This course will demonstrate the data resources available from operational programs, which can be assembled, synthesized and displayed in a single software platform (Integrated Data Viewer). The data for the course will be taken from a single selected day (Near-Real-Time [NRT] or as close as possible) to demonstrate the enhanced value of multiple, overlapping observing systems. The emphasis is on winds, waves, currents, surface temperature and ice (ocean elements related to hazardous conditions). [Surface salinity is anticipated to be available in the near future and will be added.] Measured and modeled parameters are both included, as appropriate. Aims and Objectives: • To provide students with pre-course reading assignments that cover the main course topics • To introduce and install the Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) software, and to set it up for ordinary ocean data products • To train students in obtaining and visualizing major NRT global wave products: measured swaths and modeled grids • To train students in obtaining and visualizing NRT sea surface temperature (SST) grids from satellite data • To train students in obtaining and visualizing NRT surface pigment grids from satellite data • To train students in obtaining and visualizing NRT sea ice grids from satellite data • To train students in obtaining and visualizing climatological (i.e. atlas-type) SST and pigment grids from satellite data • To train students in obtaining NRT Argo drifter data and other operational ocean station data for incorporation into, for example, the Ocean Data View software • To train students in obtaining and visualizing NRT modeled ocean scalar quantities, e.g. salinity, temperature • To train students in obtaining and visualizing NRT modeled ocean current vectors • To train students in obtaining and visualizing NRT sea surface height grids from satellite data • To train students in converting all of the above visualizations into Google Earth-compatible formats Target audience: • Research scientists • Government and NGO officers Pre-requisites: • Students should be graduate students or recent graduates in the marine or atmospheric sciences • Students should be highly proficient in the use of personal computers with Windows XP or W7 • Students should have a good command of English Lecturers: Murray Brown Greg Reed Course contents available at: http://classroom.oceanteacher.org/course/view.php?id=124

Period for applications: 8 February - 23 March. Detailed information on how to register and the Application Form available at www.oceanteacher.org