EXPLORATION • DRILLING • FIELD SERVICES
operational planning in the mid-Atlantic region, BMT Argoss has joined forces with the Met Office, the UK’s national weather service, and Oceanweather Inc. Funded by the partners, the main deliverable of the project, entitled the Mid-Atlantic Current Hindcast (MACH), is a 20-year high quality ocean current reanalysis for the mid-Atlantic region, with nested high resolution grids covering principal oil and gas concession areas. Te Met Office is one of the leading organisations in data assimilation and large-scale, complex ocean circulation modelling. Te pioneering work of Oceanweather’s hindcast approach and derivation of optimal wind fields for ocean model boundary forcing has been recognised internationally in both the scientific community and in applications for the offshore industry. Tis knowledge and expertise is coupled with BMT Argoss’ extensive experience in providing ‘fit for purpose’ metocean services. Key to MACH is the data assimilation scheme that is used within the model. Data assimilation is taking measured data and using it to accurately condition the starting fields in the model. In effect, a computer simulation is conducted and objectively adjusted to match the realities of the observed data that is available.
Available data can come from a number of sources including satellite, remote sensing of sea surface height and temperature, as well as autonomous Argo profiling floats that are commonly used in oceanography. With approximately 3,600 deployed worldwide, these drifting profiling floats continuously measure ocean temperature and conductivity to derive density, which is important in determining large-scale motions in the ocean. Following completion of a pilot two-
year integration and a detailed validation study against available comprehensive in-situ oceanographic measurements, a full 20-year integration is now underway to produce an ocean current hindcast database. Tere will then be a detailed phase of validation where BMT Argoss will play an integral role in testing the quality of the final product, ensuring it is fit for purpose.
A key focus for the project moving
forward will be further engagement with the oil and gas majors through the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers’ (OGP) Metocean Committee. Tis group aims to encourage a better understanding of the value of applied oceanography and meteorology both within and outside the industry.
Surface current field from BMT’s regional ESA 12 model of the central and southern Atlantic
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