The GODAE/Mercator-Ocean global ocean forecasting system: results, applications and prospects

The Mercator-Ocean eddy permitting (1/4) global ocean forecasting system assimilating satellite altimetry is the French contribution to the GODAE project and to the MERSEA project for operational systems. It has run operationally since October 2005 and is forced with daily surface fluxes from ECMWF operational analyses and forecasts. JASON, ERS and GFO altimetry measurements from AVISO were assimilated from January 2005 up to real time. The simulation results are compared with independent in-situ data of the Atlantic, Pacific and Antarctic Ocean basins in order to provide an estimation of the performance of the system. The results are also compared with the Levitus climatology, and with combinations of in-situ and satellite observations since 2005. In the Atlantic basin, the global system is also compared with Mercator-Ocean regional systems that assimilate SST (Sea Surface Temperature), SLA (Sea Level Anomalies) and in situ (temperature and salinity profiles) near real time observations