Innovators I - W-MED

The W-MED project aimed at developing and demonstrating an information service providing operational sea state now-casting service in the Mediterranean Sea based on the use of a specific technique assimilating satellite and buoys data into forecasted wave fields obtained from the WAM model.
The accuracy of the measurements, both buoys and satellites, is independent of the dimensions of the basin, so it is possible to use them to calibrate the model data in such a way that measured quantities are used for small corrections to a short-range forecast, which is assumed to be good.

Two categories of users can be served by the W-MED information service:

• fixed users with a stationary computer or terminal that requires data transmission to and from a network;
• mobile users in ports or in navigation with a smart phone, PDA or other handheld device that requires wireless data transmission.

The service covers planning and monitoring of off-shore operations, ship routing, historical analyses and oceanographic modelling.