Core services: an introduction to global ocean forecasting

Abstract. The capacity in monitoring and forecasting the global ocean is increased nowadays, thanks to the advancements in observing and in modelling the main physical ocean processes and dynamics. This has led to the growth of core services, devoted to providing free and open data, science-driven, and based on users' needs. Here we illustrate the fundamental steps that have been developed, over the last decades, for improving the ocean value chain – from access to upstream data like observations to the delivery of products to users for downstream services and applications, with description of worldwide state-of-the-art operational ocean forecasting systems at a global scale. We also provide some examples on core service organisation, like the Copernicus Marine Service and many others, which are available today and operating for the provision of near-real-time predictions.