opencoasts iconOPENCoastS

Coastal circulation on-demand forecast

Forecast systems are fundamental assets for emergency response and everyday management of coastal regions

The OPENCoastS service assembles on-demand circulation forecast systems for selected coastal areas and keeps them running operationally for a period defined by the user. This service generates daily forecasts of water levels, vertically averaged velocities and wave parameters over the region of interest for 48 hours, based on numerical simulations of all relevant physical processes.
Presently, all forecasts are made with the SCHISM model. Tide gauge data are provided by EMODnet Physics.
The following forcing sources are used:


Access to the service is free, and a new user only needs to register following the link above. Access to the 3D simulations is granted on request to aoliveira@lnec.pt, due to the large computational resources required.

You can find a sample grid file to test the service here, and the corresponding vertical grid here. The coordinate reference system of this grid is EPSG: 4326 | WGS84 / World Geodetic System 1984, and the vertical displacement relative to mean sea level is 0.

For the 2D wave and current simulation, a sample horizontal grid is here, the coordinate reference system of this grid is UTM zona 29N (EPSG: 32629), and the vertical displacement relative to mean sea level is 0.

You can also find additional free grids in the Zenodo's OPENCoastS grid repository available here. If you want to share your grid in this repository, please send us your request to this email.
You can access the user manual here.

Features

Configuration Assistant

The platform provides a Configuration Assistant for the assembly of the forecast systems. The following steps are part of the Configuration Assistant for forecasts based on the SCHISM Model:

Step 1
Model
Step 2
Domain
Step 3
Boundaries
Step 4
Stations
Step 5
Hydrodynamic Parameters
Step 6
Additional Data
Step 7
Water Quality
Step 8
Submission

Forecast Systems Management

The platform provides an area for the management of the forecast systems created by the user where, among other features, it is possible to review the system's configuration and current status.

Output Viewer

The platform includes an interactive map to allow the visualization of the model outputs and the comparison with sensor data for physical variables.

Target Audience

Partners

Provide tools for emergency agents and civil protection agents antecipating natural disasters (such as: flooding, storms, algae blooms), antecipating the impacts of anthropogenic accidents on the coast and helping in search and rescue operations.

Companies

Provide all coastal managers the predictions on water conditions timely and accurately, supporting multiple uses such navigation aid, water monitoring harbour activities, dredging works and building works on the coast.

Scientific Community

Forecast systems are also useful for the scientific community, supporting, for instance, field work and helping to understand the physical, biogeochemical and ecosystemic dynamics in the estuarine and coastal areas.

Funding

This work used the EGI infrastructure with the dedicated support of the EGI-ACE Project.