Operational oceanography can be described as the provision of routine oceanographic information needed for decision-making purposes. It is dependent upon sustained research and development through the end-to-end framework of an operational service, from observation collection to delivery mechanisms. The core components of operational oceanographic systems are a multi-platform observation network, a data management system, a data assimilative prediction system, and a dissemination/accessibility system. These are interdependent, necessitating communication and exchange between them, and together provide the mechanism through which a clear picture of ocean conditions, in the past, present, and future, can be seen. Ocean observations play a critical role in all aspects of operational oceanography, not only for assimilation but as part of the research cycle, and

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Nonlinear development of salinity perturbations in the Atlantic thermohaline circulation (THC) is investigated with a three-dimensional ocean circulation model, using the conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation method. The results show two types of optimal initial perturbations of sea surface salinity, one associated with freshwater and the other with salinity. Both types of perturbations excite decadal variability of the THC. Under the same amplitude of initial perturbation, the decadal variation induced by the freshwater perturbation is much stronger than that by the salinity perturbation, suggesting that the THC is more sensitive to freshwater than salinity perturbation. As the amplitude of initial perturbation increases, the decadal variations become stronger for both perturbations. For salinity perturbations, recovery time of the THC to return to steady state gradually saturates with increasing amplitude, whereas this recovery time increases remarkably for freshwater perturbations. A nonlinear (advective) feedback between density and velocity anomalies is proposed to explain these characteristics of decadal variability excitation. The results are consistent with previous ones from simple box models, and highlight the importance of nonlinear feedback in decadal THC variability.