Mercator Ocean	Organisation | History

The objective

The six members have given a threefhold objective to Mercator Ocean :

1) Develop an operational oceanography system

  Mercator must achieve :

• a global ocean model,
• an operational exploitation,
• based upon primitive equation with a high resolution,
• in situ and satellite observations ocean data assimilation

2) Allow the oceanography downstream applications

  Mercator must :

• be useful to public services, defense, civil and oceanography commercial purpose, by supplying in real time an ocean state monitoring and forecasting,
• supply the scientific community with a tool useful to experimental oceanographic research and scientific campaigns,
• contribute to a seasonnal forecasting system by supplying real-time initial conditions to an ocean-atmosphere coupled model.

3) Contribute to the success of the international Godae experiment

Together with the Jason (satellite observations ) programme and Coriolis (in situ observations), Mercator (modelling and assimilation) is the french contribution to Godae (Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment), first international experiment of operational oceanography.

The intensive phase of Godae is taking place between 2003 and 2005 with the rise of several centers around the world able to supply real-time global ocean nowcasting and forecasting data. Mercator must be one of them.