CLIOSat

The purpose of CLIOSat is to offer engineers a fast answer to their needs for sea-state and wind parametes either in predefined or specific areas. CLIOSat contains basic statistics and climate products (histograms, scatter diagrams, estimates of extreme values). This atlas is founded entirely on satellite data.

What is CLIOSat ?

The metocean climate atlas CLIOSat is basically elaborated after winds and waves satellite measurements brought by Geosat (NASA National Aeronautic Space Administration), Topex-Poseidon (CNES Centre National dEtudes Spatiales, the French space agency/NASA) and, principally, by the ERS satellites of the ESA (European Space Agency), which provide sea-state directional spectral information and thus enable to determine sea-state periods and directions.

Satellite measurements covering a 7-year period are now available.

* Their validation against field measurements was achieved during a number of research programs conducted, for instance, by IFREMER (Institut Français de Recherche pour lExploitation de la Mer, French institute for the research for the exploitation of the seas).

* Their operational use was developed during research efforts conducted by MétéoMer with the CLAROM group (Club pour les Actions de Recherche sur les Ouvrages en Mer, a group of French public bodies and private companies conducting R&D projects in the offshore field) and with the support of ESA, CNES and FSH (Fonds de Soutien des Hydrocarbures, a French body which supports research in the petroleum and parapetroleum field).

The CLIOSat system is a new wave and wind climatology service. The system provides reliable long-term statistics on climate coherent global areas and local specific areas. These data are available for any part of the world including remote and poorly documented areas. The system is based solely on satellite data including ERS1 radar altimeter.

THE CLIOSat PRODUCTS

The CLIOSat products are derived from wind and wave satellite measurements and cover 170 areas on a quarterly and annual basis.

Histograms

1 - waves: significant height(total Hs) - (issued from the altimeter) peak periods (cumulated wind sea and swell) peak directions (cumulated wind sea and swell)

2 - wind: speed (issued from the altimeter) direction (issued from the scatterometer)

Scatter diagrams of spectral parameters of waves

1 - Wind sea: (H1, Tp1, p1 ) and swell(H2, Tp2, p2 ) components. peak periods (Tp1 and Tp2) / peak directions(p1 and p2 ) with percentage of multipeak seas peak periods (Tp1 and Tp2) / significant height (H1 and H2) with percentage of multipeak seas peak directions(p1 and p2) / significant height (H1 and H2) with percentage of multipeak seas

2 - Global sea states: significant height / Tz period significant height (Total Hs) / direction of the main peak (pp )

Scatter diagrams - wind speed / direction (issued from the scatterometer)

Significant heights extrapolated to extreme conditions

CLIOSat comes in 2 formats:

1. On standard CD ROM for use with a PC, the atlas offers general climate information on winds and waves in 170 predefined areas,

2. As an On Line Service based on an archive and interrogation system. Once users have specified their areas and periods of interest, this service gives the same statistics of winds and sea-states within 24h.

These products are useful to help decision taking in a pre-project phase. Depending on their expectations, users may wish the advice of meteo-oceanic experts who will then analyse the selected specific area to guarantee consistent statistics and coherent climate data. Download Form for CLIOSat On Line Service

Acknowledgements

· MétéoMer, a French company specialized in meteo-oceanic services, has teamed up with IFREMER to produce CLIOSat.

· Since 1991,MétéoMer has been working on several pilot projects commissioned by ESA, the European Space Agency. These pilot-projects enabled the company to carry out feasability studies and developments which eventually led to the production of the CLIOSat atlas.

· The CNES, the French Space Agency, backed-up the ESA pilot-projects in the AVALSAR program, notably, those related to the extraction of operational period and direction parameters from the SAR, the Synthetic Aperture Radar, in wave mode measurements.

· The climate products contained in CLIOSat result from the 3 year experience of MétéoMer in marine engineering with elaborated meteo-oceanic parameters, partially based on satellite measurements. Some of our methods were elaborated at the time of the 91-94 ASPRO project ( Apport des données Satellitaires à la PRévision climatologique en Offshore, Contribution of satellite data to offshore climate forecasting). The ASPRO project which was conducted by MétéoMer with the CLAROM club where French public bodies and private companies team up around R&D projects in the offshore field. The ASPRO project was financially supported by the FSH, Fond de Soutien aux Hydrocarbures, a French body specialized in the funding of research work in the petroleum and para-petroleum field.

· All throughout the elaboration of CLIOSat, a committee of expertise and orientation brought fruitful advice and guidelines under the leadership of TOTAL. The committee was composed of the following French public bodies and private companies: Bouygues Offshore, Bureau Véritas, Cesam, DCN, Elf Aquitaine Production, ETPM, IFP, IRCN, METEO-FRANCE, Océanide, Optimer, SHOM, STCPMVN and STNMTE.

World map of CLIOSat preselected areas

The CLIOSat products are derived from wind and wave satellite measurements and cover 169 areas on a quarterly and annual basis.

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