The Mediterranean Sea Forecasting System (MFS) has been operational since January 2000. The system is based on three main components:

a. the Near Real-Time observing system

b. the analysis and forecasting numerical modelling system at basin and regional scales

c. the dissemination system of the analysis and forecast products to the end-users.

The system produces a forecast for 10 days on a daily basis and analyses of the last 7 days on a weekly basis for the whole Mediterranean Sea at about 6.5 x 6.5 km horizontal resolution. Weekly analyses assimilate satellite and in-situ data including Sea Level Anomaly (SLA) and Sea Surface Temperature (SST), XBT temperature profiles, temperature and salinity profiles from the MEDARGO drifting floats. Official MFS we-page is http://gnoo.bo.ingv.it/mfs/

No Hindcast is released.

SURFACE PARAMETERS:

sea surface height, total heat flux, downward shortwave radiation flux, eastward component of wind stress, northward component of wind stress.

3-D FIELDS:

temperature, salinity, zonal current velocity, meridional current velocity.

File format: netCDF, Unidata GDT 1.3 convention.

Analysis products are granted free of charge to all organizations that pursue research and educational purposes for their non-commercial activities. Private companies and any other users who wish to access the data for commercial purposes require a license. Data are distributed by ftp through a secure connection to a dedicated file server. Access is reserved to licensed users only, who will be provided with a personal login and password. The service is available on a 24/7 basis. Support for downloading and file-reading issues is provided during working days. Detailed information about data access is available at http://gnoo.bo.ingv.it/mfs/dataaccess/

The products released are for the use of both commercial companies and public-research institutions. All data provided are under non-transferrable license. Data access for private companies is subject to payment of a fee, which is calculated according to the type and volume of data requested and, if necessary, the data handling work. Detailed information about data access conditions is available at http://gnoo.bo.ingv.it/mfs/dataaccess/

As a general rule, data products are delivered in a non-modified format (direct model output). Exceptions are applicable for any particular use in the commercial sector. Users can request a customized data handling, which consists of one or more of the following post-processing actions:

• Interpolation at fixed levels

• Unit conversion or data type transformation

• Reduction of domain

• File format conversion

Product quality control is carried out operationally. Forecasting system results are compared with available observations using standard statistics (Root-Mean-Square). The analysis for the current week is available at http://gnoo.bo.ingv.it/mfs/Forecast/bulletin.htm?link=H

The forecasting system model output is presented in graphic format at http://gnoo.bo.ingv.it/mfs/Forecast/bulletin.htm?link=H

In addition, every month a bulletin (pdf) is provided with all the relevant information. Bulletins can be downloaded at http://gnoo.bo.ingv.it/mfs/monthly.htm

SURFACE PARAMETERS:

sea surface height, total heat flux, downward shortwave radiation flux, eastward component of wind stress, northward component of wind stress.

3-D FIELDS:

temperature, salinity, zonal current velocity, meridional current velocity.

File format: netCDF, Unidata GDT 1.3 convention.

Forecast products are granted free of charge to all organizations that pursue research and educational purposes for their non-commercial activities. Private companies and any other users who wish to access the data for commercial purposes require a license. Data are distributed by ftp through a secure connection to a dedicated file server. Access is reserved to licensed users only, who will be provided with a personal login and password. The service is available on a 24/7 basis. Support for downloading and file-reading issues is provided during working days. Detailed information about data access is available at http://gnoo.bo.ingv.it/mfs/dataaccess/

The products released are for the use of both commercial companies and public-research institutions. All data provided are under non-transferrable license. Data access for private companies is subject to payment of a fee, which is calculated according to the type and volume of data requested and, if necessary, the data handling work. Detailed information about data access conditions is available at http://gnoo.bo.ingv.it/mfs/dataaccess/

As a general rule, data products are delivered in a non-modified format (direct model output). Exceptions are applicable for any particular use in the commercial sector. Users can request a customized data handling, which consists of one or more of the following post-processing actions:

• Interpolation at fixed levels

• Unit conversion or data type transformation

• Reduction of domain

• File format conversion

Product quality control is carried out operationally. The forecasting system results are compared with the corresponding analysis fields using standard statistics (Root-Mean-Square). Due to the operational chain schedule, forecast product quality control is carried out with two weeks' delay once the corresponding analysis is available.

The forecasting system model output is presented in graphic format at http://gnoo.bo.ingv.it/mfs/Forecast/bulletin.htm?link=H