Welcome to the course

Ocean forecasting provides the critical information behind early warning alerts, sustainable fisheries, and coastal protection — helping safeguard lives and livelihoods worldwide. Yet foundational training in this field remains out of reach in many regions. This course aims to change that.

Developed as part of the OPERA Capacity Development Activities, led by the ICMPA-UNESCO Chair (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Benin) and the Gulf of Guinea Ocean Sciences Summer School (GGOSSS) in collaboration with the OceanPrediction DCC, this free course offers a complete introduction to the end-to-end ocean forecasting system — from the physics of the ocean to the services that reach society. It is grounded in the ETOOFS Guide (Implementing Operational Ocean Monitoring and Forecasting Systems), the international reference framework for operational oceanography.

OPERA — Ocean Prediction Enhancement in the Regions of Africa — is a five-year project implemented by Mercator Ocean International with funding from the European Union under the Arc X programme. You can find more about the project here.

Across seven weeks, you’ll explore how the ocean works, how it is observed from space and in situ, how numerical models simulate it, and how data assimilation keeps those models anchored to reality. You’ll then learn how forecast products are produced, interpreted, and applied in the real world — in fisheries, coastal management, maritime safety, and disaster risk reduction — illustrated throughout with African and regional case studies.

Each week builds on the last and takes around three hours of flexible study, so you can fit it around your own schedule. Instruction is in English, with French subtitles and transcripts available on every video step. Participation is completely free, and learners who complete all seven weeks qualify for a certificate of completion.

What you’ll cover, week by week

Week 1 — The end-to-end ocean forecasting system. Discover what ocean forecasting is and why it matters, trace its evolution from early observations to modern integrated systems, and explore how observations, models, services, and users connect in a continuous “virtuous loop” of feedback and improvement. This week sets up the shared framework used across the whole course.

Week 2 — The physics of ocean motion. Explore the forces that drive ocean circulation and variability — wind, pressure gradients, the Coriolis effect, and friction — and build a physical, intuitive understanding of geostrophic and Ekman balance, tides, waves, and mesoscale and submesoscale dynamics.

Week 3 — Numerical ocean models. Learn why numerical models are essential for forecasting and how they are built, covering grids, vertical coordinates, forcing, boundary conditions, resolution, and parameterization. You’ll meet widely used operational and research models such as NEMO, HYCOM, ROMS, and CROCO, and weigh their strengths and limitations.

Week 4 — Observing the ocean and data assimilation. Explore how the ocean is observed using satellite and in-situ platforms, and discover how data assimilation combines those observations with models to reduce uncertainty and improve forecast quality through validation and quality control.

Week 5 — Data sources for forecasting. Examine the upstream data that feeds ocean forecasting systems, including products from the Copernicus Marine Service, atmospheric forcing variables such as winds, heat fluxes, and pressure, and regional and in-situ observing networks. You’ll get practical guidance on finding and accessing free, open-access ocean and atmospheric datasets.

Week 6 — Reading and interpreting forecast products. Build the skills to read common forecast outputs and key variables — including sea surface height (SSH), sea surface temperature (SST), salinity, currents, and significant wave height (SWH) — and to interpret maps, time series, vertical profiles, and anomalies, account for uncertainty, and communicate forecast information clearly to non-expert audiences.

Week 7 — From forecasts to services for society. See how ocean forecasts are translated into downstream services across sectors including disaster risk reduction, maritime safety, fisheries, coastal management, and pollution response — connecting scientific outputs to user needs and societal benefit through real-world African and regional case studies.

By the end of the course, you’ll be able to:

• Describe the architecture of an end-to-end ocean forecasting system and explain how its components work together
• Explain the fundamental physical principles governing ocean circulation, tides, waves, and mesoscale variability
• Explain how numerical ocean models are constructed, configured, and used in operational forecasting at global, regional, and coastal scales
• Identify the major satellite and in-situ observing systems and explain the role of data assimilation in improving forecast accuracy
• Identify and access key upstream data sources, including Copernicus Marine Service products and atmospheric forcing datasets
• Interpret common ocean forecast outputs, including sea surface temperature maps, current fields, sea level anomalies, and vertical profiles
• Explain how ocean forecast products are applied in fisheries, maritime safety, coastal risk management, and disaster risk reduction