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About

OceanConnect is an easy-to-use, powerful, cloud based tool for discovering and exploring ocean conditions in the Salish Sea - from Puget Sound to the North end of the Strait of Georgia. It is free, requiring no login or registration and is fully supported and maintained by CIOOS Pacific and the Hakai Institute. OceanConnect provides an ocean information service building upon the CIOOS mission to provide access to ocean data. The link for OceanConnect is very easy to remember – it is just oceanconnect.ca.

There are six primary data types made available by OceanConnect. All the data are for the present and provide forecast information up to a day and a half into the future. The model used is the CIOPS model developed by Susan Allen at the University of British Columbia and served and supported by Environment Canada and Climate Change (ECCC)

  • Sea surface temperature
  • Surface currents
  • Tidal height – a combination of model data and station data provided by the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)
  • Wind and air temperature - the high resolution forecast model run by ECCC, basically the weather model that we all frequently consult, provided here through OceanConnect
  • Waves – A Regional Deterministic Wave Prediction System (RDWPS) operated and made available by ECCC
  • Buoy data – Information from buoys operated in the region both by ECCC and NOAA in the USA
  • Weather station data - Data from weather stations throughout our region
  • Camera data – Real time camera data for the region both coastal and inland

The numerical models integrate ocean and atmospheric observations to provide the best regional picture of present conditions in the ocean and atmosphere. They can also provide a forecast for changing conditions. We provide easy access to all this information. Graphic images of the regional conditions and simple plots that show how conditions will change in the next day and a half.

OceanConnect is intended to meet the needs of a wide range of those working or playing on the ocean or simply interested in ocean conditions. We expect that it will find many different uses including boaters, fishers, kayakers, surfers, ship operators, ocean swimmers, aquaculture growers, sea plane operators and others. All those with an interest in ocean conditions.

We encourage you to share the link with your friends. Anyone with an interest in the ocean. We would be happy to hear about your use of OceanConnect. What information is most useful to you? How has OceanConnect helped you? We would also be happy to hear your suggestions for further expansion of this application.