OCEAN MONITORING
and FORECASTING
Providing Products and Services for all marine applications.
Catalogue of services
May 2013
As a marine core service, the MyOcean objective is to provide to users the best generic information available on the state of the ocean. MyOcean (2009-2012) and now MyOcean2 (2012-2014) are committed to develop and run a European service based on a worldwide capacity for ocean monitoring and forecasting, using observations data , modelling and assimilation systems.
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MyOcean offers to users a reliable and easy access to valuable ocean core information. The MyOcean service is driven by quality and simplicity: quality of the ocean information provided to users, and simplicity of the access to information. The service is intended to serve any users requesting generic information on the ocean, and especially downstream service providers who will use this information as an input to their value-added services to end-users.
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The MyOcean service consists in providing “core” information on the ocean and can be defined as :
- An integrated Service
- An Open and Free service
- Providing access to a single Catalogue of products
- A reliable service
- A sustainable service
1. An integrated service
MyOcean offers a unique access to oceanographic products through an online catalogue
Users can download products according to their needs in a unique format ( netCDF) and benefit from quality and validation information for most of them.
A human organisation, the Service Desk, is dedicated to answer & manage any user request.
2. An Open and Free service
Users benefit from following service provisions without any registration:
- To discover a sole catalogue of products
- In-depth information on products
- Products viewing
- Information on products quality
- News about products & services ( "Newsflash" also accessible through an RSS field)
- Technical FAQs
- Latest improvements on products
This complete service portfolio, compliant with EC INSPIRE directive, is open to any users. The MyOcean service is free of charge for them: costs are supported by the European Commission and member states.
3. Providing access to a single Catalogue of products
The catalogue contains about 100 products ( Observation and Modelling). MyOcean products are downloadable through the online catalogue.
3/1. Access to products
To download product(s), users have first to register.
A user is a person and not a "structure" or an "organisation". The registration only applies to its named holder so the MyOCean service is customized (Warnings, Products evolution...).
The registration needs to be done once and takes a few minutes only. Users have to fill a registration form on-line (the Service Level Agreement) in which they agree to respect the terms of the MyOcean licence.
When validated, users receive their own access code within maximum 2 days. The registration is treated confidentially.
Once registered, users can download any product they need from the catalogue, for free.
3/2. Downloading products
The interactive catalogue allows users to select products according to:
- 7 geographical areas : GLOBAL Ocean, ARCTIC Ocean, BALTIC Sea, Atlantic-European North West Shelf-Ocean, Atlantic-European South West Shelf-Ocean, MEDITERRANEAN Sea, BLACK Sea. ( To select ALL AREAS is possible)
- Parameters/variables : Ocean Temperature, Ocean Salinity, Ocean currents, Sea Ice, Sea Level, Winds, Ocean Optics, Ocean Chemistry, Ocean Biology, Ocean Chlorophyll. (To select ALL PARAMETERS is possible)
- Product type : FORECAST, NEAR REAL TIME, MULTI-YEAR, TIME INVARIANT products ( either from OBSERVATIONS or MODELLING).
User can also select a product :
- by using a KeyWord search
- by using the pdf catalogue
- by accessing the full catalogue online
Users are offered different on-line downloading options :
- To download the whole product .
- To extract and download only a part of a product ( per area, per variable, for a period of time, some depths).
- To download automatically by using scripts (python) for a regular use.
( for an in-depth description, please confer to technical FAQs)
4. A reliable service
MyOcean strives to producing homogeneous quality and validation information per product.
Quality assessment is an important activity in MyOcean Production Centres.
In each MyOcean Production Centre, the scientific assessment as well as the real time scientific routine monitoring, allow the scientific teams to better evaluate the quality and the accuracy of the products.
A team is also dedicated for issuing a consistent estimation of the relevant accuracy levels for most of the MyOcean products of the catalogue :
- to inform users on the scientific performance of the MyOcean production systems,
- to describe their components
- to present the way the "Calibration/Validation" activities are carried on.
These informations are summarized in Quality Information Documents (QuIDs) for MyOcean Products (access the QuIDs through online documentation in the catalogue).
5. A sustainable service
MyOcean service is sustainable and user-driven.
Until September 30th, 2014 (i.e. until the end of MyOcean2 project), it is a "pre-operational" service provision.
To enable the move to a fully operational Copernicus Marine Service as of 2014, MyOcean2 is targeting solid and reliable prototype operations, and developing the necessary management and coordination environment as well as the useful interfaces necessary to benefit from independent R&D activities.