Development of operational oceanography in Greece by means of the POSEIDON system

The POSEIDON system consists of the following three major components: a marine monitoring network (POSEIDON network) and the corresponding telecommunication devices, an operational centre for data management, analysis and dissemination of the products to the user community, as well as an operational forecasting system including an operational wave and weather forecasting model, a 3-D hydrodynamic model and a buoyant pollutant transport model. Operational oceanography in Greece has been until now in its infancy mostly due to the lack of marine monitoring systems. The POSEIDON project fills this gap and gives an opportunity to efficiently match scientific efforts with up-to-date technological applications. The authors discuss and analyze some principles, issues and strategies related to the development of operational oceanography in Greece by means of the POSEIDON system. To achieve this goal a brief description of the POSEIDON system is made. The strategic and scientific plan of the POSEIDON project reveals some of the most important aspects that should be borne in mind in order to increase the expected benefits from the POSEIDON project