EUROSUR Fusion Services (EFS) Service Desk
EUROSUR Fusion Services (EFS) Service Desk
Email
efs@frontex.europa.eu
7.06 Frontex Oceanographic data
Agency responsible
Data group
07. Meteorological and Oceanographic Data
Coast Guard Functions with access
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Status of implementation
Available
Dissemination channels
Agency web interface
Point(s) of contact
Last reviewed on
Last saved on
Description
This service provides information about past, current and forecasted oceanographic and maritime information (from national and EU oceanographic and maritime services).
Data elements
The following data is presented via dedicated information layers and accessible directly in the systems available to all users:
a. Oceanographic model data and forecast:
Current, forecasted and past (last 7 days) oceanographic conditions based on European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and Nautical MeteoBase (NMB) models provided for the geographical extent described in section VI.
|
Data attribute |
Unit |
Description |
Display |
|
Current |
Dgs true North, speed in m/s |
Contains the speed and direction of current. The arrow points to where the current is going to. The larger the arrow, the higher the speed. |
arrows |
|
Current speed |
m/s |
The horizontal movement of water. It is a combination of tidal water movement and oceanic water movement. |
area and contours |
|
Current direction |
Dgs true North |
The direction the current is going to. |
grid |
|
Sea surface temperature |
oC |
Water temperature of the sea surface. |
area and contours + grid |
|
Significant wave height |
m |
Mean wave height (trough to crest) of the highest third part of all waves. |
area and contours + grid |
|
Significant wave mean direction |
Dgs true North |
Mean direction of the total wave spectrum, the direction the waves are coming from. |
grid |
|
Swell |
Dgs true North |
The symbol shows a combination of swell height and the direction. The arrows point to where the waves are going to. The larger the arrow, the higher the swell. |
arrows |
|
Swell height |
m |
Swell consists of wind-generated waves that are not significantly affected by the local wind at that time. They have been generated elsewhere or some time ago. |
area and contours + grid |
|
Swell period |
s |
The time required for two successive swell wave crests to pass a fixed point, or the time for a single swell wave crest to travel a distance equal to the length of the wave. |
area and contours + grid |
|
Swell direction |
Dgs true North |
Swell direction is the direction the swells are coming from. |
grid |
|
Visibility |
nm |
The horizontal visibility. |
area and contours + grid |
|
Wind |
Dgs true North, speed in kts |
Contains wind speed and wind direction. The symbol points to where the wind is going to. Each short barb stand for 5 knots, each long barb stands for 10 knots. A pennant means 50 knots. |
barbs |
|
Wind gusts |
m/s |
Highest 3 seconds duration wind speed at 10 metres. |
area and contours + grid |
|
Wind speed |
m/s |
Average wind speed over 10 minutes at a height of 10 metres. |
area and contours |
|
Wind wave height |
m |
Mean wave height (trough to crest) of the highest third of the wind waves. Wind waves are directly generated and affected by local winds. |
area and contours |
|
Wind wave period |
s |
The time required for two successive wind wave crests to pass a fixed point, or the time for a single wind wave crest to travel a distance equal to the length of the wave. |
area and contours |
|
Wind wave direction |
Dgs true North |
The direction the waves are coming from. |
grid |
|
Tidal location elevation |
m |
The height above (below if value is negative) the level in case there is no tide. |
point locations |
|
Tidal location depth |
m |
The depth of the seabed under the water level. |
point locations |
b. Historical data
The online services described in point a) provide data for a historic period of time up to 7 days.
Additionally, marine model and forecast data (except tidal locations) can be requested for a historic period of time since January 2017. The data is available as polygon (area) and point (grid) GIS feature classes.
Legal basis
EBCG Regulation (EU) 2019/1896
Scope and source of data
The data is used for operational and mission planning as well as risk analysis purposes. It covers the entire Schengen Area and the adjacent third countries and open seas (compare the figure in chapter 7.5, section VI). The data is supplied by a commercial operator which combines data from a variety of commercial and national in-situ sources with meteorological models.
Technical implementation
The data is supplied via Open GIS Consortium (OGC) web services by the service provider and ingested into Frontex systems. From there it is provided to authorised users. The past model data (from the previous day) is supplied as GIS datasets and loaded into the Frontex database.
Conditions of access
Access to online meteorological data is granted to EFS users.
The archive, model-based oceanographic data can be delivered upon request to EUROSUR Fusion Services (EFS) Service Desk.