Previcot Real-time coastal forecasting designed for different maritime users

A civil engineering company constructing a sea wall or similar maritime facility needs to know predictions for high water and rough seas governing site operational management. A skipper of a leisure yacht wants to plot the best possible course by relying on real-time forecasting and navigational conditions. A wind sports enthusiast is keen to know via mobile phone whether the weather and swell conditions will be good on a particular beach. A coastal waste treatment plant manager has to predict dispersal and drift of effluent discharged into the sea and the deposits of flotsam onshore in order to maximise plant efficiency.

In response to these varying needs, PREVICOT will develop specific products for characterising and forecasting ocean conditions in coastal zones. Using data supplied by, among others, PREVIMER, an IFREMER co-ordinated programme, PREVICOT will produce a range of specific applications initially relating to the French coast using models which can be transferred to other countries and continents. PREVICOT will at the same time respond to the needs of the fishing and aquaculture industries and provide feedback for developments in coastal oceanography research.

The tools developed by PREVICOT – specific digital modelling, tailored instrumentation systems, computerised data and model management – will incorporate the necessary 'real-time' and 'mobility' features to ensure customers will be able to access the service throughout the coastal zone.