1. General Objectives

The Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) is a practical demonstration of near real-time, global ocean data assimilation that provides regular, complete descriptions of the temperature, salinity and velocity structure of the ocean in support of operational oceanography, seasonal-to-decadal climate forecasts and analyses, and oceanographic research. As of 2007, a number of real-time and offline global and regional ocean simulations are available for use, for instance by regional and coastal modellers seeking suitable initial and boundary conditions within their particular geographic domain. In order to foster interactions between coastal modelers using or planning to use large-scale GODAE products, and between them and the large-scale GODAE systems, it is proposed to have two Coastal Workshops in 2007 and 2008.

The general objectives of the workshops are as follows:

• Assess the impact of GODAE products on downscaled/nested regional, coastal and shelf seas models
• Share experience and procedures on important scientific issues of the coastal systems, including: downscaling and initialization, tides and high frequencies, benefit evaluation and metrics, data assimilation.

2. The 2007 GODAE Coastal Workshop

The 2007 GODAE Coastal Workshop will be held in Liverpool, UK , on 10-11 October 2007. The main theme will be "Assessing the value of GODAE products in coastal and shelf seas".

Our host will be the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory . The venue will be the Foresight Centre, situated in the centre of the city and within walking distance to the main train station and to hotels and restaurants.

The workshop will start at 9:00 on October 10, and ends at 17:30 on October 11.

The workshop programme will include thematic talks, presentations of established regional and coastal systems, as well as work-in-progress informal talks and discussions on ongoing relevant research.

In order to facilitate the discussions and interactions, the number of attendees will be kept to approx. 50 people.

The workshop is primarily aimed at the following communities:

• Coastal/regional/shelf seas models and forecasting systems using or planning to use GODAE initial/boundary conditions. The GODAE White Paper titled "Towards the assessment and demonstration of the value of GODAE results for coastal and shelf seas models and forecasting systems" (2006) lists a number of such coastal systems worldwide, but the list is not limitative. [Figure 1.]
  
• Representatives of the GODAE large-scale systems and products
  
• Researchers with outstanding expertise in the themes of the workshops, in particular the coauthors and scientific contributors of the 2006 White Paper, as well as experts of the themes listed in the Call for papers below
  
• Experts of the GODAE/MERSEA strategy of validation and metrics
  

In order to register for this workshop, please visit the GODAE website registration page and fill in the regsitration form. It is not required to re-enter your abstract information.

The organisation of a workshop this size unfortunately induces costs that can not all be covered by the organisers. Therefore a workshop fee of £75 has been agreed. In order to pay the fee for the workshop we have arranged three methods for you to use:

• Payment by cash
  Cash payments in GBP (Stirling) will be possible on arrival. A receipt will be provided.


• Payment by bank transfer
  Payments must be made in GBP (Stirling) and you must quote POL GODAE WORKSHOP as a reference to your payment.


• Payment by cheque
  Cheques should be sent to POL and need to be in GPB (Stirling) and have to be made payable to 'NERC'. Also POL GODAE WORKSHOP needs to be quoted.

International/national bank details should be obtained from POL by emailing a request for these details to pol-workshop@pol.ac.uk with the following request:

In order to make a payment towards the GODAE Coastal and Shelf Seas Workshop at POL, 10-11 October 2007, I would like to request the bank details for national and international payments.

Receipts will be issued on request.

6. Preparation of papers for the workshop

Papers should focus on the main theme of the workshop:'Assessing the value of GODAE products in coastal and shelf seas'. The format of this meeting is a 'workshop':
Please prepare your presentations in order to stir discussion and maximise the interactions with the audience, and leave ample time for discussion.

Oral presentations are 20 minutes + 10 minutes for discussion.

The board size accommodates posters of up to a size of A0 (Portrait format). Posters should stay up for the whole duration of the workshop.

A list of suggested important topics to follow:

• Positive or negative impact of initial or boundary conditions using large-scale GODAE products on the performance of regional/coastal/shelf seas systems; methods used to assess impact
• Examples demonstrating the potential of GODAE products to improve the local solutions, and the potential of local models to add value to GODAE products
• Discussions on regional datasets, the definition of regional metrics and their use to measure consistency, accuracy, quality, value and benefit
• Talks on relevant scientific issues in coastal systems: downscaling and initialization, tides and high frequencies, benefit evaluation and metrics, data assimilation
• Examine the particular impact of satellite altimetry on coastal systems (direct through data assimilation, indirect through GODAE initial/boundary conditions); in particular: potential impact of degraded altimetry coverage, complementarity with coastal measurements (radars, tide gauges, etc.)
• Description of codes and data which could be shared among participants (initialization, tidal toolboxes, data assimilation, etc.)
• Discussion of actions and projects at the coastal scale beyond GODAE.

7. Carbon offsetting voluntary program

The web site Climatecare and other sites provide a way to calculate and neutralize the greenhouse gas emissions occurred during your air or surface travel to the Workshop. Collected funds are typically used for reforestation and waste recycling projects worldwide.

8. References

GODAE Web Site: GODAE website → New GODAE website - now live

GODAE Coastal and Shelf Seas Working Group, 2006: "Towards the assessment and demonstration of the value of GODAE results for coastal and shelf seas models and forecasting systems" GODAE White Paper, P. De Mey, ed., 74pp. Second edition coming up

9. Contact

For more information about the GODAE Coastal Workshop please contact Pierre De Mey or Roger Proctor. For information regarding registration and the GODAE website please contact Kirsten Wilmer-Becker.