Ocean Monitoring and Prediction Network for the Sustainable Development of the Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

The need to understand and forecast disasters driven by anthropogenic and natural forces in the Gulf of Mexico and to support management responses to hazardous events led policymakers, scientists, and industry representatives in Mexico to launch an ocean observation and modeling project (2015–2023) aimed at collecting multi-layered baseline information and continuous monitoring of the ocean environment across the southern Gulf of Mexico. We will show the observational network and modeling efforts, led by the Research Consortium for the Gulf of Mexico (CIGoM), include developing a marine hazard warning system to investigate the multiple stressors that are altering the state and health of this large marine ecosystem and its coastal communities. This warning system is intended to aid in establishing of national contingency plans and mitigate the impacts of extreme events and long-term ocean trends. Stressors include hydrocarbon spills, tropical cyclones, marine heatwaves, long-term ocean surface warming, and harmful algal blooms. In this talk we will present part of our work related to the early warning system we have developed involving satelita detection, forecasting models and impact assessments of some oil spills that have occurred in the past few months in this region.