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Facilitating Access to Global Observing Systems Data and Information

North West Shelf Operational Oceanographic System (NOOS)
Program Overview

The North West Shelf Operational Oceanographic System (NOOS) is a component of EuroGOOS. It was established to maximize the benefits of operational oceanography within the extended North Sea and European North West Shelf (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and UK).

NOOS Data Access

Updated on March 30, 2011

Program Management

This plan for a North West Shelf Operational Oceanographic System (NOOS) has been developed by the EuroGOOS North West Shelf Task Team (NWSTT). NOOS is operated by participating partners from the 9 countries bordering the extended North Sea and European North West Shelf collaborating to develop and implement ocean observing systems for the NWS area, with delivery of real time operational data products and services.

The goals of NOOS are as follows:

  • To develop and implement online operational marine data and information services
  • Give a reliable description of the actual marine condition of the NWS area, including physical, sedimentological, and ecosystem variables
  • Provide analysis, forecasts, and modelbased products describing the marine conditions
  • Establish a marine database from which time-series and statistical analyses can be obtained, including trends and changes in the marine environment, and the economic, environmental, and social impacts
  • Collaborate with national and multinational agencies in the NWS area to maximise the efficiency of the ocean observing system, and to maximise the value of the information products

NOOS Projects

  • Water Level Data Exchange: To exchange both observing and forecasting water level in the NW Shelf Sea in near real-time between NOOS partners.
    [ project summary ]
  • River Runoff Data for Operational Forecasting: Make river runoff data - observed and predicted fresh water flux and nutrient/contaminant loads - available to NOOS partners for use in ocean hind casting and forecasting, and assess the benefits derived.
    [ project summary ]
  • Exchange of computer transports across selected transects: Transports across certain transects constitute a measure of the current hydrodynamic situation. The knowledge of computed transports could be of great value to assess the dispersion of pollutants or the development of ecological parameters.
    [ project summary ]

NOOS Members

NOOS currently has 16 full members and 4 associate members.

Full Members:

  • Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH), Germany
  • Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), UK
  • Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI), Denmark
  • Flemish Authorities - MD&K Coastal Division, Belgium
  • Royal Danish Administration of Navigation and Hydrography (RDANH), Denmark
  • French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER), France
  • Institute of Marine Research (IMR), Norway
  • Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorolologisch Instituut (KNMI), Netherlands
  • Marine Institute, Ireland
  • Met Office, UK
  • Norwegian Meteorological Institute (Met.no), Norway
  • Management Unit of the North Sea Mathematical Models (MUMM), Belgium
  • Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (POL), UK
  • National Institute for Coastal and Marine Management, Rijkswaterstaat (RIKZ), Netherlands
  • Service Hydrographique et Oceanographique de la Marine (SHOM), France
  • Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), Sweden

Associate Members

  • GKSS Forschungszentrum (GKSS), Germany
  • Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (NERSC), Norway
  • Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Norway
  • University of Oldenburg (Uni-Oldenburg), Germany

Contact Information

  • NOOS Chairman
    Martin Holt
    Met Office
    FitzRoy Road
    Exeter
    EX1 3PB
    United Kingdom
    Phone: +40 (0) 1392 886241
    Fax: +40 (0) 1392 885681