Projects
| Project | Abstract | Prime Company | Domain | Tags | Full text |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4DATLANTIC Dust-Ocean Modelling & Observing Study (DOMOS) | The Dust-Ocean Modelling & Observing Study (DOMOS) will advance the understanding of dust and ocean interactions in a changing climate through an innovative use of model and observations. The project will develop a new retrieval of dust [...] | ECMWF (GB) | Science | Aeolus, Aerosols, Atlantic, climate, Ecosystems, marine environment, oceans, regional initiatives | The Dust-Ocean Modelling & Observing Study (DOMOS) will advance the understanding of dust and ocean interactions in a changing climate through an innovative use of model and observations. The project will develop a new retrieval of dust deposition from satellite lidar data (CALIPSO and Aeolus), will validate the dust deposition field from the CAMS reanalysis and will also provide assimilation tests of IASI and Aeolus aerosol products with the goal of providing a better description of the dust aerosols, for applications in aerosol radiative impacts and ocean biogeochemistry. An improved representation of the physical and chemical characteristics of dust deposition over the ocean is crucial to interpret the observed climatic change responses and to better describe the future ones. This includes a better understanding and quantification of the deposition of soluble iron from natural and anthropogenic dust and of its contribution relative to biomass burning and anthropogenic aerosols which will be one of the main deliverables of the project. A scientific roadmap to highlight the findings of the project and identify possible gaps in the modelling and the observing approaches will also be provided. DOMOS aims to answer the following questions. To what extent dust deposition over the Atlantic has changed over the last 20 years? Can we identify robust trends in the reanalysis and model datasets and if yes, how can we verify them? Although estimates have been attempted before, there is the need to look at longer time-series such as those provided by atmospheric composition reanalysis and climate models and develop tailor-made satellite retrievals from multiple sensors and platforms, aimed at quantifying dust deposition. This is a challenge as dust deposition is not directly observable from satellite. Observations must be complemented with model-based information. Also, independent observations of dust deposition are needed to quantify the quality of the model-based and reanalysis-based reconstructions as well as to evaluate the performance of the bespoken satellite retrievals. What is the contribution of anthropogenic and natural sources of dust compared to biomass burning and anthropogenic aerosols to soluble iron deposition over the Atlantic? While dust is the largest contributor to total iron deposition by far, it is unclear what its contribution to soluble iron deposition is. What are the impacts of changes in dust deposition on marine biogeochemistry and their potential effects on ecosystems? The connection between changes in dust deposition and the nutrients available for marine ecosystems needs further investigation with a concerted synergy of modelling and observations. |
| 4DATLANTIC EBUS PRIMUS | Primary productivity in upwelling systems (PRIMUS) aims to provide the best possible characterisation of net primary productivity (NPP) and its relationship to upwelling in Atlantic Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems (EBUS). Funded through ESA’s [...] | Plymouth Marine Laboratory (GB) | Science | Atlantic, climate, MERIS, oceans, OLCI, regional initiatives | Primary productivity in upwelling systems (PRIMUS) aims to provide the best possible characterisation of net primary productivity (NPP) and its relationship to upwelling in Atlantic Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems (EBUS). Funded through ESA’s Regional Initiative, PRIMUS will produce a 25-year time series of 1-km NPP in all Atlantic EBUS, and experimentally, at higher-resolution (300m) using the unique capabilities of the MERIS and OLCI sensors. These data, together with upwelling indices from different data sources, existing in-situ data, and ocean circulation modelling, will enable investigation of EBUS impacts on Earth system processes and socio-economically important activities such as: aquaculture in Galicia; fiand eutrophication in the Portuguese upwelling region; impacts on ocean carbon pools; Lagrangian estimates of NPP; and air-sea interaction and acidification impacts. Science cases will make use of EO data, in situ data as well as numerical model outputs to investigate the 4D character of EBUS, for example linking Lagrangian NPP with sediment traps samples at depth. Finally, based on the project results and wider consultations, PRIMUS will develop a scientific roadmap in the form of a peer-reviewed paper, posing scientific challenges and observations gaps that need to be addressed over the 2023 to 2027 timeframe. Project Description Primary productivity in upwelling systems (PRIMUS) will provide the best possible characterisation of net primary productivity (NPP) and its relationship to upwelling in Atlantic Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems. We will produce a 25-year time series of 1-km NPP in all Atlantic EBUS, and experimentally, at higher-resolution (300m) using the unique capabilities of the MERIS and OLCI sensors. These data, together with upwelling indices from different data sources, existing in-situ data, and ocean circulation modelling, will address the objectives stated in the 4DAtlantic theme 1 requirements. PRIMUS will design and implement a novel research plan that aims to describe how we plan consolidate and advance the current understanding of Atlantic EBUS, specifically addressing net primary productivity, its relation to wind-induced upwelling, its impact on Earth system processes, and effects on socio-economically important activities. This plan will include a wide-ranging consultation with relevant stakeholders and early-adopters. PRIMUS will create or add to databases of relevant EO and in situ data that will be used in the project, notably as input for computation of NPP (as well as other elements of the carbon cycle impacted by EBUS). We will make use of a new 1-km version of the long-term climate quality ESA OC CCI dataset and leverage the unique resolution and spectral band capabilities of ESA MERIS and OLCI instruments. In-situ data will be mined from the scientific literature, existing databases, and be provided by our collaborators, notably in the regularly sampled Galician Sea component of the Iberian upwelling system, as well as other regions of interest (Portuguese coast, Canary current system and Benguela upwelling system. PRIMUS will investigate prototype products and perform a thorough validation of the products from two existing NPP models for Atlantic EBUS. These will be evaluated using a number of criteria including accuracy (with respect to in situ data) computational efficiency (and success in simplification though an AI/ML investigation to be conducted, and appropriateness for specific regions or science applications. Evolution of the models will be based on developments from the ESA BICEP project. We will focus attention on specific developments to input variables to the models: i.e. chl-a, considering optical water type classification and sunglint-impacted data PRIMUS will generate and validate a “4DAtlantic Experimental Dataset” of EO-based Atlantic EBUS data. These products will span over 25 years during the project, , and will make use of recently available data from Sentinel 3 for an experimental high resolution NPP product. PRIMUS will use these data to advance Earth System science analyses covering Atlantic EBUS temporal and spatial variability in NPP and its statistical relationship to upwelling and climate indices (such as the NAO). PRIMUS will also operate eight further science cases in specific science areas / regional settings, such as aquaculture in Galicia, or fisheries and eutrophication in the Portuguese upwelling region. In addition we will investigate: potential EBUS impacts on ocean carbon pools; Lagrangian estimates of NPP; and air-sea interaction and acidification impacts. Science cases will make use of EO data, in situ data as well as numerical model outputs (freely available through Copernicus and elsewhere) to investigate the 4D character of EBUS, for example linking Lagrangian NPP with sediment traps samples at depth. These will provide exemplars for science that can be conducted with 4D reconstructions In order to demonstrate wider socio-economic relevance and impact, PRIMUS will conduct demonstrations that transfers science into solutions for society, working together with scientific, agency, policy and commercial early-adopters, building on three of the science case studies (concerning EBUS and aquaculture, fisheries and eutrophication monitoring); affiliating with the Future Earth Coasts initiative; evaluating transition of data production to operational initiatives such as Copernicus and GMES and Africa; and the potential for exploitation by the European and international ecosystem modelling community. Based on the project results and wider consultations PRIMUS will develop a scientific roadmap in the form of a peer-reviewed paper, posing scientific challenges and observations gaps that need to be addressed over the 2023 to 2027 timeframe. The roadmap will focus on Atlantic EBUS, but also consider global applications of the PRIMUS results. A further aim is to collaborate on ways forward with other ESA activities (e.g. BICEP, Ocean-SODA and notably ESA Digital Twin Precursors), and other international efforts. Finally, PRIMUS will coordinate and promote international collaboration and communicate results to scientists and citizens to maximise impact of the project through cross-cutting promotion, communication, and education activities, and through peer-reviewed publications. In conclusion, PRIMUS aims to make a major contribution to the ESA 4DAtlantic research programme, 4D reconstructions and understanding of Atlantic EBUS net primary production in relation to upwelling and its socio-economic impacts. The ESA Regional Initiative 4DATLANTIC-EBUS-PRIMUS Project has been kicked-off in September 2021, for a duration of 2 years. New approach to satellite data analysis reveals unexpected patterns in biological production New PRIMUS paper using the MOving Standard deviation Saturation (MOSS) to study timescales of variability in global satellite Chl and SST Plymouth Marine Laboratory new approach to analyse the variability in satellite data (video) |
| 4DATLANTIC – OCEAN HEAT CONTENT – (OHC) | This project aims at developing, testing and implementing innovative methods able to use space geodetic data from altimetry and gravimetry to generate the regional ocean heat content (OHC) change over the Atlantic Ocean. The ESA MOHeaCAN project [...] | MAGELLIUM (FR) | Science | altimeter, Atlantic, climate, gravity and gravitational fields, oceans, regional initiatives, science | This project aims at developing, testing and implementing innovative methods able to use space geodetic data from altimetry and gravimetry to generate the regional ocean heat content (OHC) change over the Atlantic Ocean. The ESA MOHeaCAN project strategy has been pursued and refined at regional scales both for the data generation and the uncertainty estimate. In practice, we propose to develop a purely space-based product paying a careful attention to the error propagation along the processing scheme. This will enable to keep the product independent from in situ data which are the unique source of data for validation. By keeping the space-based product independent from in-situ data we ensure that we can validate properly and precisely both the space product and its uncertainty. In addition, the product will be only based on observations. With this approach there is no premature mixing with model solutions. The data and their uncertainty are driven by observations only. Thus, the space-based product fits the needs for any model validation. This is absolutely essential to ensure an efficient dissemination of the product among the climate modelling community. The official version of the 4DAtlantic-OHC product and its associated documentation is now available on the ODATIS/AVISO portal. The product has been validated against in-situ data and is now used and analysed to address the major science questions helping us to better understand the complexity of the climate system. The study is focused on the Meridional Heat Transport (MHT) in the North Atlantic with a regional heat budget. In parallel, our early adopters started to assess the strengths and limitations of the OHC product for potential new solutions for society. The ESA Regional Initiative 4DATLANTIC OHC Project has been kicked-off on 7 July 2021, for a duration of 2 years. The first phase of the project (development and validation of the product) has come to an end. The second phase relating to the scientific use case and the use of the product by early adopters is on-going. |
| Atlantic cities: smart, sustainable and secure ports and protecting the ocean | The project aims at developing and delivering to the end user communities a number of customized EO-based information services to support decision making processes in the Atlantic Region:
Climate Resilience Atlantic Cities and Ports [...] |
DEIMOS SPACE UK LTD (GB) | Regional Initiatives | Atlantic, oceans, ports, regional initiatives, sustainable development, urban | The project aims at developing and delivering to the end user communities a number of customized EO-based information services to support decision making processes in the Atlantic Region: Climate Resilience Atlantic Cities and Ports Protecting the Ocean The Climate Resilience Service will be focused on providing information and know-how for assessing the risks and potential socio-economic impacts of coastal processes such as erosion and flooding, to: Critical infrastructures Business activities Coastal protection elements The main service users are: environmental agencies municipalities coastal business activities The Cities and Ports Service will focus on addressing the needs identified by coastal cities with ports, supporting the social cohesion and inclusiveness while ensuring the harmonious co-existence of many economic activities and the well-being of its inhabitants and tourists. This service therefore aims to support ports, cities and related entities in: Assessing the activities in and around ports Monitoring of maritime transport Detecting port-related pollution Identifying security/safety issues for assets. The Protecting the Ocean Service will focus on: detecting emerging pollutants such as marine litter monitoring the environmental status of ocean areas, including MPAs and other marine ecosystem relevant areas. This service addresses users from national and international authorities and other entities responsible for reporting marine status and indicators. |
| Atlantic Regional Initiative – Applications: Offshore Wind Energy | Services based on Earth Observation (EO) can provide valuable information during the design stage by providing a long time series of wind data that allows a better assessment and characterization of the wind resource energy production potential [...] | Deimos Engenharia (PT) | Regional Initiatives | Atlantic, energy and natural resources, oceans, regional initiatives, renewable energy | Services based on Earth Observation (EO) can provide valuable information during the design stage by providing a long time series of wind data that allows a better assessment and characterization of the wind resource energy production potential of different possible wind farm (WF) sites, helping to select the most advantageous ones. These typical site wind characteristics can also assist in the determination of the optimal location of each individual wind turbine (WT) inside the specified site boundaries, minimizing combined WT wake influence and therefore minimizing energy production losses. Once the WF is operational, the EO based services can help establish optimal site maintenance weather windows and help foresee or determine/monitor possible rain erosion effects on the WT blades. Long time series of wind and wave data will help determine possible overall weather windows for those operations, while short term weather forecast can provide valuable information to guide the planned maintenance activities (e.g. adjust time window for the activity based on weather forecast inputs). This 2-year project focuses on the development of an integrated application covering: A planning dashboard for wind farm design and operations, including weather windows for offshore operations planning. The dashboard aims to provide a single access point to the different EO services to be developed with advanced data visualisation and download capabilities so that the user is able to trigger service runs, access easily all service outputs, compare different site locations, configurations and maintenance scenarios, and get support from a team of specialised personnel for each one of the services. The EO-based services will cover different activity areas of wind farm design and operations from wind resource and wake effect assessment to the definition of maintenance operations weather windows, provided by dedicated expert teams coming from different partners. The users will interact with those EO experts to better understand the capabilities, optimal conditions of use and possible limitations of the different presented services, therefore easing their learning curve on the usage and uptake on these products. Hopefully this process, that will be upscaled to other users in the final workshop of the project, will improve significantly the uptake of these types of products by the wind energy sector. The dashboard should integrate these new EO based services with wind industry sector standard metrics for energy production, operational costs and total cost of energy to provide more recognisable and actionable information to the end users and therefore ease the uptake of these types of services by these non-EO expert user communities. Winds for resource assessment. The main focus will be on making EO data and derived products easily accessible for end users and on the development of new applications, which can integrate the EO data seamlessly into the applications already in use by the wind energy community and in particular the wind energy industry. The aim is to fully integrate satellite wind based products with well established industry standard wind farm planning and operations software solutions (SOWFA) and indicators (AEP and LCOE), addressing the full information value chain to provide meaningful and familiar information to infrastructure managers and other interested stakeholders. Assessment of wind turbine wake effects. The work will provide access to the higher resolution SAR based EO datasets, produced by DTU, to downstream industry standard applications developed by Wavec. Those applications will use those wind satellite products as ground truth to run the required simulations to assess and minimise wake effects. As in the previous service, standard energy production and cost indicators such as AEP and LCOE will be estimated in these simulations to provide actionable and familiar information to the different stakeholders. Assessment of rain erosion of wind turbine blades. The work will use rain data from the GPM mission to characterise rain events, which, combined with wind data from satellite EO, will produce novel rain-wind data series for selected sites with operating wind farms. The work will be the first of its kind, thus in a prototype level data for initial evaluation by end users, namely, wind farm owners, wind farm operators and wind farm planners. The main partner to demonstrate the services will be EDP, through the Windfloat Atlantic wind farm project installed 20 km off the Portuguese coast at Viana do Castelo. During the user engagement the consortium team will be in contact with a series of stakeholders working in the Atlantic Region to help consolidate the technical requirements. As a result, additional service exercises for different users might be prepared. This activity corresponds to Theme 2 of the original Invitation to Tender. |
| Blue economy: innovation clusters, Atlantic natural resources management and maritime spatial planning | The 2-years Blue Economy project aims at developing and demonstrating EO driven data solutions, which deliver actionable information to key coastal stakeholders. Applications will focus on the areas of coastal monitoring, ocean renewable energy, [...] | GMVIS SKYSOFT S.A. (PT) | Regional Initiatives | Atlantic, blue economy, coastal zone, marine environment, maritime spatial planning, oceans, regional initiatives, renewable energy | The 2-years Blue Economy project aims at developing and demonstrating EO driven data solutions, which deliver actionable information to key coastal stakeholders. Applications will focus on the areas of coastal monitoring, ocean renewable energy, and marine litter. It is being implemented through the European Space Agency’s Atlantic Regional Initiative. In parallel, a range of Atlantic-focused recommendations will be developed from engaged stakeholder inputs, and community development activities. These perspectives will (i) inform and enhance the roadmap being developed by the European Space Agency for the Atlantic Region, and (ii) find a seed Community of Practice of maritime-EO technology innovators for the Atlantic, focused on developing EO solutions to address Marine Strategy Framework, and Marine Spatial Planning ambitions. Rationale: As the Maritime Spatial Planning (MSPD) and Marine Strategy Framework (MSFD) directives are implemented across Europe, EU member states and aligning nations need innovative information gathering tools to monitor progress towards the goals of these two directives. Information from satellites can satisfy a number of these monitoring needs. The EO sector needs to demonstrate technological viability, and while doing so engage with policy makers and legislators to ensure information products are acceptable for monitoring and legal purposes. The Blue Economy project is a demonstration of this potential for Atlantic coastal states. A synthesis of products/services being developed is available in these slides. |
| Coastal erosion 1 | The Coastal Erosion project shall be conceived as EO application project that aim at developing innovative EO products and methods in response to authoritative end-user requirements. The Coastal Erosion project shall prepare the ground for a [...] | I-SEA (FR) | Applications | applications, Atlantic, coastal zone, ocean science cluster | The Coastal Erosion project shall be conceived as EO application project that aim at developing innovative EO products and methods in response to authoritative end-user requirements. The Coastal Erosion project shall prepare the ground for a long-term exploitation by large user communities, and is expected to provide substantial and concrete benefits to the targeted user communities. The source of EO data used, the novelty of the EO derived products, the innovating algorithmic approaches but also from the awareness and readiness of the user community involved. The innovative aspects of the Coastal Erosion project shall comply with the above prerequisite of the most innovative aspects of the Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 missions of the European Copernicus initiative combined with the ERS-1, ERS-2, Envisat and SPOT archives to provide the best products suited to end user requirements over the past 25 year. The scope of the Coastal Erosion project is the development and demonstration of innovative EO products that will be used by users communities responsible to monitor and control this process. Together with the champion user organizations, a set of innovative products and services shall be developed, including a scientifically sound validation, a comprehensive user assessment and a representative service roll-out analysis. While maintaining the openness of the scope and domains of innovation, the Coastal Erosion project shall develop innovative approaches that best exploit the novel observational capabilities of the Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 constellations. The Sentinel missions of the European Copernicus initiative brings new observational capabilities that were not available beforehand and, as a consequence, offers unprecedented opportunities to address these R&D priority issues. In particular the Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 missions, used individually or jointly, significantly improve the quality and adequacy of High Resolution (HR) satellite observations in both radar and optical domains. In order to fully exploit these new capabilities, additional R&D efforts are needed. The Coastal Erosion project is expected to provide the ideal platform to undertake these R&D activities in close partnership with key user organizations that best represent their respective communities. |
| Coastal erosion 2 | The Coastal Erosion project shall be conceived as EO application project that aim at developing innovative EO products and methods in response to authoritative end-user requirements. The Coastal Erosion project shall prepare the ground for a [...] | ARGANS LIMITED (GB) | Applications | Atlantic, coastal zone, ocean science cluster | The Coastal Erosion project shall be conceived as EO application project that aim at developing innovative EO products and methods in response to authoritative end-user requirements. The Coastal Erosion project shall prepare the ground for a long-term exploitation by large user communities, and is expected to provide substantial and concrete benefits to the targeted user communities. The source of EO data used, the novelty of the EO derived products, the innovating algorithmic approaches but also from the awareness and readiness of the user community involved. The innovative aspects of the Coastal Erosion project shall comply with the above prerequisite of the most innovative aspects of the Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 missions of the European Copernicus initiative combined with the ERS-1, ERS-2, Envisat and SPOT archives to provide the best products suited to end user requirements over the past 25 year. The scope of the Coastal Erosion project is the development and demonstration of innovative EO products that will be used by users communities responsible to monitor and control this process. Together with the champion user organizations, a set of innovative products and services shall be developed, including a scientifically sound validation, a comprehensive user assessment and a representative service roll-out analysis. While maintaining the openness of the scope and domains of innovation, the Coastal Erosion project shall develop innovative approaches that best exploit the novel observational capabilities of the Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 constellations. The Sentinel missions of the European Copernicus initiative brings new observational capabilities that were not available beforehand and, as a consequence, offers unprecedented opportunities to address these R&D priority issues. In particular the Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 missions, used individually or jointly, significantly improve the quality and adequacy of High Resolution (HR) satellite observations in both radar and optical domains. In order to fully exploit these new capabilities, additional R&D efforts are needed. The Coastal Erosion project is expected to provide the ideal platform to undertake these R&D activities in close partnership with key user organizations that best represent their respective communities. |
| EO for a Resilient Society: Intertidal Topography Mapping in the temporal domain (SAR-TWL), towards operationalisation of a global monitoring tool. | Intertidal zones form an interface between land and sea. They are important features of the coastal landscape providing a multitude of ecosystem services and forming a critical habitat for a wide range of species. Satellite Earth Observation [...] | National Oceanography Centre (NOC) (GB) | Regional Initiatives | Atlantic, Ecosystems, oceans, permanently open call, regional initiatives, SAR, Sentinel-1 | Intertidal zones form an interface between land and sea. They are important features of the coastal landscape providing a multitude of ecosystem services and forming a critical habitat for a wide range of species. Satellite Earth Observation (EO) unlocks new capabilities for monitoring intertidal zones, which are under significant pressure from multiple sources including coastal development, impacts from upstream land use and changes in sea level. The unique capabilities of EO for intertidal mapping have been demonstrated by research groups such as Murray et al. who, using optical data from the Landsat archive, have shown a declining trend in the global extent of intertidal flats. To meet the higher spatial and temporal monitoring needs of regional and local authorities the UK National Oceanography Centre (NOC) have developed a new approach based on S1 SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar), making use of temporal waterline methods (TWL). This time domain, or per pixel approach, reduces the manual interpolation steps inherent in optical methods and unlocks a new and unique way of observing intertidal dynamics. The work builds on nearly two decades of research into environmental monitoring with X-Band Marine Radar , complementing the synoptic and temporal frequencies that in-situ radar monitoring provides .Following two years of development and demonstration carried out in partnership with the Channel Coastal Observatory, the Environment Agency, Wales Coastal Monitoring Centre and local authority programmes, this new project will enable further development of the methods and the processing software. The objective is to enable more widespread access to this innovative method, with inherent potential for long term monitoring of intertidal dynamics at local to national scales. Previous development work was carried out as part of the Atlantic Region Initiative, under the Blue Economy, Marine Spatial Planning and Innovation Clusters project. https://eo4society.esa.int/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/MorecambeBay_TWL_POLPRED_MSL_filt.mp4 Video shows intertidal elevations for Morecambe Bay, from January 2017 to August 2022. At 310km2 Morecambe Bay is the largest intertidal area in the UK. ————————————————————————————– Murray N. J., Phinn S. R., DeWitt M., Ferrari R., Johnston R., Lyons M. B., Clinton N., Thau D. & Fuller R. A. “The global distribution and trajectory of tidal flats” Nature. 565:222-225. (2019). See Bell, Bird & Plater “A temporal waterline approach to mapping intertidal areas using X-band marine radar” Coastal Engineering (2016), & Bird, Bell & Plater “Application of marine radar to monitoring seasonal and event-based changes in intertidal morphology” Geomorphology https://marlan-tech.co.uk/ |
| WIDGEON – Waterborne Infectious Diseases and Global Earth Observation in the Nearshore | Plymouth Marine Laboratory (GB) | Enterprise | Atlantic, health, Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, urban, water resources |