will identify the gaps and opportunities in ocean forecasting, while emphasizing the importance of science-based solutions, community development, and capacity building.