OceanExpert ID : 14863
Dr. Sebastien LEGRAND
Head of RBINS Marine Forecasting Center
Operational Directorate Natural Environment
rue Vautier 29
1000 Brussels
Belgium
Nationality
Belgium
Email(s)
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Telephone
+32 2 6274319
PhD
Research
Technical Advice & Consulting
Other
Marine and Coastal Engineering
Physical Oceanography
Pollution
As head of the Belgian Marine Forecasting Centre, my main responsibility is the daily production of marine forecast for the Belgian waters and the surrounding North Sea and English Channel (www.marineforecasts.be). This includes forecasting water level, storm surge, currents, waves, temperature or salinity. In addition to this generic service, we do operate tailored services for the Belgian Federal and regional administrations involved in the Belgian coastguard structures (www.kustwacht.be) or the European Maritime Safety Agency. This includes the production and the delivery of special drift forecast in case of maritime pollution (oil or HNS) or other emergency event at sea.
Most of the models and tools operated at the Marine Forecasting Centre have been developed in-house, as for instance the COHERENS hydrodynamic model (http://www.odnature.be/coherens/), the OSERIT oil spill drift and fate model (https://oserit.naturalsciences.be/) or the HNS-MS chemical spill drift, fate and behaviour model http://www.hns-ms.eu/. Designing and coordinating the development of new and innovative products and services is therefore another important aspect of my work. For instance, over the last 10 years, I’ve coordinated or been involved in 18 national or European R&D projects, including the MyOcean projects that paved the way to the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service.
As head of the Marine Forecasting Centre, I am also often involved in activities at the science-policy interface. For instance, since 2016, I coordinate several Belgian expert groups in charge of the environmental monitoring and reporting done in the framework of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (D7 hydrography and D8 contaminants) or in the framework of the European Water Framework Directive (hydro-morphology of the coastal water).
Finally, being a NOOS co-chair (http://noos.eurogoos.eu/) and a member of the EuroGOOS chairs and directors board (www.eurogoos.eu), I try to positively influence the European operational oceanography community and to promote it in various working groups, international associations or intergovernmental bodies such as the Bonn Agreement, OSPAR, ICES, ITAC, EMSA,…
English Channel
North Sea
Forecasting, North Sea, operational oceanography, mathematical modelling, marine, coastal, hydrodynamic, storm-surge, waves, drift, oil pollution, HNS pollution, environmental monitoring, sensitivity mapping, sediment transport, bio-geo-chemical model
English
