The operational oceanography system of the Basque coast EuskOOS provides:
of the current and past state of the sea along the Basque coast.
of future sea conditions
(up to 3 days).
(waves, wind, sea level, temperature and surface currents) for users of the Basque coastline.
The Basque Meteorological Agency-Euskalmet
Euskalmet has developed and maintains systems for measuring and forecasting different variables in the marine environment that provide information on meteorological processes in the sea and on changes in the marine environment, which are often related to these meteorological processes.
Much of this information is sent practically in real time (by satellite or other means of communication) to the facilities of the Basque Meteorological Agency, Euskalmet, where it is monitored exhaustively at the precise moment, thus enabling the forecast and evolution of storms, gales, etc. to be known. This is why it is an essential tool both for dealing with adverse meteorological situations and for offering information of general interest to all types of users.
This ocean-meteorological network, which is integrated into the operational oceanography system of the Basque coast EuskOOS, consists of various measurement networks (buoys, coastal stations, tide gauges, high frequency radars and videometry stations) and prediction services (waves, sea level, winds, currents and water temperature).
The aim of the ocean-meteorological stations is to gather physical, morphological and biological data with the highest possible resolution and with a long-term perspective in order to determine the behaviour and evolution of a coastal system where natural and human influences coexist. They are installed at the mouth of the bay of Pasaia (Gipuzkoa) and in the outer part of the Abra de Bilbao (Bizkaia).)
High Frequency (HF) radar systems are a technology that allows, by means of stations located on land, physical information to be obtained from the surface of the sea, such as waves, sea currents and the direction of the wind. The antennas of this system are located in Bermeo and Hondarribia and cover an area of about 10,000 km2.
High-frequency tide gauges record the height of the sea surface in situations where forecasts warn of the imminence of a storm with extraordinary characteristics (explosive cyclogenesis) in order to assess the risk of flooding from these events in areas protected from waves (ports, estuaries and river mouths). They are installed in the Herrera quay of the Port of Pasaia (Gipuzkoa) and in the port of Bermeo (Bizkaia).
The Videometry stations of the Kostasystem network facilitate high-resolution monitoring (both spatial and temporal), and make it relatively simple and cost-effective to monitor the coastline.
