**Preface to "Ocean Modelling in Support of Operational Ocean and Coastal Services"**

Operational oceanography is maturing rapidly. Its capabilities are being noticeably enhanced in response to a growing demand for regularly updated ocean information. Today, several core forecasting and monitoring services, such as the Copernicus Marine ones focused on global and regional scales, are well-established. The sustained availability of oceanography products has favored the proliferation of specific downstream services devoted to coastal monitoring and forecasting. Ocean models are a key component of these operational oceanographic systems (especially in a context marked by extensive application of dynamical downscaling approaches), and progress in ocean modeling is certainly a driver for the evolution of these services.

The goal of this Special Issue is to publish research papers on ocean modeling that advance modeling applications and that support existing operational oceanographic services. Eleven high-quality papers are compiled in this Special Issue. They are mainly focused on combining ocean models with observational products, including data assimilation and coupling topics.

This Special Issue is addressed to an audience with interests on physical oceanography and especially on its operational applications. There is a focus on the numerical modeling needed for better forecasting in marine environments using seamless modeling approaches to simulate global to coastal processes. Specifically, the following thematic groups or topics are highlighted:


Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge to the Editorial Team of JMSE, and especially to Ms. Cynthia Li (MDPI editor manager), who assisted during the Special Issue's editing process, as well as to all the talented authors contributing with their research papers and to the hardworking and professional reviewers involved in the peer-review process.

> **Marcos G. Sotillo** *Editor*
