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Giraud Saint-Albin¹
F. Lefevre ¹, H. Etienne ¹

(1) CLS, Parc Technologique du Canal, Ramonville Saint-Agne, France

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The need for reliable and accurate forecast information to support operational decision-making is crucial in the real-time as well as in the delayed mode (e.g. long-term time series for design criteria and operability analyses) for Offshore Oil and Gas Producers. This talk will provide a comprehensive view of the real-time Ocean Focus Service provided in 2006 in the Gulf of Mexico in order to illustrate the effort made by Ocean Numerics scientific teams to assess the value of the Large Scale GODAE products (MERCATOR-OCEAN) and nested regional model (TOPAZ) for this specific application in a first stage for hindcasts and in a second stage for real-time nowcasts and forecasts. During the trial performed from February to October 2006, this downstream service took full advantage of the MERSEA metrics that were made available to derive forecast skills as a function of forecast length. The regional datasets that were used for validation purposes consist of "proprietary data" from rig-mounted ADCP sensors and from vertical transects across the Loop current. Examples of the user-specific metrics will be shown as well as the monitoring of consistency, accuracy, quality of the analysis and the forecast. The concept of value and benefit are defined in terms of current-sensitive activities as a preliminary stage for the economical counterpart is still confidential. The impact of degraded altimetry coverage will also be examined as this period showed several periods during which ENVISAT encountered significant critical loss of data.

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