CMEP Updates

1. Funding for an active research program is in place.

• The Marine Environmental Prediction System (MEPS), a $3.6M infrastructure project funded by CFI and others, has been established.
  • MEPS has three components: North Atlantic Ocean Basin, Eastern Canadian Shelf, and Coastal Embayment (Lunenburg Bay). Infrastructure for all components has been acquired and research is well underway. An operational version of the shelf circulation forecast system Dalcoast 2 has been delivered to Dalhousie by Josko Bobanovic, and plans are underway to link it to the Lunenburg Bay circulation model. Our web page is scheduled to appear in early May.

• A recent award of $2.7M from the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences (CFCAS) provides research funding and management support for the Lunenburg coastal observation and prediction project. This project greatly enhances collaboration with MSC and DFO. Total funding for CMEP research now exceeds $7M.

• Three projects have been funded by the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences:
  • "Development of a coupled atmosphere/ocean modeling system with application to the extratropical transition of Atlantic hurricanes" (R. Greatbatch (Dal), H. Ritchie (MSC) and J. Gyakum (McGill), PIs; $206K for 2 years);

  • "Assimilation of PALACE float data into a seasonal nowcast model of the North Atlantic" (K. Thompson (Dal) and D. Wright (DFO), PIs, $225K for 3 years); and

  • "Interdisciplinary marine environmental prediction in the Atlantic coastal region" (A. Hay and several others, $2.7M for 3 years). Funding of the CFCAS proposal from Hay and colleagues represents a significant boost for CMEP.

• Other projects use the CMEP infrastructure for part of the work and provide user fees:
  • PARADIGM (PARtnership for ADvancing Interdisciplinary Global Modeling), a consortium of North American scientists funded for a five-year research program by the U.S. National Ocean Partnership Program (Cullen.s component; $650K for 5 y); and

  • NRC/NSERC/Satlantic Research Partnership project awarded to J. Cullen and A. Cembella (NRC). ($1.2M, 5-year).