IV-TT meeting: Intercomparison and Validation of Ocean Forecasts and Predictions at Global and Regional Scales

Date and time

• In-person meeting (with possible hybrid option)
• 11-13 November 2026 (3-day meeting, Wed-Fri)
• Shanghai, China

Meeting objectives

This meeting should bring together operational ocean forecasting and prediction centres, users of ocean forecasts, and the broader scientific community to exchange knowledge on current intercomparison and validation practices across different forecasting systems. Our understanding of ocean from large and decadal scales to submesoscale is growing with new observing capabilities, finer resolution  and more dedicated numerical tools, including biogeochemistry and biodiversity surveys.

The meeting will provide a platform to review and compare existing methodologies, identify gaps, and discuss emerging challenges in the evaluation of ocean forecasts. In particular, it aims to support the advancement of intercomparison and validation metrics (e.g. Class 4 metrics) to better address the rapidly evolving landscape of ocean forecasting systems, including the growing role of AI-based approaches.

Through these discussions, the meeting seeks to foster collaboration and contribute to the development of more robust, user-oriented, and future-proof validation and evaluation frameworks.

Attendance

Scientific topics

Scientific topics / themes

The main focus of the workshop is on evaluation and verification methods and metrics for ocean forecast and prediction systems. We invite contributions on the following topics to help the community better understand existing validation and verification approaches, identify current challenges, and discuss future developments in the field:

1. Evaluation and validation methods for numerical ocean forecast systems and AI-based ocean forecast systems
2. Intercomparison of numerical model-based and AI-based ocean forecast systems
3. Evaluation and validation of ensemble ocean forecasts and prediction systems
4. Validation and verification metrics for ocean forecasts (e.g. Class-1, Class-2, Class-3 and Class-4 metrics) and their future development
5. Evaluation of regional and global ocean forecast systems
6. User-oriented validation metrics and impact assessment for operational applications (e.g. offshore energy, marine safety, fisheries and shipping)
7. Evaluation of forecast skill for extreme and high-impact ocean events
8. Observational datasets and reference products for ocean forecast validation
9. Uncertainty quantification and reliability assessment of ocean forecasts
10. Novel approaches and emerging methodologies for ocean forecast evaluation and verification
11. Best practices, quality assurance frameworks, and international standards for ocean forecast validation
12. Evaluation of ocean forecast systems using next-generation satellite observations (e.g., SWOT)

Call for abstracts and Registration

Please note that everyone who is planning to attend the IV-TT meeting must register.

If you like to submit an abstract you have to use the abstract submission form in addition.

Important dates

Organising Committee

• Program Organising Committee:
  • Ocean Predict intercomparison and validation task team
  • Ocean Predict AI task team
  • Ocean Predict programme office

   

  Local Organising Committee:

  • National Marine Environment Forecast center of China
  • Fudan University