Das Projekt "Hin zu einem funktionierenden Vorhersagesystem fuer den Nordatlantik und die europaeischen Kuestenbereiche" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Stiftung Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung e.V. (AWI) durchgeführt. Objective: The objective of TOPAZ is to implement a preoperational monitoring and forecasting system for the North Atlantic, the Nordic Seas and the Arctic. The system will use a state of the art coupled ocean circulation and marine ecosystem model and assimilate observations available in near real time from satellites and in situ observation programs. Sophisticated data assimilation methods will be used to assimilate the observations. Regional models will be nested into the large scale Atlantic model, to properly resolve the processes in the European coastal zone. Unique is the use of a single model by all participants I which ensure a focus on system development. Further, during a real time operation experiment the system will be used to predict mesoscale currents in support of offshore deep-water oil Production to market the TOPAZ system to an identified user group. Prime Contractor: Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center; Bergen/Norway.