Ocean Observatory RAIA disseminates first results
The official website of the RAIA project, in which the Information and Computer Graphics Systems (USIG) is currently participating, has recently made public some functional examples – with real data – for the publication and sharing of data and models, such as the most recent observations obtained at the Cortegada Ocean-Meteorological Platform, Pilar de Rande and Boia de Cíes, as well as an updated list of the services provided by the observatory.
The purpose of this project is to develop an Ocean Observatory for the Iberian coast. For that, the Observatory will use an extensive monitoring network and a collection of weather, ocean and biological data, thus making it possible to improve, in real time, the condition of the Iberian coast. This new ability is capable of improving the predictive capacity of the ocean models and will turn the Observatory into an operational key to share observation and model data with interested institutions.
The project aims to restructure the oceanography of the Iberian Atlantic Coast, taking into consideration the economic importance of the activities developed in these areas (maritime transports, leisure, fishing, and maritime accidents, among others) that will benefit from and be strengthened by the information, services and products provided by the observatory.
In January 2009, USIG began its participation in the project Ocean Observatory RAIA, in the context of the Cross-Border Cooperation between Spain and Portugal for the period of 2007 – 2013.
Other than INESC Porto, several Portuguese and Spanish authorities are also participating in the project, such as the Institute of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management (INEGI), the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), the Hydrographic Institute (IH), the University of Aveiro (UA), the Faculty of Science of the University of Porto and the Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR).
USIG’s team involved in this project is set up by Artur Rocha, Marco Amaro Oliveira, Mário Ricardo Henriques and José Lino Oliveira.