National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center - NMEFC

Time to set sail with blue sea and limpid waves - National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center on the move

Established in 1965, the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center is the only national marine operational forecasting center in China. For more than half a century, it fought hard in the foremost position of marine forecasting, bearing the important mission as the front line of defence in marine disaster prevention and mitigation, and had gained significant international influence. 

In professional services, the center releases various kinds of early warning and forecast information under the name of "National Marine Forecasting Station" to the public and government sectors through TV, radio, SMS, mobile app, website and other media platforms. The forecasting products involve ocean wave, storm surge, tsunami, sea ice, seawater temperature, current, marine ecology, oil spill, search and rescue, El Niño, etc. Meanwhile, it continues to expand business to the world, and progressively realizes global monitoring, global forecasting and global service. 

The Maritime Silk Road marine environmental forecasting and supporting system has been constructed and provided service covering the seas along the Maritime Silk Road. In the field of scientific and technological innovation, the center independently developed China's first operational numerical forecasting model of ocean circulation in 2021, the Mazu Circulation, also known as MaCOM. It adopts a new physical framework of mass conservation to achive a more realistic simulation of ocean dynamics, and its comprehensive performance has reached the international advanced level. 

In the process of autonomy, the center will develop operational forecasting systems of wave, storm surge, tsunami, sea ice and ocean circulation to achieve all-round nationalization. These new models use GPU-accelerated technology, whose computation speed is up to 100 times faster than traditional ones using CPU, while reducing power consumption by more than 90 percent. 

Meanwhile, the center has made great efforts to promote the construction of marine digital and intelligent forecasting system, which integrates big data, artificial intelligence and marine forecasting service, forming an intelligent forecasting network with 10-kilometer resolution covering entire offshore of China. “With gentle breeze and timely rain, four seas will be safe; with China’s revitalization, all people will be at peace.” The center will adhere to the development direction of independence, low-carbonization, digitization, intelligence, globalisation and refinement, actively participate in global marine governance, continue to deepen practical cooperation with relevant countries and regions, and promote the realization of the goals of United Nations’ Ocean Decade plan.