A new performance contract has been signed between Météo-France and its supervising ministry, the Ministry for the Ecological Transition. It sets the organization’s priorities for the period 2022–2016, in a context of climate change leading to more frequent and more intense weather phenomena.

Météo-France: a French mission within an international framework

Météo-France’s mission is to monitor the atmosphere and the upper ocean, to forecast their evolution, and to disseminate the corresponding information.

Within Météo-France, the Marine Meteorology Center (Observing Systems Directorate) coordinates the monitoring of the upper ocean through the European E-SURFMAR program of the EUMETNET consortium. Through this program, Météo-France coordinates 22 European Union countries for surface marine observations, implemented via the deployment of drifting or moored measurement buoys.

These buoy activities fall within the framework of the Data Buoy Cooperation Panel (DBCP), an international program that coordinates the use of autonomous buoys for observing atmospheric and oceanographic conditions at sea. The DBCP is an initiative of the Joint Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology, jointly operated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). As a member of the WMO and UNESCO, France contributes to the programs implemented by these organizations.

Collaboration with the IMOCA Class since 2019

Under a collaboration agreement, Météo-France calls on the IMOCA Class to assist with the deployment of lightweight drifting buoys along the routes sailed by vessels operated by the IMOCA Class. The mission consists of deploying several drifting buoys at sea during a vessel’s voyage.

These buoys measure sea temperature and air pressure, and their drift reflects ocean currents. All of these measurements support meteorological and oceanographic analyses and forecasts, including sea state (wind and waves). In addition, these data help improve numerical models and thereby refine weather forecasts for mariners.

IMOCA races sail through sparsely frequented areas, making it possible to deploy instruments in maritime regions that are poorly observed by other means.

Finally, when accumulated over long periods, these observations provide climate time series that help improve the monitoring of climate change.