The Virtual Red Sea Initiative

The initiative is a collaborative work with Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the National Center of Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML). It offers to develop an integrated data-driven forecasting system that incorporates available oceanic and atmospheric observations in the Red Sea region, and makes predictions and actionable information available to customers, partners, as well as non-expert recipients. This includes information about the health and future state of the Red Sea ecosystem based on remotely sensed ecological indicators that will be specifically computed from projected environmental conditions and available ecological observations for regions of interest. The goal of the Initiative is to deliver a ready-to-use machinery and knowledge to address short-term, subseasonal-to-seasonal, and long-term forecasting problems in the Red Sea in order to support scientific research as well as environmental and industrial developments in the Kingdom.