Ocean Prediction Decade Collaborative Center: connecting the world around ocean forecasting Marine Copernicus EuNews  Enrique Álvarez Fanjul and Pierre Bahurel  The Ocean Prediction Decade Collaborative Centre (DCC) is a key initiative within the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, which aims to achieve a sustainable global ocean by 2030. Launched in June 2022, the OceanPrediction DCC, hosted by Mercator Ocean International (MOi) and leveraging the Copernicus Marine Service, is central to addressing the UN Ocean Decade Challenges, particularly the goal of “A Predicted Ocean.”

Ocean Prediction: Present Status and State of the Art.......

The OceanPrediction DCC has unveiled a major new special issue in the Copernicus State of the Planet Journal. Entitled “Ocean Prediction: Present Status and State of the Art”, it features 26 peer-reviewed papers by top researchers worldwide, mapping the current landscape of ocean forecasting from core capabilities to new artificial intelligence and cloud-based tools, and its role in several socio-economic sectors, such as marine safety, coastal management, and disaster risk reduction. This milestone, two years in the making, was made possible by the contributions of 68 authors from around the world, including 12 from MOi, the Entrusted Entity for the Copernicus Marine Service

Ocean Prediction DCC and Copernicus Marine....The Copernicus Marine Service and its product catalogue were referenced several times throughout the issue, with the authors using Copernicus Marine as a benchmark in discussions surrounding regional forecasting systems and numerical models, and as a data source for existing operational ocean forecasting services and applications across the globe. This collection, which was developed by the OceanPrediction DCC’s “Ocean Forecasting Co-Design Team” in collaboration with Ocean Decade programmes (Foresea, DITTO, and Ocean Practices), underscores both the progress and the hurdles facing ocean prediction. A second volume tackling future directions and knowledge gaps is already under development.

 

 Abstract......Operational ocean forecasting systems (OOFSs) have proven to be immensely valuable today. Numerous successful and inspiring services are operating in various regions of the world, contributing to cutting-edge applications within the marine community. This success lays a strong foundation for building a global community around ocean forecasting. However, the development and enhancement of existing forecasting systems remain challenging due to the absence of best practices, standards, and community-endorsed architectures. The OceanPrediction Decade Collaborative Center (DCC) and its associated Decade actions aim to address these challenges by leveraging the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030) and the concept of digital twinning. This paper introduces the OceanPrediction DCC and outlines the forward-looking strategies to achieve these ambitious goals. The special issue introduced by this paper is part of this broader effort.

 
1. Introduction

The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030), also referred to as “the Decade”, was proclaimed by the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly on 5 December 2017. Coordinated by the IOC-UNESCO, the Decade seeks to promote large-scale, transformative change to shift from the “ocean we have” to the “ocean we want”. The Decade supports the development of ocean data, information, and knowledge systems, driving them toward higher levels of readiness, accessibility, and interoperability. The scale of this effort must be exponentially greater than anything previously undertaken. To guide the Decade's implementation, the IOC (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission) has developed an Implementation Plan (IOC-UNESCO, 2021), supported by contributions from member states, UN agencies, intergovernmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and relevant stakeholders. The OceanPrediction Decade Collaborative Center (DCC) is a cross-cutting structure within this plan that operates globally, fostering collaboration among the Decade actions related to ocean prediction. Mercator Ocean International has been entrusted by the IOC-UNESCO to coordinate the OceanPrediction DCC, with the mission “to achieve a predicted ocean through a shared and coordinated global effort within the framework of the UN Ocean Decade.” The center implements a community-driven agenda that allows the ocean prediction community to collaborate on activities such as communication, outreach, training, cost sharing, joint workshops, and the standardization of language and outputs. Additionally, it facilitates the co-design of an architecture necessary for developing a global ocean prediction system.The center acts as a global convener of multidisciplinary ocean prediction expertise, collaborating with intergovernmental programs (e.g., GOOS, ETOOFS, IODE, OBPS) to establish agreements on operational infrastructure, terminology, and standards needed to deliver unified services from multiple geographic and thematic nodes

2. OceanPrediction DCC objectives......The objectives of the OceanPrediction DCC   https://www.unoceanprediction.org/en, last access: 6 March 2025) are as follows.,,,,,,,,To provide a collaborative backbone structure and a collective voice for the ocean prediction community, supporting the Decade's implementation, focusing on the following. Creating a global, inclusive forum (spanning the coastal to deep sea, nowcasting to climate, biology to physics, public to private, users to scientists) and other tools to facilitate dialogue and information exchange. Implementing capacity development and ocean literacy initiatives.                                                                                                                               

Promoting operational ocean forecasting systems (OOFSs) as a crucial tool for the blue economy and ocean policy.ZTo develop a global technical and organizational structure centered on the following.........

Co-designing, in collaboration with Ocean Decade actions and other key stakeholders, a new scenario for ocean forecasting that facilitates data sharing and interoperability while leveraging digital twin technologies.  Identifying needs and coordinating the development of new tools, standards, and best practices for the implementation and improvement of Ocean Forecasting Services and its applications, with a focus on a science-to-service framework and promoting interoperability and integration. Aligning Decade actions with the objectives of ocean forecasting and fostering collaboration between Decade initiatives and other relevant actors To support the Decade Coordination Unit (head of the Decade) by collaborating with other Decade collaborative centers and coordination offices, ensuring alignment and monitoring of Decade actions to secure their long-term legacy.

3 OceanPrediction DCC in the UN “Decade ecosystem”.......OceanPrediction DCC will closely coordinate with the Data Sharing DCO (led by IODE) and the Observations DCO (led by GOOS) to establish a framework for developing ocean monitoring and forecasting services throughout the Decade. OceanPrediction DCC shall be responsible for promoting collaboration between Decade programs and their relevant Decade projects, as well as Decade contributors when these fall under the scope of work, all done in coordination with the mentioned DCOs. The Decade implementation plan links each DCC and DCO to specific Decade programs, named “primary attachments”. In the case of OceanPrediction DCC, these are the following.......                                                    FORESEA has the following overarching goals: (1) to improve the science, capacity, efficacy, use, and impact of ocean prediction systems and (2) to build a seamless ocean information value chain, from observations to end users, for economic and societal benefit. These transformative goals aim to make ocean prediction science more impactful and relevant.                                                                Ocean Practices for the Decade Programme (“OceanPractices”) will support all ocean stakeholders in securing, equitably sharing, and collectively advancing this methodological heritage. Digital Twins of the Ocean (DITTO) will establish and advance a digital framework on which all marine data, modeling, and simulation along with AI algorithms and specialized tools including best practices will enable shared capacity to access, manipulate, analyze, and visualize marine information.                                                              Global Environment Monitoring System for the Ocean and Coasts (GEMS Ocean) is designed to boost its multi-stakeholder partnership convened by UNEP, bringing together experts from earth observation, monitoring, and modeling communities, together with end users and a broad range of stakeholders to provide fit-for-purpose key information for policy making.                                  Ocean Acidification Research for Sustainability (OARS) will foster the development of the science of ocean acidification including the impacts on marine life and sustainability of marine ecosystems in estuarine–coastal–open-ocean environments.                                The NASA Sea Level Change Science Team has been conducting interdisciplinary sea level science by collecting and analyzing observational evidence of sea level change, quantifying underlying causes and driving mechanisms, and producing projections of future changes in sea level.                                 
France's Priority Research Program “Ocean of Solutions” aims to address ocean-related societal challenges through integrated research. The collaboration with these programs will be particularly intensive, but additional collaborations with other programs will be established as “secondary attachments”.
 
4. OceanPrediction DCC collaborative structure.......To achieve its objectives, OceanPrediction DCC will establish two global collaboration structures: A decentralized regional structure, consisting of regional teams that focus on community development and capacity-building efforts. A central structure, comprising the Ocean Forecasting Global Co-design Team (OFCT) and a central office, which will liaise with various UN, EU, and national bodies. The OFCT focuses on co-design alignment and consists of experts covering different aspects of the ocean forecasting value chain (Alvarez Fanjul et al., 2022). Having different teams for technical aspects and community building will allow efficient management: a smaller specialists team able to deliver technical results on time and a larger geographically based structure able to integrate the community and catalyze the governance and organizational component.                                                                                                                                                                                                    4.1 The regional teams........The OceanPrediction DCC regional teams have the following objectives.......read on       https://marine.copernicus.eu/news