Increasingly, real-time environmental monitoring systems are being used to improve safety offshore and enhance operational efficiency. They provide essential, rapid access to data describing the present environmental conditions. They are used to:

• monitor meteorological and oceanographic (metocean) conditions critical for safety or efficiency;
• optimise the planning and execution of operations sensitive to weather or time;
• comply with legislative requirements;
• trigger alarms when safe working limits are approached or exceeded;
• fine-tune weather forecasts using input of real-time data; and
• verify weather forecasts by integrating the display of forecast and measured data.

The recorded data can also provide a valuable resource for deriving engineering criteria and environmental statistics.

Fugro provides:

• 'Turn key' solutions: From the design of the system, supplying all equipment, building and commissioning it to provide a fully functioning system, and providing regular maintenance.
• Technical expertise: Both the field systems engineers to build and install the systems, and the oceanographers and meteorologists to help in designing the optimum system for each location.
• Tried and tested software: the 'WeatherMonitor' software at the core of its systems has been developed to be flexible and requires minimal configuration changes between systems.
• Easily understood, application-oriented, graphical information displays that can be networked.
• Easily integrated systems: the web-based software can be incorporated easily into the client's systems and network, and can be accessed and configured across the network.
• Added value services: Enhancing the value of the recorded data by further analysis to provide design and operational criteria statistics.