TOPAZ

Towards an Operational Prediction system for

the North Atlantic European coastal Zones

Check the latest forecasts!
Analyzed and latest forecast sea-ice thickness (in meters) for this year, updated weekly,
Note! The animation is using images produced alongside the real-time runs and may switch suddenly from 1-member forecast (rough) to 100-members averages (smooth).

News

• 6th January 2010: The EnKF is upgraded in TOPAZ, with smooth localization and analysis in ensemble space. Then 13th January, TOPAZ switches from altimeter maps to tracks, and then on 10th March from Reynolds SST to high-resolution OSTIA SST (1/12th deg).
• 5th August 2009: TOPAZ starts dumping boundary conditions to Dany's 3.5 km Fram Strait model (MIZ study, sponsored by TOTAL E\&P). See the Fram Strait forecast page.
• 4th November 2008: Start of assimilation of in-situ Argo temperature and salinity profiles.
• 19th August 2008: SSM/I ice concentrations replaced by AMSR-E: Increased resolution and higher accuracy.
• 2nd July 2007: TOPAZ is upgraded to its third version, with double horizontal resolution (11 to 16 km from the Arctic to the Equator) and assimilation of ice drift data from Ifremer. This upgraded system constitutes the Arctic system of the MERSEA v2 integrated system.

TOPAZ develops advanced data assimilation systems (The Ensemble Kalman filter) for a coupled primitive equation ocean circulation and marine ecosystem model for the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean with enhanced resolution in the coastal zones, assimilating satellite and in-situ data available for real time operational use.

The observations used are satellite observed Sea Level Anomaly (SLA), Sea Surface Temperature (SST), Sea-ice concentrations from AMSR-E, sea-ice drift products from CERSAT and Coriolis in-situ Temperature and Salinity profiles.

The major outcomes in terms of products are short term forecasts issued weekly, open for public access and end users.