Coastal Operations at Sea

What is the purpose of the Operations at Sea DeST?

Using these ocean state and wind forecasts, the Coastal Operations at Sea (CoastOps) Decision Support Tool (DeST) provides support for the search and rescue operations of the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI). The NSRI is a voluntary non-profit organisation that works closely with other search and rescue organisations in South Africa, including the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), its Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, the South African Navy, the Air Force and the South African Red Cross Air Mercy Service, and is tasked with saving lives on South African waters.

Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in joining the Coastal Operations at Sea Technical Advisory Group (TAG) or if you have any suggestions for improvement.

Example of Sea Surface Temperature

Why? How?

The CoastOps DeST provides a capability for monitoring and predicting ocean and sea state variables in the coastal ocean using state-of-art forecasts of winds, currents and waves, which are provided by numerical models that simulate and predict ocean and atmospheric conditions. Ocean and atmosphere general circulation models are complex mathematical models, that use the Navier-Stokes equations on a rotating sphere as the basis for computer programs to simulate the Earth’s atmosphere or oceans on a range of spatio-temporal scales. Similarly, wave models simulate the sea state and predict its evolution using numerical techniques taking into consideration atmospheric wind forcing, non-linear wave interaction and frictional dissipation. In an integrated and coupled approach these modelling systems provide the ocean current, wave and wind forecasts used in the DeST.