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. |
| ALBATROSS – ALtimetry for BAthymetry and TideRetrievals for the Southern Ocean, Sea ice and ice Shelves | The ALBATROSS Project (ALtimetry for BAthymetry and Tide Retrievals for the Southern Ocean, Sea ice and ice Shelves) , led by NOVELTIS in collaboration with DTU, NPI and UCL, is one of the activities funded by ESA in the frame of the Polar [...] | NOVELTIS SAS (FR) | Science | altimeter, Antarctica, bathymetry and seafloor topography, CryoSat, cryosphere, Glaciers and Ice Sheets, oceans, polar science cluster, science, tides | The ALBATROSS Project (ALtimetry for BAthymetry and Tide Retrievals for the Southern Ocean, Sea ice and ice Shelves) , led by NOVELTIS in collaboration with DTU, NPI and UCL, is one of the activities funded by ESA in the frame of the Polar Science Cluster, with the objective to foster collaborative research and interdisciplinary networking actions. In this framework, the ALBATROSS ESA Project aims to improve knowledge about bathymetry and ocean tides in the Southern Ocean.The knowledge about ocean tides is at the crossroads of many scientific fields, especially in the Polar regions, as it has significant impact on ocean circulation modelling and the understanding of the coupled dynamical response of the ocean, sea ice and ice shelves system, the quality and accuracy of sea surface height and sea ice parameter estimates from satellite altimetry, or the understanding of ice-shelf dynamics, for example.Today, this knowledge is still limited by several aspects, such as the quality of bathymetry information, hydrodynamic model resolution and in situ and satellite observations availability for data assimilation and model validation. The objectives of the project are the following: Improve the knowledge on bathymetry around Antarctica, considering decade-long most recently reprocessed CryoSat datasets, innovative information on bathymetry gradient location through the analysis of sea ice surface roughness characteristics, and the compilation of the best available datasets in ice-shelf regions. Improve the knowledge on ocean tides in the Southern Ocean through the implementation of a high-resolution hydrodynamic model based on the most advanced developments in terms of ocean tide modelling, and data assimilation of observations, including satellite-altimetry derived tidal retrievals from the most recent and relevant satellite altimetry products. Improve satellite altimetry retrievals of sea surface heights and sea ice information thanks to the new tidal model solution. Improve the retrievals of ice shelves parameters thanks to the new tidal model solution. Share information and knowledge with other Polar science initiatives and projects. The ALBATROSS Project was launched in May 2021 and will span over two years. ——————————————————————————————————————- Presentation at the Living Planet Symposium (LPS22): ALBATROSS: Improving the bathymetry and ocean tide knowledge in theSouthern Ocean with satellite observations, M. Cancet, O. Andersen,M. Tsamados, G. Moholdt, F. Lyard, M. Restano, J. Benveniste ——————————————————————————————————————- PROJECT DOCUMENTS ALBATROSS ‐ Progress Report for First Quarterly Review PUBLICATIONS & COMMUNICATIONS Cancet M., Lyard F., Andersen O., Tsamados M., Moholdt G., Benveniste J., ALBATROSS, ALtimetry for BAthymetry and Tide Retrievals for the Southern Ocean, Sea ice and ice Shelves, presentation at the ESA Polar Science Cluster Collocation virtual Meeting, 15-17 September 2021 Cancet M., Fouchet E., Sahuc E., Lyard F., Andersen O., Dibarboure G., Picot N., Benveniste J., Improvement of the Bathymetry and Regional Tidal Modelling in the Arctic Ocean, presentation at the CryoSat 10th Anniversary Conference virtual event, 14-17 June 2021 (Announcement of the launch of the ALBATROSS project) ——————————————————————————————————————- The ALBATROSS Mid-Term Review meeting was held on the 23rd of June2022. The work on the bathymetry, coastline and grounding linedatasets that will feed the hydrodynamic tidal model is almostcompleted. Hydrodynamic tidal simulations have been performed inorder to assess the accuracy of the new bathymetry datasets andprovide feedback about improved areas and regions where furtherimprovements may be needed. The exploratory work on the linkagesbetween sea ice surface roughness computed from MISR data,bathymetry features and vertical tidal excursions shows promisingresults and could be used as a complementary tool to assess therealism of some features in the bathymetry models. Finally, thetidal harmonic constituents retrieved from 10 years of CryoSat-2observations in the Southern Ocean provide an invaluable validationdatabase for the tidal model, bridging the gap between the scarcecoastal in-situ observations and the Topex/Jason conventionalaltimetry observations that are limited to 66°S and stronglyaffected by the presence of sea ice. The implementation of the newhigh-resolution tidal atlas will continue in the coming months andwill be followed by an assessment phase |
| Arctic + Salinity | Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) is a key indicator of the freshwater fluxes and an important variable to understand the changes the Arctic is facing. However, salinity in-situ measurements are very sparse in the Arctic region. For this reason, remote [...] | ARGANS LIMITED (GB) | Science | ocean science cluster, oceans, polar science cluster, science | Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) is a key indicator of the freshwater fluxes and an important variable to understand the changes the Arctic is facing. However, salinity in-situ measurements are very sparse in the Arctic region. For this reason, remote sensing salinity measurements (currently provided by L-band radiometry satellites, SMOS and SMAP) are of special relevance for this region. The retrieval of SSS in the Arctic represents a challenge, because brightness temperatures measured by L-band satellites are less sensitive to salinity in cold waters. An additional drawback consists in the presence of sea ice, that contaminates the brightness temperature and must be adequately processed. The ESA Arctic+ Salinity project (Dec 2018 – June 2020) will contribute to reduce the knowledge gap in the characterization of the freshwater flux changes in the Arctic region. The objectives of this project are the following: 1. Develop a new algorithm and novel approaches with the aim of producing the best quality validated SMOS SSS product in the Arctic region with its corresponding accuracy. Additionally, SMOS and SMAP data will be combined with the aim to improve the radiometric accuracy and the characterization of the product biases and stability. 2. Generate a long-term salinity dataset from 2011 up to date to be publicly offered to the scientific community. The products will be daily distributed with a temporal resolution of 9 days and a spatial resolution of 25Km (EASE Grid 2.0). 3. Assess the relation between the dynamics of SMOS salinity with respect to land freshwater fluxes (Greenland and glacier flows) and ocean freshwater fluxes (rivers and E-P balance) using model outputs. This has the objective to quantify the freshwater fluxes through SSS products. 4. Assess the impact of the new SSS satellite data in a data assimilation system (the TOPAZ4 system, both in forecast and reanalysis mode) with the idea that, if an improvement is demonstrated, the assimilation of SMOS & SMAP products in TOPAZ will be part of the new Arctic reanalysis and forecast products on the CMEMS portal. 5. Define a roadmap describing the future work to better characterize the freshwater fluxes for the Arctic regions. The output of this project will be of great benefit for the on-going ESA Sea Surface Salinity Climate Change Initiative (CCI) project, which started in February 2018. The outputs of the project will be: 1. The distribution to the scientific community of the best-up-to-date sea surface salinity maps from SMOS and from the combination of SMOS and SMAP with their corresponding uncertainties. 2. Explore the feasibility and utility of assimilating the surface salinity maps product in the TOPAZ4 model. The potential problem the project face is the sparse in-situ data availability in the area which is needed for a complete validation assessment. Other potential problems are the sea ice edge that has a direct effect in the brightness temperature and the RFI contamination. But several solutions have already been identified. |
| ARKTALAS HOAVVA PROJECT | The multi-disciplinary, long-term, satellite-based Earth Observations (EO) form a tremendous synergy of data and information products that should to be more systematically and consistently explored, from the short synoptic time scales to the [...] | NANSEN ENVIRONMENTAL AND REMOTE SENSING CENTER (NO) | Science | cryosphere, ocean science cluster, oceans, polar science cluster, science | The multi-disciplinary, long-term, satellite-based Earth Observations (EO) form a tremendous synergy of data and information products that should to be more systematically and consistently explored, from the short synoptic time scales to the longer decadal time scales. This lays the rationale for the ESA funded Arktalas Hoavva study project. A stepwise multi-modal analyses framework approach benefitting from native resolution satellite observations together with complementary in-situ data, model fields, analyses and visualization system and data assimilation tools will be applied. Following this approach, the overall goal is to remove knowledge gaps and advance the insight and quantitative understanding of sea ice, ocean and atmosphere interactive processes and their mutual feedback across a broad range of temporal and spatial scales. In turn, four major existing interlinked Arctic Scientific research Challenges (ASC) will be investigated, including: ASC-1: Characterize Arctic Amplification and its impact (ASC-1) Central elements (not exclusive) are: – reduction in sea ice extent and concentration; – changes in albedo; – changes in the radiation balance; – increased air temperature; – delayed onset of sea ice freezing; – early onset of sea ice melting; – increasing area of melt ponds and polynias; – increased lead fraction; – changes in snow cover and SWE; – changes in ocean-atmosphere momentum, heat exchange and gas exchanges; – reduction in fast ice area; – thinning of sea ice thickness; – changes in optical conditions in the upper ocean with influence on the biology and marine ecosystem; – more favourable conditions for sea ice drift; – more meltwater; – larger fetch; – enhanced wave-sea ice interaction; – more wave induced sea ice break-up; – modifications to atmospheric boundary layer and changes in weather pattern; – influence on Arctic vortex and hence teleconnection to mid-latitudes. ASC-2: Characterize the impact of more persistent and larger area open water on sea ice dynamics Building on ASC-1, this is associated with: – increasing momentum transfer to the upper ocean leading to more turbulent mixing and possibly entrainment of warm Atlantic Water below the halocline; – increasing Ekman effects; – changes in sea ice growth, salt rejection and halocline formation; – larger fetch and lower frequency waves penetrating further into the ice covered regions leading to more floe-break-up; – increasing lead fraction and more sea ice melting; – reduction in sea ice flow size, age, thicknesses and extent and subsequent change in sea ice mechanical behaviour; – possibly more abundance of internal waves and mesoscale and sub-mesoscale eddies generated in the open ocean with subsequent abilities to propagate into the ice covered regions leading to changes in sea ice deformation and dynamics. ASC-3: Understand, characterize and predict the impact of extreme event storms in sea-ice formation Growing areas of open water within the Arctic Ocean and the neighbouring seas will be more effectively exposed to extreme events. Cold air outbreak and polar lows, for instance, are known to have strong impact in the Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ), including; – enhanced momentum transfer and vertical mixing; – enhanced sea ice formation; – enhanced formation of unstable stratification in the atmospheric boundary layer; – more low cloud formations changing the radiation balance; – set up abnormal wave field to strengthen wave induced sea ice break-up; – abnormal impact on the pycnocline and subsequent entrainment of heat into the upper mixed. A central question is eventually whether the Arctic amplification will trigger increasing frequency of occurrences and strength of extremes. ASC-4: Understand, characterize and predict the Arctic ocean spin-up The ongoing Arctic amplification and subsequent changes, mutual interactions and feedback mechanisms are also expected to influence the basin scale atmospheric and ocean circulation within the Arctic Ocean. In particular, this will address: – freshwater distribution and transport; – importance of Ekman pumping; – changes in water mass properties; – changes in upper ocean stratification and mixing; – changes in sub-surface heat exchange; – possibly more abundance of mesoscale and sub-mesoscale eddies and internal waves generated in the open ocean with subsequent abilities to propagate into the sea ice covered regions. The Arktalas Hoavva project kicked-off 9 July 2019 and will be executed over a 24 months period through the following seven interconnected tasks with mutual input-output feeds as schematically illustrated in the figure below. One of the major outcomes of the project is six dedicated research papers emerging from Task 3 that are specifically addressing the Arctic Scientific Challenges. These papers will be published in peer review journals. Moreover, the project will develop a visualization portal in polar-stereographic configuration that will be connected to the Arktalas data archive and allow users to access and make use of the Arktalas satellite-based, in-situ and model-based dataset during the project. |
| 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 Meridional Transect Ocean Flux from satellite campaign (AMT4OceanSatFlux) | This project estimates of the air-sea flux of CO2 calculated from a suite of satellite products over a range of Atlantic Ocean provinces. It deploys state-of-the-art eddy co-variance methods to provide independent verification of satellite [...] | Plymouth Marine Laboratory (GB) | Science | ocean science cluster, oceans, science | This project estimates of the air-sea flux of CO2 calculated from a suite of satellite products over a range of Atlantic Ocean provinces. It deploys state-of-the-art eddy co-variance methods to provide independent verification of satellite estimates of CO2 gas exchange over the Atlantic Ocean. The project provides Fiducial Reference Measurements from the AMT28 (from 23rd September to 29th October 2018) and AMT 29 (from 13th October to 25th November 2019) field campaigns to enable independent verification and validation of the satellite CO2 air-sea flux estimates both at point scales and on scales that relate to satellite data over a range of oceanographic conditions. Global algorithms that are being used to study ocean acidification from using satellite data are also being evaluated and refined within the project, using high spatio-temporal resolution underway measurements made on AMT28 and AMT29 field campaigns. |
| 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. |
| BALTIC+ Sea-Land biogeochemical linkages (SeaLaBio) | The overall goal of the ESA funded project Baltic+ SeaLaBio (Sea-Land Biogeochemical linkages) running from Dec 2018 to May 2020 is to develop methods for assessing carbon dynamics and eutrophication in the Baltic Sea through integrated use of [...] | FINNISH ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE (SYKE) (FI) | Science | Baltic, carbon cycle, carbon science cluster, land, ocean science cluster, oceans, Sentinel-2, Sentinel-3 | The overall goal of the ESA funded project Baltic+ SeaLaBio (Sea-Land Biogeochemical linkages) running from Dec 2018 to May 2020 is to develop methods for assessing carbon dynamics and eutrophication in the Baltic Sea through integrated use of EO, models, and ground-based data The poor state of the Baltic Sea again became apparent during summer 2018 in form of massive and long-lasting cyanobacteria blooms. Warm and sunny weather, combined with good availability of nutrients led to the worst algae situation in a decade. Climate change is expected to cause further warming in this region making these events more and more common in the future. The decades of dumping untreated waste water into the Baltic Sea and the use of fertilizers in agriculture have resulted in strong internal loading. While the water treatment situation has improved and fertilizers are being used more responsibly, the flux of carbon and nutrients from land to sea is still great and in many areas largely unknown. The Sentinel satellites of the Copernicus programme offer an excellent opportunity for characterizing and monitoring the fluxes and processes occurring in coastal zones. This in turn will lead to improved process understanding. With this in mind, the Baltic+ SeaLaBio research project aims to find an answer to the question: • Can we quantify the carbon flux from land to sea with Sentinel-3 (S3) OLCI and Sentinel-2 (S2) MSI data in the Baltic Sea region? And if not, what are the main obstacles and potential solutions to be addressed in the future? In addition to frequent cyanobacteria blooms, the high absorption by colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) causes problems to the utilization of EO for monitoring the state of the Baltic Sea. The available processors for S3 and S2 often provide overestimated values for Chlorophyll a and underestimate CDOM. The main source of these problems is the failure of the atmospheric correction to provide reasonable marine reflectances. Thus, the project focuses especially on improving the atmospheric correction and in-water inversion algorithms for S3 and S2 images. The developed methods will be validated with in situ data collected from different parts of the Baltic Sea. We will also improve the spatial resolution of a biogeochemical (BGC) model (Ecological ReGional Ocean Model, ERGOM) and compare its output against the EO results. S3 OLCI has a better band combination for water quality estimation than S2 but its spatial resolution limits its use in river estuaries and archipelagos common in the coastal areas of the Baltic Sea. Hence, the synergistic use of these two data sources can lead to improved coverage in coastal regions without compromising the thematic quality of the data. The project will actively disseminate its progress and results in various Baltic Sea and EO events. |
| BICEP – Biological Pump and Carbon Exchange Processes | The ocean carbon cycle is a vital part of the global carbon cycle. It has been estimated that around a quarter of anthropogenically-produced emissions of CO2, caused from the burning of fossil fuels and land use change, have been absorbed by the [...] | Plymouth Marine Laboratory (GB) | Science | carbon cycle, carbon science cluster, ocean science cluster, oceans, permanently open call, science | The ocean carbon cycle is a vital part of the global carbon cycle. It has been estimated that around a quarter of anthropogenically-produced emissions of CO2, caused from the burning of fossil fuels and land use change, have been absorbed by the ocean. On the other hand, significant advances have been made recently to expand and enhance the quality of a wide range of Remote Sensing based products capturing different aspects of the ocean carbon cycle. Building on recommendations made in a series of recent meetings and reports, on ESA lead initiatives and projects and on other relevant international programmes, the objective of the BICEP project is to bring these developments together into an holistic exercise to further advance our capacity to better characterise from a synergetic use of space data, in-situ measurements and model outputs, the different components of the ocean biological carbon pump, its pools and fluxes, its variability in space and time and the understanding of its processes and interactions with the earth system. To achieve this goal, the BICEP project will first synthesise the current state of knowledge in the field and produce a consolidated set of scientific requirements that define the products to be generated, as well as how these products will be evaluated and used to produce an enhanced BICEP dataset. Major emphasis will be placed on developing unified products to ensure that the carbon budgets made are in balance. Uncertainties in the derived products will also be quantified. A large in situ dataset of ocean carbon pools and fluxes will be created, to be used to evaluate and select the algorithms, with a focus on five key test sites, representative of the range of conditions in the global ocean. Using these selected algorithms, a 20-year time series of data will be generated, built through application of the selected algorithms to the ESA OC-CCI time series, a merged, bias-corrected ocean-colour data record explicitly designed for long-term analysis. The dataset will be used as input to a novel, satellite-based characterisation of the ocean biological carbon pump, quantifying the pools and fluxes, how they vary in time and space, and how they compare with ocean model estimates. The satellite-based Ocean Biological Cabon Pump analysis will then be placed in the context of carbon cycling in other domains of the Earth System, through engagement with Earth System modellers and climate scientists. Finally, a workshop will be organized, to be used as a vehicle to engage the international community in a discussion on how the BICEP work could be pushed forward, and integrated with results from other components of the ocean carbon cycle (e.g. CO2 air-flux and ocean acidification) not covered in the project, and how the representation of satellite-based ocean carbon work could be further improved in the context of large international Earth System analysis, such as the Global Carbon Project and assessments made within the International Panel of Climate Change (IPCC). The proposed work will be delivered by a consortium of twelve international Institutes, led by the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML, Plymouth, UK) and composed of top-level scientists, with collective expertise on Remote Sensing, statistical modelling, ocean carbon cycling, theoretical ecology and Earth System science. |
| Biodiversity in the Open Ocean: Mapping, Monitoring and Modelling (BOOMS) | Increasing pressure due to anthropogenic drivers is leading to a reduction of global biodiversity and its associated benefits at the planetary scale. In open ocean (seafloor depth greater than 200 m) the most important direct drivers of [...] | Plymouth Marine Laboratory (GB) | Science | biodiversity flagship, biodiversity science cluster, coastal processes, coastal zone, Ecosystems, marine environment, ocean health flagship, ocean science cluster, oceans, science, sea surface topography | Increasing pressure due to anthropogenic drivers is leading to a reduction of global biodiversity and its associated benefits at the planetary scale. In open ocean (seafloor depth greater than 200 m) the most important direct drivers of biodiversity loss is fishing and extraction of seafood, with a lesser but rapidly increasing importance of climate change, pollution and invasive species. These drivers have accelerated in the last 50 years and they are predicted to continue, despite international efforts in the last decades. To guide further action, it is, therefore, urgent and important to develop “fit-for-purpose” observation tools. These observations should be capable of assessing and monitoring how the community structure and function of coastal ecosystems respond to the anthropogenic and natural drivers in a changing climate. The BOOMS project aims to provide the best possible characterisation of oceanic seascapes (habitats defined by physical, chemical or biological characteristics), and its relationship to Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBV) globally. It will produce a >10-year time series of seascapes based on 4-km resolution remote sensing data over the global ocean, combining independent datasets from advanced algorithms of ocean colour and sea surface temperature. BOOMS will focus on three Science Case Studies, for different trophic levels: phytoplankton, zooplankton and fish. In particular, this project main objectives are: Identify and characterise critical applications (Science Case Studies) of remote sensing to study open ocean biodiversity, with a focus on dynamic seascapes. Develop a global dataset and evaluate its application for each Science Case Study. Engage with the community of biodiversity stakeholders (scientific and Early Adopters) and the remote sensing community throughout the project. Define the activities necessary to utilise current and planned sensors to detect measures of marine biodiversity; or define new approaches, if the existing ones are not considered capable to fulfil the targeted science objectives. |
| Biodiversity of the Coastal Ocean: Monitoring with Earth observation (BiCOME) | Increasing pressure on nature due to anthropogenic drivers is leading to a reduction of global biodiversity and its associated benefits at the planetary scale. In coastal environments, the most important direct drivers of biodiversity loss are [...] | Plymouth Marine Laboratory (GB) | Applications | biodiversity flagship, biodiversity science cluster, coastal processes, coastal zone, Ecosystems, marine environment, ocean health flagship, ocean science cluster, oceans, science | Increasing pressure on nature due to anthropogenic drivers is leading to a reduction of global biodiversity and its associated benefits at the planetary scale. In coastal environments, the most important direct drivers of biodiversity loss are fishing, land and sea use, climate change and pollution. These drivers have accelerated in the last 50 years, and they are predicted to continue, despite international efforts in the last decades. To guide further action, it is therefore urgent and important to develop “fit-for-purpose” observation tools. These observations should be capable of assessing and monitoring how the community structure and function of coastal ecosystems will respond to the anthropogenic and natural drivers in a changing climate. BiCOME aims to develop and provide the necessary evidence and promote a set of global Earth Observation products for biodiversity science and policy for the coastal zone. In particular this project will: Identify and characterise critical applications (Pilot Studies) of remote sensing to study coastal biodiversity. Evaluate existing and planned sensor capabilities for each Pilot Study. Engage with the community of biodiversity stakeholders (scientific and policy makers) and the remote sensing community throughout the project. Define the activities necessary to utilise current and planned sensors to detect measures of marine biodiversity; or define new approaches, if the existing ones are not considered capable to fulfil the targeted science objectives. |
| 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. |
| CryoSat Plus For Oceans (CP4O) | The “CryoSat Plus for Oceans” (CP4O) project, supported by the ESA Support to Science Element (STSE) Programme and by CNES, was dedicated to the exploitation of CryoSat-2 data over the open and coastal ocean. The general objectives of the CP4O [...] | SATELLITE OCEANOGRAPHIC CONSULTANTS LTD. (GB) | Science | altimeter, coastal zone, oceans, polar science cluster, SAR, SARin, science | The “CryoSat Plus for Oceans” (CP4O) project, supported by the ESA Support to Science Element (STSE) Programme and by CNES, was dedicated to the exploitation of CryoSat-2 data over the open and coastal ocean. The general objectives of the CP4O project were: To build a sound scientific basis for new oceanographic applications of CryoSat-2 data; to generate and evaluate new methods and products that will enable the full exploitation of the capabilities of the CryoSat-2 SIRAL altimeter, and to ensure that the scientific return of the CryoSat-2 mission is maximised. However, whilst the results from CP4O were highly promising and confirmed the potential of SAR altimetry to support new scientific and operational oceanographic applications, it was also apparent that further work was needed in some key areas to fully realise the original project objectives. Thus, after the end of the Project in 2015, additional work in four areas has been supported by ESA under a first Contract Change Notice (CCN): Developments in SARin data processing for Coastal Altimetry. Implementation of a Regional Tidal Atlas for the Arctic Ocean. Improvements to the SAMOSA retracker: Implementation and Evaluation & Optimised Thermal Noise Estimation. Extended evaluation of CryoSat-2 SAR data for Coastal Applications. This CCN ended in 2016 and was followed by a second Contract Change Notice, currently on-going, on the improvement of the arctic ocean bathymetry and regional tidal atlas. A detailed description of the specific objectives under each of the four sub-themes (Open Ocean Altimetry, Polar Ocean Altimetry, Coastal Zone Altimetry & Sea-Floor Altimetry) can be found at http://www.satoc.eu/projects/CP4O/ |
| CryoSat-2 for enhanced sea-ice thickness and ocean observations in Antarctica: “CryoSat+ Antarctic Ocean” | Why has Antarctic sea ice experienced a small increase in extent over the past decades in stark contrast to the rapid decline observed in the Arctic? What role are the Southern Ocean and sea ice playing in controlling the Deep Water formation [...] | MULLARD SPACE SCIENCE LABORATORY-UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON (GB) | Science | Antarctica, oceans, polar science cluster, science, snow and ice | Why has Antarctic sea ice experienced a small increase in extent over the past decades in stark contrast to the rapid decline observed in the Arctic? What role are the Southern Ocean and sea ice playing in controlling the Deep Water formation and thermohaline circulation and the melting of the Antarctic ice shelves and sea level rise? Only satellite remote sensing can provide the pan-Antarctic view required to fully understand these changes to the Southern Hemisphere’s sea ice and ocean fields in response to anthropogenic warming. Over the last 8 years CryoSat-2 (CS2) has allowed a radically new view of the ice covered Arctic Ocean, providing us with the first pan-Arctic sea ice thickness maps, dynamic topography and geostrophic currents, and indirectly a wealth of geophysical products ranging from Eddy kinetic energy (EKE), Ekman upwelling / downwelling, to snow on sea ice, and improved tidal models, or better resolved bathymetry at the bottom ocean. In Antarctica similar products have emerged but remain at a lower level of maturity. Specific challenges in the processing of the radar signal result from the complex surface characteristics of the ice covered Southern Ocean such as the sea ice flooding from snow loading or the highly fragmented and divergent marginal ice zone like nature of the sea ice cover. In addition, validation of sea ice and ocean products is hindered by the observational gap of in-situ and airborne data in the Southern Hemisphere. The overarching objective of this project is to address these issues by developing new approaches and algorithms that could be implemented in ESA’s CryoSat-2 ground segment processor to produce state of the art sea ice and ocean products that will be validated against a comprehensive dataset of airborne and in-situ measurements and result in scientific progress for our understanding of the Antarctic Climate system and ocean circulation. The main objectives of this project are: Perform a thorough review of the scientific and technical challenges Survey, collect and document all relevant data sets needed for the successful development of novel, observational and model-based snow thickness products. Develop, inter-compare and validate multiple approaches to sea surface height and sea ice thickness retrieval on Antarctic sea ice. Specific approaches to be considered are: Novel LRM/SAR/SARIN methods for leads, polynyas, open ocean and sea ice classification Along-track processors over leads, polynyas and open ocean for sea surface estimation Along-track processors over sea ice floes for sea ice thickness estimation Pan-Antarctic gridded products of dynamic ocean topography and geostrophic currents Pan-Antarctic gridded products of sea ice thickness Preliminary inter-comparison of along-track and gridded products developed in steps b-e Validation over selected tracks and key regions against in-situ and airborne data. Implement the algorithms developed above and assess their impact and usefulness in addressing the identified scientific challenges. Build a scientific roadmap for future development and evolution of knowledge about the snow layer on Arctic sea ice. The main outputs of the project will be: An Experimental Dataset and accompanying User Manual Algorithm description documents Validation reports An Impact Assessment A scientific Roadmap The biggest challenges the project faces are the difficulties in validating data products against sparse or preferentially sampled, in-situ data, and in proving that a new method is measurably better than an existing method when applied to inherently noisy data. |
| CYMS (Scaling-up Cyclone Monitoring Service with Sentinel-1) | CYMS is an ESA-funded project aiming at scaling up an operational service for Tropical Cyclone (TC) monitoring, in view of its potential integration as part of a Copernicus Service. The main scientific and technical objectives are to:Develop a [...] | CLS COLLECTE LOCALISATION SATELLITES (FR) | Science | ocean science cluster, oceans, permanently open call, science, Sentinel-1, SMOS | CYMS is an ESA-funded project aiming at scaling up an operational service for Tropical Cyclone (TC) monitoring, in view of its potential integration as part of a Copernicus Service. The main scientific and technical objectives are to: Develop a sustainable acquisition strategy dedicated to TC ; Consolidate S-1 end-to-end processing chains for ocean surface wind field with dedicated and up-to-date algorithms for extreme events ; Build an archive center with homogeneous and consistent l2 products, for the TC product validation purpose and scientific applications ; Build a single integrated portal easing dissemination and outreach activities. |
| deteCtion and threAts of maRinE Heat waves (CAREHeat) | CNR-INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCES-ISMAR (IT) | Science | biodiversity science cluster, blue economy, carbon cycle, climate, Ecosystems, marine environment, ocean health flagship, ocean heat budget, ocean science cluster, oceans, SST | ||
| DIGITAL TWIN EARTH PRECURSORS – OCEANS | Considering the long-term goal for Digital Twin Ocean (DTO) of being a virtual representation of the marine environment including all its known features and dynamics, the DTO-p project proposes to:Define a concept of a DTO, implement and [...] | IFREMER (FR) | Science | marine environment, oceans, regional initiatives, science | Considering the long-term goal for Digital Twin Ocean (DTO) of being a virtual representation of the marine environment including all its known features and dynamics, the DTO-p project proposes to: Define a concept of a DTO, implement and demonstrate to a relevant stakeholder community and ESA; Create a solid scientific and technical basis upon which the Destination Earth vision proposed by the EU can be realized Explain and simulate two very distinct ocean phenomena in two very contrasting marine basins: marine heatwaves in the Mediterranean Sea and sea ice breaking in the Arctic Ocean. |
| Earth Observation Advanced science Tools for Sea level Extreme Events (EOatSEE) | Earth Observation Advanced science Tools for Sea level Extreme Events (EOatSEE) is a project funded by ESA and proposed by a consortium of institutions and companies that are internationally recognized for their work in the Marine, Coastal and [...] | Deimos Engenharia (PT) | Science | altimeter, bathymetry and seafloor topography, coastal processes, coastal zone, Erosion and Sedimentation, natural hazards and disaster risk, ocean science cluster, ocean waves, oceans, rivers, science, Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, Sentinel-3, Sentinel-6, surface water, tides | Earth Observation Advanced science Tools for Sea level Extreme Events (EOatSEE) is a project funded by ESA and proposed by a consortium of institutions and companies that are internationally recognized for their work in the Marine, Coastal and Earth Observation topics. It aims to provide an advanced reconstruction of the relevant processes included in extreme sea level (ESL) events and its related coastal hazards, by taking advantage of the novel capabilities and synergies offered by the latest advances in EO technology. The solid scientific knowledge arising from EOatSEE therefore shall enhance the fundamental scientific understanding and predictive capacity of such events, as well as our potential to better assess the related risk and the vulnerability of coastal zones. Therefore, following an initial phase for scientific requirements consolidation, EOatSEE will address the following three main science cases domains, which represent the main drivers for the proposed work: Science case 1 – Predictability: drivers of extreme sea level flooding hazards Science case 2 – Process understanding: the cascade effect of extreme sea level events on long-term coastal evolution considering the dynamic morphological response Science case 3 – Assessment and risk and vulnerability: the tipping points of coastal systems To accomplish such scientific and technical objectives, EOatSEE methodological approach is divided in two main domains: short-term – where Science case 1 will be addressed using three distinct approaches: a high resolution downscaling process-based modelling approach (HRDW), together with the new EO-products implemented in the model chain; a linear summation empirical modelling downscaling method (LSDW), considering coastal morphology as passive (no changes along time); a reduced complexity forecasting coastal evolution model (ForCE), which adds the capacity to simulate active morphology (morphological response along the time, due to changes in water levels and waves). long-term – where Science cases 1 and 2 will be addressed using the LSDW and ForCE approaches, considering the extremely high computational cost of performing long-term high-resolution numerical modelling as in HRDW; a combination of both short-term and long-term approaches shall also be employed to address Science case 3. The project also includes the development of a pilot program of scientific research and knowledge transfer to early-adopters, focused on six different use cases located in key vulnerable areas. Specific applications are to be employed by these engaged end-users for knowledge-based decision making, evaluating the added value of EO-products on the high-resolution downscaling modelling tools and within historical analysis and future projections of ESL events. Moreover, a community Scientific Roadmap should be developed aimed at transferring the outcomes of the EOatSEE into future scientific activities and indicating potential topics for additional research. The kickoff meeting for EOatSEE was held on Friday 24 June 2022. If you are interested in contributing to the scientific discussion or accessing any of the data sets it will produce, please contact the Project Manager via the web site above. |
| Earth Observation data For Science and Innovation in the Black Sea (EO4SIBS) | In the frame of the ESA Regional Initiatives, a set of coordinated activities between science, public sector, industry growth and infrastructure components focussing on regional priorities with high interest for Member States, a number of [...] | UNIVERSITY OF LIEGE (BE) | Science | Black Sea and Danube, carbon science cluster, ocean science cluster, oceans, regional initiatives, science, Sentinel-2, Sentinel-3 | In the frame of the ESA Regional Initiatives, a set of coordinated activities between science, public sector, industry growth and infrastructure components focussing on regional priorities with high interest for Member States, a number of Science and Application projects are being runned for the Black Sea and Danube region. In this context, the EO4SIBS (Earth Observation data For Science and Innovation in the Black Sea) project is dedicated to Ocean Science. The objectives of this project are: To develop a new generation of algorithms that can ingest the wealth of spatial, temporal and spectral information provided by recent sensors providing high quality reference products for the blue and green ocean. In particular, regarding Ocean Colour derived products, innovative, high quality reference products of Chl-a, Total Suspended Matter (TSM) and turbidity products will be generated for the whole Black Sea geographical area, with a special focus on the western part directly influenced by the Danube River plume. Merged products will be generated to combine the high temporal resolution of S-3 OLCI and high spatial resolution of S-2 MSI satellite products and capture the optimal spatio-temporal coverage over the Black Sea waters. Concerning altimeter datasets, Level-3 Sentinel-3A [2016, 2018] and Cryosat-2 [2011, 2018] along-track product will be generated and their impact for coastal sea level trend study in the Black Sea assessed, and Level-4 multi-mission gridded products over the [2011, 2018] for improved mesoscale studies. Finally, 10 year (2010-2020) of improved gap-free high resolution salinity products will be generated. To collect new data to support the development of novel algorithms and to propose laboratory analyses of the highest quality To build novel composite products that integrate the satellite information with that from robotic platforms and numerical ocean models; To assess how the use of EO data improves our knowledge of good environmental status (GES) and climate change in the Black Sea. In particular three scientific use cases will be assessed : Physical oceanography and biochemical ecosystems; Black Sea level dynamics and trends; Deoxygenation. To disseminate the developed tools and products to the regional and international scientific and end-user community through the setting of a web platform, the organization of dissemination events, the participation to conferences. |
| Earth System Data Lab (ESDL) | The main objective of the Earth System Data Lab (ESDL) project is to establish and operate a service to the scientific community that greatly facilitates access and exploitation of the multivariate data set in the ESDL and by this means advances [...] | BROCKMANN CONSULT GMBH (DE) | Science | land, marine environment, oceans, platforms, science | The main objective of the Earth System Data Lab (ESDL) project is to establish and operate a service to the scientific community that greatly facilitates access and exploitation of the multivariate data set in the ESDL and by this means advances the understanding of the interactions between the ocean-land-atmosphere system and society. To this end, the main tasks of the project fall into four main categories: infrastructure and operations, data sets and tools, use cases and scientific exploitation, and communication and outreach. The core part of the ESDL is the data in analysis-ready form, together with tools and methods to generate, access, and exploit the ESDL. The software to generate the ESDL and the data access APIs have been developed in the preceding project CAB-LAB. The modular open source approach adopted in CAB-LAB has proven to be convenient, flexible, and powerful and effectively meets user requirements. ESDL further evolves the range of available tools according to the requirements formulated by the different user groups of the service, while users may also contribute their own solutions and share them with others on github. The project continuously extends the datasets included in the ESDL. The additions imply both extending the data coverage in time as well as the introduction of completely new data sets. Examples for specific requirements include marine parameters and the missing parameters from ESA’s CCI programme, e.g. Land Cover, Clouds, Aerosols, and Green House Gases. As for the software part, the main objective for these additions is to increase the ESDL’s utility and versatility and thus ultimately the uptake of scientific users, who will then have a powerful tool to advance our understanding of the Earth system dynamics. User uptake and scientific exploitation through the implementation of use cases is actively promoted by several tasks. The project adopts a three-stage approach and accordingly defines three different user types, Champion Users (CU, pre-defined use cases), Early Adopters (EA, Open call), and the Scientific Community (SC, free use). All ESDL users have in common that they are using the ESDL for scientific exploitation. While doing so, they are helping to improve the ESDL and the service provided, to increase the awareness for this activity and the offered service, and to extend the ESDL by contributing own source code and data sets. The ESDL is complemented by extensive outreach, communication, and training activites, which will foster user uptake, empower users to optimally exploit the ESDL, and eventually yield tangible scientific results in the form of peer-reviewed articles in international journals. Champion Use Cases: Four Champion use cases will be implemented in collaboration with distinguished experts to demonstrate the wide range of different approaches that may be adopted with the ESDL: EM-DAT: Environmental conditions during societal catastrophes GEO-BON Colombia: Supporting regional initiatives in Colombia towards an Ecological Observation System Marine NPP: Primary productivity models in the ocean MDI: Biogeochemical Model Optimization Results: The Data Lab is accessible via registration https://www.earthsystemdatalab.net/index.php/interact/data-lab/ User Guide and Source code for Python and Julia https://www.earthsystemdatalab.net/index.php/documentation/user-guide/ The Earth System Data Lab is available on the Euro Data Cube https://eurodatacube.com/ |
| EO tracking of marine debris in the Mediterranean Sea from public satellites | One of the most significant unknown factors in marine debris is the flux of plastic from land based sources into the marine environment. This project is testing techniques to combine EO and UAV data to detect different types and volumes of [...] | ARGANS LIMITED (GB) | Enterprise | oceans, permanently open call | One of the most significant unknown factors in marine debris is the flux of plastic from land based sources into the marine environment. This project is testing techniques to combine EO and UAV data to detect different types and volumes of plastic in order to establish a methodology to characterize this flux in hotspot areas which are the main sources of plastic. |
| FFSAR – Coastal Fully Focused SAR Altimetry and Innovative River Level Gauges for Coastal Monitoring | Fully Focused (FF) SAR Coastal [FFSAR-Coastal] is a project funded by ESA to apply the Fully Focused SAR altimetry processor on Sentinel-3 data and evaluate its potential to make a significant new contribution to coastal and estuarine monitoring [...] | SATELLITE OCEANOGRAPHIC CONSULTANTS LTD. (GB) | Science | altimeter, coastal zone, ocean science cluster, oceans, rivers, science, Sentinel-3, Sentinel-6, surface water | Fully Focused (FF) SAR Coastal [FFSAR-Coastal] is a project funded by ESA to apply the Fully Focused SAR altimetry processor on Sentinel-3 data and evaluate its potential to make a significant new contribution to coastal and estuarine monitoring systems, when coupled with innovative water level gauges for validation. Two different environments have been considered: The Severn Estuary and river: A highly dynamic mixed tidal estuary environment, the confluence between a river and its estuary experiencing large tidal range and strong tidal currents The lower Rhône Delta and Camargue: A low lying, flat river delta and wetland environment, susceptible to inundation and water level rise. Innovative in-situ water level gauges were used to validate the satellite data. Time series were provided by autonomous Vortex.io gauges (“microstations”) placed at fixed locations, gauges mounted on drones were used to provide water level profiles between the fixed locations and satellite tracks. FFSAR-Coastal investigated the potential applicability and benefits offered by FF SAR altimeter data in these two different environments. Analysis focused on the benefits offered by the very high along-track resolution in water level and backscatter that can be provided through Fully Focused SAR processing. User agencies and groups from the two regions were consulted to identify gaps and priorities for monitoring requirements. The Fully Focused SAR altimeter data, Vortex.io microstation data, and drone campaign data, are all available through a special page on the UK Coastal Monitoring Website. Further information and all project reports are available through the project website. |
| Forecasting Water Quality from Space (FC-WQ) | Despite their global coverage and public availability, measurements of water quality parameters retrieved by remote sensing have not been used for local short-term forecasting of water quality yet. In fact, forecasting based on remote sensing [...] | BROCKMANN CONSULT GMBH (DE) | Applications | coastal zone, oceans, water quality | Despite their global coverage and public availability, measurements of water quality parameters retrieved by remote sensing have not been used for local short-term forecasting of water quality yet. In fact, forecasting based on remote sensing water quality products with on-ground resolution from, say, 30 m (Sentinel-2 MSI, Landsat-8/9 OLI) to 300 m (Sentinel-3A/B OLCI) or 500 m (GOCI) constitutes a potential breakthrough since the availability of in situ measurements of water quality is often limited. For a given location, availability of remote sensing water quality products is mainly determined by satellite revisit frequencies (3-5 days for Sentinel-2A/B, 1-3 days for Sentinel-3A/B, and 30 minutes for GOCI) and constrained by cloud coverage. The Forecasting Water Quality from Space (FC-WQ) project aims to develop and validate a method for local short-term forecasting of water quality based on EO data in coastal and inland waters. This method will be based on time series of remotely sensed water quality parameters, combined with past, present, and forecast data of physical parameters (i.e., meteorological, hydrological, and specific environmental parameters). The proposed method exploits the capability of Machine Learning (ML) to learn and model the complex relationships in aquatic ecosystems. Specific objectives of this undertaking comprise: Forecasting of turbidity and chlorophyll-a concentration and associated uncertainties up to five days ahead of time Providing the probability of occurrence of a harmful algal bloom (HAB) within seven days ahead of time Development of the methodology based on selected coastal and inland water test sites while aiming at applicability to coastal and inland waters in general Validating the methodology for selected coastal and inland water test sites for certain hindcast periods not considered and during model training Demonstrating the forecasting capability at selected coastal and inland water sites for a certain forecast period Testing transferability of the methodology to other sites Developing a roadmap for further scientific studies as well as product and service applications |
| GOCE++Dynamic Topography at the Coast and Tide Gauge Unification (DYCOT) | The objective of this activity is a consolidated and improved understanding and modelling of coastal processes and physics responsible for sea level changes on various temporal/spatial scales. In practice, this study shall combine several [...] | Technical University of Denmark (DK) | Science | oceans, science | The objective of this activity is a consolidated and improved understanding and modelling of coastal processes and physics responsible for sea level changes on various temporal/spatial scales. In practice, this study shall combine several elements: Propose and develop an approach to estimate a consistent DT at tide gauges, coastal areas, and open ocean Validate the approach in well-surveyed areas where DT can be determined at tide gauges Determine a consistent MDT using GOCE with consistent error covariance fields Connect measurements of a global set of tide gauges and investigate trends Develop and outlook how the approach could be further improved using improved coastal altimetry. |
| GODAE OCEAN OBSERVING SYSTEM EVALUATION OF SATELLITE SEA SURFACE SALINITY AND EL NINO 2015 (SMOS-NINO15) | SMOS Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) is not yet widely used by the ocean modelling community. In part this is due to the technical challenges of assimilating satellite SSS and assessing the impact of the assimilation using objective tools and [...] | CLS COLLECTE LOCALISATION SATELLITES (FR) | Science | oceans, science, SMOS | SMOS Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) is not yet widely used by the ocean modelling community. In part this is due to the technical challenges of assimilating satellite SSS and assessing the impact of the assimilation using objective tools and reporting. The Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) Ocean View Science Team (GOV-ST) group Observing System Evaluation Task Team (OSEVal-TT, see https://www.godae-oceanview.org/science/task-teams/observing-system-evaluation-tt-oseval-tt/) was convened by GOV-ST to evaluate the impact of different measurement systems by running specific observing system experiments and producing an Observation Impact Statement Report. This allows GOV-ST to formulate specific requirements for ocean observations on the basis of improved understanding of data utility.This activity is focussed on the design, implementation and reporting of an Observing System Evaluation of satellite SSS during the strong El Nino 2015/16 event. Strong SSS signals are present in SMOS data prior and during to the El Nino event. Inaddition to SMOS, full use of the NASA SMAP mission data will be encouraged. The output will be a GOV-ST Observation Impact Statement Report focussed on satellite SSS, journal publications and a workshop dedicated to the findings and approach taken by the study team. |
| HydroCoastal: coastal ocean and inland water altimetry | HYDROCOASTAL was a project aimed at maximising the exploitation of SAR and SARIn altimeter measurements in the coastal zone and inland waters, by evaluating and implementing new approaches to process data from CryoSat-2 and Sentinel-3. Optical [...] | SATELLITE OCEANOGRAPHIC CONSULTANTS LTD. (GB) | Science | altimeter, bathymetry and seafloor topography, coastal zone, CryoSat, ocean science cluster, oceans, OLCI, rivers, science, Sentinel-2, Sentinel-3, SLSTR, surface water, tides, water cycle and hydrology | HYDROCOASTAL was a project aimed at maximising the exploitation of SAR and SARIn altimeter measurements in the coastal zone and inland waters, by evaluating and implementing new approaches to process data from CryoSat-2 and Sentinel-3. Optical data from Sentinel-2 MSI and Sentinel-3 OLCI instruments will also be used in generating River Discharge products. New SAR and SARIn processing algorithms for the coastal zone and inland waters were developed, implemented and evaluated through an initial Test Data Set for selected regions. From the results of this evaluation a processing scheme was implemented to generate global coastal zone and river discharge data sets. Case studies assessed these products in terms of their scientific impacts. All the produced data sets are available on request to external researchers, and full descriptions of the processing algorithms will be provided. What are the specific science and technical focuses? The scientific objectives of HYDROCOASTAL were to enhance our understanding of interactions between inland water and coastal zone, between coastal zone and open ocean, and small-scale processes that govern these interactions. Also the project aimed to improve our capability to characterize the variation at different time scales of inland water storage, exchanges with the ocean and the impact on regional sea level changes. The technical objectives were to develop and evaluate new SAR and SARIn altimetry processing techniques in support of the scientific objectives, including stack processing, filtering and retracking. Also an improved Wet Troposphere Correction was developed and evaluated. Associated user needs, applications, and issues The potential benefits of global data sets were investigated through a series of impact assessment case studies in the second year of the project. Case studies considered different estuaries and coastal regions including the Bristol Channel (UK), the German Bight and South-Western Baltic Sea, the Northern Adriatic, and the Ebro River and Delta. They each exhibit specific features, but common across the locations are flooding and erosion, sedimentation, the importance of accurate high resolution local modelling, the vulnerability of coastal habitats, the connection between river discharge and coastal sea levels. Inland Water Case Studies considered selected river systems in China to investigate the potential to develop operational hydrological forecasting, lakes and rivers in Ireland to investigate the impacts of lake size and riverbank configuration on the accuracy of water level retrievals, the river Po in Italy to validate water level time series and discharge estimates, and also the River Rhine and Lake Constance to validate water level time series. Who are the End Users that have been or will be engaged? The project team includes key experts in the use of satellite data in coastal zone and inland water studies. External end-users are encouraged to access the data products to evaluate and implement them in their own applications. Solutions, outputs and products Publicly available outputs and products include: Detailed technical descriptions of the algorithms and processing schemes applied. Initial validation coastal zone and inland water Test Data Sets for selected regions, An improved Wet Troposphere Correction for the coastal zone and inland waters A final global coastal zone product, and a river discharge product for large and medium sized rivers. An impacts assessment report on the applications and benefits of these global products Educational and outreach material A final scientific roadmap provides recommendations for further development of processing algorithms, for further SAR and SARin altimeter missions, and priorities for further scientific research in the coastal zone and inland waters. Dependencies As well as altimeter data from Sentinel-3A and -3B, and from CryoSat, HYDROCOASTAL has used data from Sentinel-1 (river mask, coastline), Sentinel-2 (MSI) and Sentinel-3 (OLCI, SLSTR). What and where are the gaps in existing capability? Previous projects and initiatives, most recently the ESA SCOOP (http://www.satoc.eu/projects/SCOOP) and SHAPE projects (http://projects.alongtrack.com/shape) have worked separately to develop and implement improved processing schemes for inland water and coastal domains, but HYDROCOASTAL is the first project aiming to consider them together in synergy. The junction between the Coastal Zone and Inland Water provides a challenge to researchers as it represents a boundary between different science domains (hydrology and oceanography), and different satellite measurement regimes. It is also a region of high variability in small spatial and temporal scales, pushing to the limit the ability of satellite data in terms of sampling and providing accurate measurements. Tools, Services, Software, or Portals needed Websites and tools that will be used by HYDROCOASTAL include: Data and satellite information resources ESA Sentinels online: http://sentinel.esa.int Copernicus: http://www.copernicus.eu Cryosat Missions and Products: https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/missions/esa-operational-eo-missions/cryosat Inland Water data and information sites ESA River and Lake website: http://earth.esa.int/riverandlake/ HYDROWEB: http://www.legos.obs-mip.fr/fr/soa/hydrologie/hydroweb/ USDA Lake DB web site: http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/cropexplorer/global_reservoir/ TUM Database for Hydrological Time Series of Inland Waters (DAHITI): http://dahiti.dgfi.tum.de/en/ Related Project Websites SAMOSA: http://www.satoc.eu/projects/samosa/ CP4O: http://www.satoc.eu/projects/CP4O/ SCOOP: http://www.satoc.eu/projects/SCOOP/ CRUCIAL: http://research.ncl.ac.uk/crucial/ SHAPE: http://projects.alongtrack.com/shape/ RIDESAT: http://hydrology.irpi.cnr.it/projects/ridesat/ Other resources: ESA online SAR and SARIn altimetry Processing (registration needed): https://gpod.eo.esa.int Coastal Altimetry web site (for papers and presentations): http://www.coastalaltimetry.org OSTST web site (for papers and presentations): https://meetings.aviso.altimetry.fr What specific technical Tasks need to be done? There are four tasks to the project:- Scientific Review and Requirements Consolidation: Review the current state of the art in SAR and SARin altimeter data processing as applied to the coastal zone and to inland waters. Implementation and Validation: New processing algorithms were designed and implemented to generate Test Data Sets, which were then validated against models, in situ data and other satellite data sets. Selected algorithms were then used to generate global coastal zone and river discharge data sets. Impacts Assessment: The impact of these global products was assessed in a series of Case Studies. Outreach and Roadmap: Outreach material have been prepared and distributed to engage with the wider scientific community and provide recommendations for development of future missions and future research. Data sets Three data sets are available: HYDROCOASTAL Final Product: L2 along-track re-tracked product L3 inland water level time series L4 river discharge time series. HYDROCOASTAL Test Data Set: L2 along-track re-tracked product. HYDROCOASTAL CCN2 isardSAT coastal product. A readme file provides a more detailed description of these products, and a Product Specification Document describes the product contents and format |
| HyperBOOST | In situ bio-optical datasets are essential for the assessment of the uncertainties of satellite ocean colour measurements and derived products. This is especially critical in coastal waters (between 200m and 5km distance from the coastline), [...] | Plymouth Marine Laboratory (GB) | Science | biodiversity flagship, biodiversity science cluster, coastal processes, coastal zone, Ecosystems, marine environment, ocean health flagship, ocean science cluster, oceans, science | In situ bio-optical datasets are essential for the assessment of the uncertainties of satellite ocean colour measurements and derived products. This is especially critical in coastal waters (between 200m and 5km distance from the coastline), where land adjacency effects, complex atmospheric aerosol mixtures, high loads of optically active components in particular high concentration of chromophoric dissolved organic matter, and bottom reflectance effects contaminate the signal that reaches the satellite. Yet, extensive campaigns with unified sample collection and analysis protocols covering a wide range of optical and environmental conditions are rare in the literature. The Tara expedition (https://fondationtaraocean.org/en/home/) within the frame of the Traversing European Coastlines project (https://www.embl.org/about/info/trec/expedition/), offers in 2023-2024 the unique opportunity of an oceanographic survey from a unique platform, using the same set of protocols, instruments, and sample analysis, collocated with a rich biological dataset describing the microbiologic diversity in detail. This integrated profiling across environmental and man-made gradients of micro- and macroscopic life will enable the collection of a first of the kind, pan-European census of European coastal ecosystems. The Hyperspectral Bio-Optical Observations Sailing on Tara (HyperBOOST) project aims to extend the variables collected during the TREC integrated sampling by including bio-optical measurements relevant to present and future satellite ocean colour missions. The aims of this project are to: Provide validation data (in-situ hyperspectral radiometry, bio-optical, optically active components biogeochemical and biodiversity relevant data) in optically complex waters for several missions/products: S2, S3, Landsat8/9, PRISMA, ENMAP, PACE (stations during 2024) Provide a hyperspectral bio-optical characterization of European regional seas with a consistent set of instruments/measurement protocols Validate satellite products from different sources Preparation activities for ESA CHIME in coastal waters |
| Impacts of PYROgenic aerosols on PLANKTON ecosystems (PYROPLANKTON) | Living Planet Fellowship research project carried out by Joan Llort. In recent years, exceptionally large wildfires have been recorded in Australia, California, the Mediterranean region, and the Arctic. While there exists an established [...] | Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (BSC) (ES) | Science | Aerosols, Biomass, climate, living planet fellowship, natural hazards and disaster risk, oceans, wildfires | Living Planet Fellowship research project carried out by Joan Llort. In recent years, exceptionally large wildfires have been recorded in Australia, California, the Mediterranean region, and the Arctic. While there exists an established research effort on how Climate Change is leading these megafires and on how they are affecting land ecosystems, recent observations show that wildfires can also perturb marine ecosystems. Biomass burning injects massive amounts of aerosols into the atmosphere that are rich in organic matter, nutrients, and trace metals. When these aerosols fall over the ocean, they enrich surface waters with nutrients potentially triggering the accumulation of the microscopic marine algae that supports marine life, the so-called phytoplankton. The fertilisation of phytoplankton by wildfires aerosols has been directly observed during the extreme 2019-20 fire season in Australia. These observations agree with previous modelling efforts on showing that fire activity might have immediate impacts on marine productivity, which are likely to increase with the current global trends in wildfires. The type, extension and consequences of these impacts are beyond our understanding as we have not yet defined which are the affected regions or which compounds are dissolved in seawater after the deposition of wildfire aerosols. This project, called Impacts of PYROgenic aerosols on PLANKTON ecosystems (PYROPLANKTON), will analyse the problem from three different perspectives: First, the spatial and temporal variability of biomass burning aerosols deposition and its impact on surface phytoplankton will be evaluated from a synoptic perspective thanks to an original combination of ocean colour (OC-CCI), global fire products (FireCCI and GFAS) and a state-of-the-art atmospheric reanalysis (CAMS). Secondly, we will conduct ground-breaking experiments with ash from wildfires across the world to provide the mechanistic and detailed understanding on how biomass burning aerosols perturb seawater’s chemical composition and its impacts on marine microorganisms. Thirdly, we will produce the first global estimate of the current and future impact of biomass burning aerosols on marine primary production and carbon export. The outputs of PYROPLANKTON will build a solid conceptual framework to inform the climate and ocean research communities and guide them to accurately simulate the full impact of wildfires in the Earth System. The project will face several ESA’s Living Planet challenges, following SOLAS recommendations on the necessity of closer interactions between remote-sensed data, field observations and modelling. |
| MARITIME AWARENESS PRE-OPERATIONAL DEMONSTRATIONS – EXPRO | Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) is defined by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as the effective understanding of anything associated with the maritime domain that could affect the security, safety, economy, or environment. In the [...] | E-GEOS (IT) | Enterprise | applications, maritime spatial planning, oceans, SAR, security, Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 | Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) is defined by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as the effective understanding of anything associated with the maritime domain that could affect the security, safety, economy, or environment. In the context of MDA activities, the complete understanding of the current maritime picture, as well as a deep knowledge of the maritime patterns of life as consolidated in the monitored area, are crucial for an efficient and effective capability to monitor the maritime activities. In recent years, the need for improved capabilities for Maritime Domain Awareness has increased considerably. For instance, illegal immigration by sea represents the most visible of the problems affecting the European Union’s maritime sea borders, which also includes illegal activities of different kinds (drugs, weapons, pollution,etc.) and terroristic threats. In addition, an ever-increasing importance is given to the protection of coastal and off shore sensitive assets, for what concerns both human and natural threats. A typical scenario for these activities is the maritime scenario, where this illegal traffic is added to the legal civil and/or military maritime traffic, both along the coasts and in open water, making the monitoring and surveillance of all such activities extremely necessary to the national and international security. There is a strong need to integrate innovative technologies and solutions into the conventional maritime decision support systems, in order to increase the surveillance capabilities in the different areas of operation.The increasing number of space assets and recent advances in Information Extraction from satellite images, data fusion processing and Big Data technology provide a wide range of Maritime Analysis Tools and components that can fulfil requirements to produce actionable information in support of decision making and operations in the maritime intelligence domain.In this evolving context, the objective of this proposal is specifically the provision of a comprehensive solution to allow and complete assessment of : valued added and/or limitation related to the exploitation of ISAR/SAR Refocusing derived products contribution of the ISAR/SAR Refocusing to the improvements of data fusion processing Impact of RF data on the Maritime Domain Awareness. This will be done through three project tasks: Requirements consolidation and design of algorithms, to assess the study of the state of the art and to select most promising and effective technologies to implement the identified evolutions Prototypes Implementation, to develop, deploy and test the ISAR processing prototype as well as the enhanced data fusion model (EO, AIS and RF data) through the e-GEOS proprietary SEonSE platform Use cases Demonstration and Validation, to design multi-sensors (Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, COSMO-SkyMed, AIS and RF data) demonstration scenarios to validate prototype performances through the application of ad-hoc key performance indicators. |
| MOHeaCAN: Monitoring Ocean Heat Content and Earth Energy ImbalANce from Space | Since the industrial era, anthropogenic emissions of Greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere have lowered the total amount of infrared energy radiated by the Earth towards space. Now the Earth is emitting less energy towards space than it [...] | MAGELLIUM (FR) | Science | altimeter, climate, GRACE, ocean health flagship, ocean heat budget, ocean science cluster, oceans, permanently open call, science | Since the industrial era, anthropogenic emissions of Greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere have lowered the total amount of infrared energy radiated by the Earth towards space. Now the Earth is emitting less energy towards space than it receives radiative energy from the sun. As a consequence there is an Earth Energy Imbalance (EEI) at the top of the atmosphere. Because of this EEI, the climate system stores energy, essentially in the form of heat. This excess of energy perturbs the global water-energy cycle and generates the so-called “climate changes”. The excess of energy warms the ocean, leading to sea level rise and sea ice melt. It melts land ice, leading to sea level rise. It makes land surface temperature rise, changing the hydrological cycle and generating droughts and floods. It is essential to estimate and analyse the EEI if we want to understand the Earth’s changing climate. Measuring the EEI is challenging because it is a globally integrated variable whose variations are small (smaller than 1 W.m-2) compared to the amount of energy entering and leaving the climate system (~340 W.m-2). Recent studies suggest that the EEI response to anthropogenic GHG and aerosols emissions is 0.5-1 W.m-2. An accuracy of <0.1 W.m-2 at decadal time scales is desirable if we want to monitor future changes in EEI associated with anthropogenic forcing, which shall be a noncontroversial science based information used by the GHG mitigation policies. To date, the most accurate approach to estimate EEI consists of making the inventory of the energy stored in different climate system reservoirs (atmosphere, land, cryosphere and ocean) and estimating their changes with time. At large scale, variations in internal and latent heat energy dominate largely over the variations in other forms of energy (potential energy and kinetic energy). The ocean concentrates the vast majority of the excess of energy (~93%) associated with EEI. For this reason the global Ocean Heat Content (OHC) places a strong constraint on the EEI estimate. Thus it is crucial to characterise the uncertainty in EEI and OHC to strengthen the robustness of this estimation. Four methods exist to estimate the OHC: The direct measurement of in situ temperature based on temperature/Salinity profiles (e.g., Argo floats). The estimate from ocean reanalyses that assimilate observations from both satellite and in situ instruments. The measurement of the net ocean surface heat fluxes from space. The measurement of the thermal expansion of the ocean from space based on differences between the total sea-level content derived from altimetry measurements and the mass content derived from GRACE data (noted “Altimetry-GRACE”). To date, the best results are given by the first method mainly based on Argo network. However, one of the limitations of the method is the poor sampling of the deep ocean (>2000 m depth) and marginal seas as well as the ocean below sea ice. Re-analysis provides a more complete estimation but large biases in the polar oceans and spurious drifts in the deep ocean due to the too-short spin up simulations and inaccurate initial conditions of the reanalysis, mask a significant part of the OHC signal related to EEI. The method based on estimation of ocean net heat fluxes from space is not appropriate for OHC calculation due to a too strong uncertainty (±15 W.m-2) for the science objective on EEI. The last option based on the “Altimetry-GRACE” approach is promising because it provides consistent spatial and temporal sampling of the ocean, it samples nearly the entire global oceans, except for polar regions, and it provides estimates of the OHC over the ocean’s entire depth. To date the uncertainty in OHC from this method is ±0.47 W.m-2, which is greater than what is needed (<0.3 W.m-2) to pin down the global mean value of EEI. This activity focuses on the “Altimetry-GRACE” approach to estimate the EEI. The objectives are twofold: To improve global OHC estimation from space and its associated uncertainty by developing novel algorithms; To assess our estimation by performing comparison against independent estimates based on Argo and on the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant energy System (CERES) measurements at the top of the atmosphere. This innovative study will be performed in coordination with initiatives focused on climate change studies and EEI as the Global Water and Energy Exchanges project (GEWEX) and the Climate and Ocean Variability, Predictability and Change project (CLIVAR) of WCRP. “Scientific Highlights” The MOHeaCAN product contains monthly time series (between August 2002 and June 2017) of several variables, the main ones being the regional OHC (3°x3° spatial resolution grids), the global OHC and the EEI indicator. Uncertainties are provided for variables at global scale, by propagating errors from sea level measurements (altimetry) and ocean mass content (gravimetry). In order to calculate OHC at regional and global scales, a new estimate of the expansion efficiency of heat at global and regional scales has been performed based on the global ARGO network. A scientific validation of the MOHeaCAN product has also been carried out performing thorough comparisons against independent estimates based on ARGO data and on the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant energy System (CERES) measurements at the top of the atmosphere. The mean EEI derived from MOHeaCAN product is 0.84 W.m-2 over the whole period within an uncertainty of ±0.12 W.m-2 (68% confidence level – 0.20 W.m-2 at the 90% CL). This figure is in agreement (within error bars at the 90% CL) with other EEI indicators based on ARGO data (e.g. OHC-OMI from CMEMS) although the best estimate is slightly higher. Differences from annual to inter-annual scales have also been observed with ARGO and CERES data. Investigations have been conducted to improve our understanding of the benefits and limitations of each data set to measure EEI at different time scales. The MOHeaCAN product from “altimetry-gravimetry” is now available, documented and can be downloaded at https://doi.org/10.24400/527896/a01-2020.003. Users will be mainly interested in ocean heat content time series at regional (grids) and global scales, and Earth energy imbalance time series. Feedback from interested users on this product are welcome. |
| Ocean CIRculation from ocean COLour observations (CIRCOL) | The monitoring of the oceanic surface currents is a major scientific and socio-economic challenge. Ocean currents represent one of the fundamental elements that modulate natural and anthropogenic processes at several different space and time [...] | CNR – INSTITUTE FOR ELECTROMAGNETIC SENSING OF THE ENVIRONMENT (IREA) (IT) | Science | climate, ocean science cluster, oceans, permanently open call, science | The monitoring of the oceanic surface currents is a major scientific and socio-economic challenge. Ocean currents represent one of the fundamental elements that modulate natural and anthropogenic processes at several different space and time scales, from global climate change to local dispersal of tracers and pollutants, with relevant impacts on marine ecosystem services and maritime activities (e.g. optimization of the ship routes, maritime safety, coastal protection). An appropriate monitoring of the oceanic currents must rely on high frequency and high resolution observations of the global ocean, which are achieved using satellite measurements. At present, no satellite sensor is able to provide a direct measurement of the ocean currents – The indirect and synoptic retrieval of the large-scale geostrophic component of the sea-surface motion is given by satellite altimetry at a spatial (~100km) and temporal (~one week) resolution which is not sufficient for many applications, even more in semi-enclosed basins as the Mediterranean Sea where the most energetic variable signals are found at relatively small scales. In this context, the objective of the CIRCOL (Ocean Circulation from Ocean Colour Observations) project is to improve the retrieval of altimeter-derived currents in the Mediterranean Basin combining the largescale, altimeter-derived geostrophic currents with the high-resolution dynamical information contained in sequences of satellite-derived surface Chlorophyll (Chl) observations. The project will be implemented in two phases. During Phase 1, an Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) based on CMEMS (Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service) physical and biogeochemical models will be implemented to investigate the potentialities of the proposed approach for the improvement of the altimeter derived currents. During Phase 2, the optimal Chl-based reconstruction of the sea-surface currents will be implemented using the satellite-derived multi-sensor, L4 (gap-free) altimeter and sea-surface Chl for the Mediterranean Sea distributed by CMEMS. The resulting products will be validated against in-situ velocity measurements (drifting buoys, HF radar). |
| Ocean Virtual Laboratory | The aimof this activity is To exploit the synergy between Sentinel instruments and other mission EO datasets together with in situ measurements in complex waters and improve scientific understanding of ocean and coastal processes and impacts.The [...] | OCEANDATALAB (FR) | Science | altimeter, carbon cycle, carbon science cluster, CryoSat, oceans, platforms, Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, Sentinel-3 | The aimof this activity is To exploit the synergy between Sentinel instruments and other mission EO datasets together with in situ measurements in complex waters and improve scientific understanding of ocean and coastal processes and impacts.The main objective of the project is to develop a virtual plateform to allow oceanographers to discover the existence and then to handle jointly, in a convenient, flexible and intuitive way, the various co-located EO datasets and related model/in-situ datasets over dedicated regions of interest with a different multifacet point of view. This is first demonstrated over the Agulhas region. Developed tools shall foster the emergence of new methods prototype and products making use of the complementarity between sensors to study ocean related processes. The tool shall also provide the best possible visibility on the upcoming Sentinel1/2/3 datatakes to help plan and coordinate with field campaign. The OVL is filling the gap between Space agencies data portals that distributes specific EO data and analysis software like IDL/ENVI or Matlab that are more suitable for in-depth analysis of a given dataset. A few GIS systems such as Google Earth are able to import several data layers but very little interaction with data (apart for basic layer transparency) is possible. The project scientific committee has to ensure that the developed OVL is providing significant added value and is not duplicating existing efforts in the international community. Scientists in the consortium shall ensure that OVL is built for scientists and with a large beta-tester community and response effectiveness to satisfy most needs of a rather versatile community. |
| OVALIE: Oceanic intrinsic Variability versus Atmospheric forced variabiLIty of sea level changE | Living Planet Fellowship research project carried out by William Llovel and Alice Carret. Global mean sea level rise is one of the most direct consequences of actual global warming. Since the beginning of the 20th century, global mean sea [...] | CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE (CNRS) (FR) | Science | living planet fellowship, ocean science cluster, oceans, science | Living Planet Fellowship research project carried out by William Llovel and Alice Carret. Global mean sea level rise is one of the most direct consequences of actual global warming. Since the beginning of the 20th century, global mean sea level experiences an unabated increase of 1.1-1.9 mm.yr-1 recorded by tide gauges. Based on satellite altimetry and since 1993, global mean sea level rises at a higher rate of 3 mm.yr-1. This higher rate denotes a possible acceleration in this global rise. Actual global mean sea level rise mainly reflects global ocean warming (through thermal expansion of sea water) and land ice melt (from Greenland, Antarctica and mountain glaciers). Monitoring precisely these climate variables is mandatory to better understand processes at work under current global warming and to validate climate models used for projections. Careful investigations of these observations jointly with state-of-the-art numerical simulations have also helped for interpreting these changes and underlying mechanisms. Some of these joint observational/numerical investigations have demonstrated that the evolution of the ocean in the turbulent regions has a stochastic character even over interannual to multidecadal periods. This stochastic character of the ocean is known as intrinsic variability. This latter is poorly known in the global ocean despite its recently acknowledged contribution to the oceanic variability. Thus, this intrinsic variability may bias our interpretation of low-frequency variability of the ocean. One barely knows the temporal and spatial signature of the intrinsic variability, the precise footprints of this intrinsic variability as a function of depth and its signature on observations. Furthermore, we do not have enough knowledge on how this intrinsic variability contributes to the recent regional sea level change and its contributions such as temperature, salinity and mass changes. Therefore, the atmospheric evolution may force a variety of long-term oceanic variability. This means that the most accurate satellite/in situ observations can describe the atmospheric forced variability along with the chaotic ocean intrinsic changes. The OVALIE project proposes to scientifically investigate and partition the respective contribution of the atmospheric forced variability versus the oceanic intrinsic variability for the sea level observations (satellite data -based on Topex/Poseidon, Jason 1-2-3, ERS1, ERS2, ENVISAT, Altika and GRACE- and in situ measurements –based on Argo floats and other in situ measurements). |
| PHYSIOGLOB: Assessing the inter-annual physiological response of phytoplankton to global warming using long-term satellite observations | Living Planet Fellowship research project carried out by Marco Bellacicco. Phytoplankton is considered to be responsible for approximately 50% of the planetary primary production and is at the basis of the trophic chain. Large scale factors [...] | ITALIAN NATIONAL AGENCY FOR NEW TECHNOLOGIES, ENERGY AND SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (ENEA) (IT) | Science | carbon cycle, carbon science cluster, climate, living planet fellowship, ocean science cluster, oceans, science | Living Planet Fellowship research project carried out by Marco Bellacicco. Phytoplankton is considered to be responsible for approximately 50% of the planetary primary production and is at the basis of the trophic chain. Large scale factors such as climate, ocean circulation, and mostly anthropogenic activities, affect phytoplankton biomass and distribution. For all of these reasons, in the ocean, phytoplankton is defined as a sort of sentinel of changes in the ecosystem, because they rapidly respond to environment perturbations. Light, nutrients and temperature are the most important environmental variables that influence phytoplankton production. Phytoplankton cells respond to changes in light and nutrients with physiological strategies that enhance the efficiency of light capturing, photosynthetic capacity, growth and persistence. There are two different kinds of phytoplankton responses to light: photoadaptation and photoacclimation. The photoadaptation describes changes that might happen at genotype level, and are expected to occur at a long evolutionary time-scale. The photoacclimation is a cellular process that allows phytoplankton to change the intracellular chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl) in relation to environmental factors and it includes, among the others, regulation of the pigment amount and other components of the photosynthetic machinery. The temperature is the other main environmental agent that affects phytoplankton. It has been proved that ocean warming, mostly due to anthropogenic activities, causes an expansion of the low-Chl and low-productivity areas impacting strongly on marine ecosystem. The most important and easily observable mechanism due to photoacclimation is variation of the photosynthetic pigment concentration (i.e. Chl) at the cellular scale which is thus can be observed and quantified using space-borne observations. Photoacclimation can be described in terms of variation of the ratio between chlorophyll-a and carbon (Chl:C ratio). Unfortunately, this process is currently overlooked by standard operational ocean colour algorithms used to retrieve information about both the phytoplankton standing stock and production. PhysioGlob wants to study the inter-annual physiological response of phytoplankton to global warming using long-term satellite observations (i.e. entire ESA OC-CCI time-series) through the Chl:C ratio. Phytoplankton carbon could be estimated from the particle backscattering (bbp, λ). One of the most used and applied algorithm for bbp (λ) is the Quasi Analytical Algorithm (QAA). We want to re-evaluate retrieval of bbp (λ) over the global ocean with the QAA, using field data of remote-sensing reflectance (Rrs) and inherent optical properties (IOP), and then compare phytoplankton carbon with Chl to estimate the physiological signal. In order to study the trend and oscillation of this process we: i) study the single time series in separate M-SSA analyses to evaluate similarities among the inter-annual variabilities of the Chl:Cphyto ratio, SST, and phytoplankton indices also highlighting possible differences; ii) proceed with a joint M-SSA analysis of the time series to better understand the spatio-temporal structure associated with inter-annual variability in the Chl:Cphyto ratio or phytoplankton indices and global ocean temperature field. This coupled analysis will also help in addressing the question to which extent the inter-annual oscillatory modes found in the Chl:Cphyto ratio or phytoplankton indices can be attributed to its response to inter-annual variability in SST field. |
| Phytoplankton and fisheries under regional warming in the global oceans – POSEIDON | POSEIDON aims to understand the response of ocean ecosystems to climate warming and extreme events (e.g., marine heatwaves). Long-term trends (> 23 years) in phytoplankton ecological indicators (biomass, size structure and phenology) will be [...] | NATIONAL AND KAPODISTRIAN UNIVERSIT (GR) | Science | Biomass, biosphere, climate, living planet fellowship, oceans, science, SST | POSEIDON aims to understand the response of ocean ecosystems to climate warming and extreme events (e.g., marine heatwaves). Long-term trends (> 23 years) in phytoplankton ecological indicators (biomass, size structure and phenology) will be analysed in different regions, encompassing a range of conditions found in the global oceans. POSEIDON will further investigate the spatiotemporal variability of these indicators under oceanic warming, and examine links between phytoplankton, climate and fisheries. POSEIDON will employ a novel, multidisciplinary approach by integrating contemporary oceanographic datasets, including satellite remote sensing observations, in situ cruise data and Biogeochemical Argo (BGC-Argo) floats. Specific research objectives include: Use a combination of remotely-sensed and available in situ datasets to regionally-tune and validate existing algorithms for computing phytoplankton ecological indicators (biomass, phenology and size structure) in several case study regions of the global oceans. Apply a marine heatwave detection algorithm on long-term SST data (ESA SST-CCI) and construct an atlas that describes the spatiotemporal distribution of extreme heating events (marine heatwaves [MHWs]) within the regions of interest. Utilise remotely-sensed datasets to investigate the response of ecological indicators in identified MHW hotspots. Elucidate the impacts of climate change on ecosystem structure through a combination of statistical analysis and metabolic theory (e.g., biomass size spectrum modelling) that describe relationships between phytoplankton indicators and the biomass of pelagic fish species. Scientific Papers: Gittings, J.A., Raitsos, D., Brewin, R.J.W., Hoteit, I. (2021). Links between Phenology of Large Phytoplankton and Fisheries in the Northern and Central Red Sea. Remote Sensing, 13, 231. Gittings, J. A., Brewin, R. J. W., Raitsos, D. E., Kheireddine, M., Ouhssain, M., Jones, B. & Hoteit, I. (2019). Remotely sensing phytoplankton size structure in the Red Sea. Remote Sensing of Environment, 234, 111387. Gittings, J. A., Raitsos, D. E., Kheireddine, M., Racault, M.-F., Claustre, H., & Hoteit, I. (2019). Evaluating tropical phytoplankton phenology metrics using contemporary tools. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 674. Gittings, J. A., Raitsos, D. E., Krokos, G., & Hoteit, I. (2018). Impacts of warming on phytoplankton abundance and phenology in a typical tropical marine ecosystem. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 2240. Gittings, J. A., Raitsos, D. E., Racault, M., Brewin, R. J. W., Pradhan, Y., Sathyendranath, S., & Platt, T. (2017). Remote Sensing of Environment Seasonal phytoplankton blooms in the Gulf of Aden revealed by remote sensing. Remote Sensing of Environment, 189, 56–66. Papagiannopoulos, N., Raitsos, D. E., Krokos, G., Gittings, J. A., Brewin, R. J. W., Papadopoulos, V. P., Pavlidou, A., Selmes, N., Groom, S., & Hoteit, I. (2021). Phytoplankton Biomass and the Hydrodynamic Regime in NEOM, Red Sea. Remote Sensing, 13, 2082. Gokul, E.A., Raitsos, D.E., Gittings, J.A., Hoteit, I. (2020). Developing an atlas of harmful algal blooms in the red sea: Linkages to local aquaculture. Remote Sensing, 12, 1–14. Wang, Y., Raitsos, D.E., Krokos, G., Gittings J. A., Zhan, P. & Hoteit, I. (2019). Physical connectivity simulations reveal dynamic linkages between coral reef regions in the southern Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Scientific Reports, 9, 16598. Brewin, B., Morán, X.A.G., Raitsos, D.E., Gittings, J. A., Calleja, M.L., Viegas, M.S., Ansari, M.I., Al-Otaibi, N., Huete-Stauffer, T.M. and Hoteit, I. (2019). Factors regulating the relationship between total and size-fractionated chlorophyll-a in coastal waters of the Red Sea. Frontiers in Microbiology, 10, 1964. Gokul, E.A., Raitsos, D.E., Gittings, J. A., Alkawri, A., Hoteit, I. (2019). Remotely sensing harmful algal blooms in the Red Sea. PLoS One, 14. Dreano, D., Raitsos, D. E., Gittings, J. A., Krokos, G., & Hoteit, I. (2016). The Gulf of Aden Intermediate Water Intrusion Regulates the Southern Red Sea Summer Phytoplankton Blooms. PLoS ONE, 1–20. POSEIDON will contribute to advances in Earth system science by addressing some of the major impacts associated with climate change, as outlined by the IPCC and ESA EO Science Strategy. The project will also exploit ESA EO-based missions (CCI, Sentinel-3), as well as deliverables from other ESA-funded projects (BICEP, ESA-S5POC), to deliver a more complete understanding of the impacts of climate change over several areas of the global oceans, providing knowledge for the responsible management of ecosystem services, including phytoplankton production and fisheries. |
| SAR Altimetry Coastal & Open Ocean Performance (SCOOP) | SCOOP (SAR Altimetry Coastal & Open Ocean Performance) is a project funded under the ESA SEOM (Scientific Exploitation of Operational Missions) Programme Element, started in September 2015, to characterise the expected performance of [...] | SATELLITE OCEANOGRAPHIC CONSULTANTS LTD. (GB) | Science | altimeter, oceans | SCOOP (SAR Altimetry Coastal & Open Ocean Performance) is a project funded under the ESA SEOM (Scientific Exploitation of Operational Missions) Programme Element, started in September 2015, to characterise the expected performance of Sentinel-3 SRAL SAR mode altimeter products, in the coastal zone and open ocean, and then to develop and evaluate enhancements to the baseline processing scheme in terms of improvements to ocean measurements. Another objective is to develop and evaluate an improved Wet Troposphere correction for Sentinel-3, based on the measurements from the on-board MWR, further enhanced mostly in the coastal and polar regions using third party data, and provide recommendations for use. |
| Sargassum monitoring service | The project objective is to develop and implement an innovative automated service based on Earth Observation (EO) data to monitor floating Sargassum algae in the Caribbean area, estimate their drift and eventual landings on the coasts, and [...] | CLS COLLECTE LOCALISATION SATELLITES (FR) | Applications | applications, coastal zone, oceans, permanently open call | The project objective is to develop and implement an innovative automated service based on Earth Observation (EO) data to monitor floating Sargassum algae in the Caribbean area, estimate their drift and eventual landings on the coasts, and provide dedicated bulletins to the end-users. |
| Satellite Oceanographic Datasets for Acidification (OceanSODA) | Since the beginning of the industrial revolution humans have released approximately 500 billion metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels, cement production and land-use changes. About 30% of this carbon dioxide (CO2) [...] | UNIVERSITY OF EXETER (GB) | Science | carbon cycle, carbon science cluster, climate, ocean science cluster, oceans, science, SMOS, SST | Since the beginning of the industrial revolution humans have released approximately 500 billion metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels, cement production and land-use changes. About 30% of this carbon dioxide (CO2) has been taken up by the oceans, largely by the dissolution of this CO2 into seawater and subsequent reactions with the dissolved carbonate ions present in seawater. Anthropogenic emissions CO2 levelled out in 2016, but have since begun to increase again, rendering absolutely critical to monitor ocean carbon uptake. The long-term uptake of carbon dioxide by the oceans is reducing the ocean pH, a process commonly known as ocean acidification. The uptake is also altering the ocean chemistry and ecology, impacting marine ecosystems on which we rely. Recent work has begun to investigate the use of satellite Earth Observation, especially focusing on satellite sea surface salinity and sea surface temperature data, exploiting empirical methods to monitor surface-ocean carbonate chemistry. These techniques complement in situ approaches by enabling the first synoptic-scale observation-based assessments of the global oceans and are particularly well suited to monitoring large episodic events. The Satellite Oceanographic Datasets for Acidification (OceanSODA) project will further develop the use of satellite Earth Observation for studying and monitoring marine carbonate chemistry. Besides further developments of algorithms linking satellite variables with marine carbonate system parameters and the associated validation, a distinct focus will be on selected scientific studies and downstream impact assessment. This will include characterising and analysing how upwelling (of low pH waters) and compound events impact the carbonate system, and characterising the flow and impact on marine ecosystems of low pH waters from large river systems. The project will also work closely with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and The Ocean Foundation, to support their work on coral reef conservation, the designation of marine protected areas and investigation of wild fisheries health and sustainable management. |
| Sentinel-1 for Science Ocean | The project aims to develop synergetic wind- wave- and radial surface current retrieval from S-1 SAR data (all modes) The objective of this study is to develop improved L2 ocean product prototypes for Sentinel-1 mission fulfilling the [...] | CLS COLLECTE LOCALISATION SATELLITES (FR) | Science | oceans, SAR | The project aims to develop synergetic wind- wave- and radial surface current retrieval from S-1 SAR data (all modes) The objective of this study is to develop improved L2 ocean product prototypes for Sentinel-1 mission fulfilling the requirements of the wide ocean user community. Those prototype products will aim at: Taking benefit of the new capabilities of the S-1 mission acquisition modes in order to improve the surface ocean sea state measurements (wind, waves, swell, currents), Implementing a synergetic ocean sea state measurement strategy in order to overcome the limitation of classical measurement approaches Providing ocean sea state measurements required by the user community (both operational community and scientific community) |
| SENTINEL-5P+ INNOVATION OCEAN COLOUR (S5P+-I-OC) | The S5P+I-OC project will explore the capacity of the Sentinel-5p TROPOMI data to provide novel Ocean Colour (OC) products. More specifically, the objectives of this S5P+ Innovation activity are to: develop a solid scientific basis for the [...] | ALFRED WEGENER INSTITUTE (DE) | Science | atmosphere science cluster, carbon cycle, carbon science cluster, ocean science cluster, oceans, science, Sentinel-3, Sentinel-5P, Sentinel-5P+ Innovation, TROPOMI | The S5P+I-OC project will explore the capacity of the Sentinel-5p TROPOMI data to provide novel Ocean Colour (OC) products. More specifically, the objectives of this S5P+ Innovation activity are to: develop a solid scientific basis for the application of S5P data within the context of novel scientific and operational OC products applications; assess existing algorithms which have been used for OC product retrievals from SCanning Imaging Absorption Spectro-Meter for Atmospheric CHartographY (SCIAMACHY), Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME-2); develop novel OC products and retrieval methods that exploit the potential of the S5P mission’s capabilities beyond its primary objectives, in particular, the chlorophyll-a concentration (CHL) of important phytoplankton groups (PFT-CHL), the underwater light attenuation coefficients (Kd) for the ultraviolet (UV) and the blue spectral region separately (KdUV, KdBlue), and the sun-induced marine chlorophyll-a fluorescence signal (SIF-marine) from TROPOMI S5P level-1 data; explore the potential of the UV range of S5P for ocean biology; use complementary products from Sentinel-3 (S3) and S5P for exploring the UV measurements of TROPOMI for assessing sources of coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and the amount of UV-absorbing pigments in the ocean; validate with established reference in situ datasets and perform intercomparison to other satellite OC data; define strategic actions for fostering a transition of the methods from research to operational activities; maximize the scientific return and benefits from the S5P mission for surface ocean research and services (e.g. CMEMS) by assessing the synergies with other satellite sensors, in particular explore the synergistic use of S5P and S3. |
| SMOS+ Med: Sea Surface Salinity in the Mediterranean | Ocean salinity reflects precipitation and evaporation rates, river runoff and ice formation and melting. It is an essential variable for the Earth's climate, because it influences ocean circulation, convection and mixing, through its effect on [...] | UNIVERSITY OF LIEGE (BE) | Science | oceans, science | Ocean salinity reflects precipitation and evaporation rates, river runoff and ice formation and melting. It is an essential variable for the Earth’s climate, because it influences ocean circulation, convection and mixing, through its effect on water density, playing an important role in the global heat exchange between ocean and atmosphere (Lagerloef and Font, 2010), a mechanism that regulates the climate. Through its role in ocean circulation, salinity also impacts primary productivity, making nutrients accessible or not to the food web, having an influence in e.g. fisheries. Salinity also influences, through the thermohaline circulation, the rate of atmospheric CO 2 uptake.This project aims at calculating a sea surface salinity (SSS) field over the north Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea for the past 6 years, using a combination of techniques developed by the partners of the project, GEHR (Belgium) and BEC (Spain). This approach combined a debiased non-Bayesian retrieval of the SSS, the use of DINEOF (Data Interpolating Empirical Orthogonal Functions) to correct for systematic errors, and multifractal fusion to obtain a L4 dataset.The resulting dataset has been compared to in situ data, demonstrating that the new methodology reduces by half the error with respect to previous estimates of SSS in the Mediterranean Sea. The dataset is available for download at http://bec.icm.csic.es/thredds/BECEXPMED.html |
| SMOS+ Rainfall Ocean | Several recent studies have concluded that climate change causes major changes in the global water cycle. There is increasing evidence that part of the multi-decadal trends observed on the sea surface salinity (SSS) are due to changes in the [...] | ARGANS LIMITED (GB) | Science | oceans, science, SMOS, water cycle and hydrology | Several recent studies have concluded that climate change causes major changes in the global water cycle. There is increasing evidence that part of the multi-decadal trends observed on the sea surface salinity (SSS) are due to changes in the global water cycle, e.g. the western tropical Pacific has become fresher and the subtropical North Atlantic has become saltier. Given that most of the evaporation and precipitations occur over the ocean, a main challenge for studying the global water cycle is the monitoring of freshwater fluxes over the ocean. However monitoring these fluxes is difficult, in large part because precipitation is a very variable and intermittent process. Hence, it has been shown that the measure of sea surface salinity (SSS) provides an indirect but integrated information on air-sea freshwater flux that might be powerful for monitoring changes in the water cycle. This was one of the major motivations for observing SSS from space and two satellite salinity missions: the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) and the Aquarius missions, which now have provided global SSS fields over the last several years. STSE SMOS+ Rainfall aims to exploit potential offered by SMOS L1 and L2 measurements to infer or enhance rainfall information over the global ocean, as well as define the potential contribution of SMOS to current efforts to retrieve rainfall information from satellites. The project has developed a suitable and scientifically sound methodological approach to exploit SMOS observations to retrieve or enhance existing rainfall information, by estimating the SSS anomalies caused by rainfall and calibrating a model that relates such anomalies to rainfall rates. The novel methodology relies only in SMOS data to obtain rainfall estimations, if well additional satellite-derived rainfall data has been used for both calibration and evaluation of the product, namely SSMI and IMERG. The project has also defined the range of validity, error structure and uncertainty of these retrievals and created a roadmap towards their improvement and integration into other existing rainfall products. Current results show that SMOS-derived rainfall performs better over ocean than some of the existing radiometer-derived products, and it has consistent results when comparing with IMERG. A global algorithm is currently under development to extend the current processor to a larger scale than the ones contemplated in the study previously. This study proves that SMOS can contribute to the increase of knowledge about the water cycle and that L-band missions can play a significant role in the acquisition of rainfall data at global scale. |
| SMOWS: Satellite Mode Waters Salinity, in synergy with Temperature and Sea Level | Living Planet Fellowship research project carried out by Audrey Hasson. Mode waters (MWs) transport a large volume of heat, carbon and other properties across basins at seasonal to longer time-scales and thus play a major role in the [...] | CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE (CNRS) (FR) | Science | living planet fellowship, ocean science cluster, oceans, science | Living Planet Fellowship research project carried out by Audrey Hasson. Mode waters (MWs) transport a large volume of heat, carbon and other properties across basins at seasonal to longer time-scales and thus play a major role in the modulation of the Earth climate. In the context of anthropogenic global warming, unlocking the understanding of the MWs transport and characteristics is critical. MWs in the South Pacific Ocean are of particular interest because of their likely interaction with the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Variations in the MWs, their relation with the observed long-term changes and possible implication for ENSO remain unknown. This proposal offers to investigate the MWs characteristics in surface salinity (SSS), temperature (SST) and sea level (SL), which are all Essential Climate Variables (ECV) emphasized by three European Climate Change Initiatives (CCIs). Their link with interannual to longer time scale variability of the Pacific Ocean also need further examination. MWs are subducted from the subtropical and sub-Antarctic Pacific mixed layers and subsequently flow equatorward at the subsurface or intermediate depth. They export the characteristics acquired at the surface into the subtropical gyre and the equatorial region. Surface observations can in consequence give us insight of the future characteristics found at depth at lower latitudes. According to IPCC (2013), it is likely that both the subduction of SSS anomalies and the movement of density surfaces due to warming have contributed to the observed changes in subsurface salinity. We will investigate properties of the formation areas and associated variations that will drive the volume and characteristics of the MWs. As MWs shoal, they modify the equatorial mixed layer characteristics, and could affect ENSO events. Studies indeed have shown that western equatorial Pacific SST and SSS modulate ENSO through vertical stratification. We will therefore to characterize the mean MWs pathways, properties and associated variations. In conclusion, the South Pacific Ocean is at the forefront of interannual variability to long-term modifications associated with climate change. It is therefore essential to study the observed SSS changes as they impact ENSO and SL variations. Satellite observations associated with in situ and modelling would ultimately enable us to unlock our understanding of the role of MWs SSS signature on interannual to longer timescale variability of the South Pacific Ocean. |
| Space4SafeSea | The ocean surface circulation with all its time-space complexity is the open-air limb of the oceanic mass transport. Surface currents carry heat (climate), plankton (marine biology), plastic (pollution). As well wave-current interactions lead to [...] | e-Odyn (FR) | Applications | altimeter, applications, marine environment, oceans, science, sea surface topography, security, water resources | The ocean surface circulation with all its time-space complexity is the open-air limb of the oceanic mass transport. Surface currents carry heat (climate), plankton (marine biology), plastic (pollution). As well wave-current interactions lead to significant sea state variability and strong wave height gradients inside relatively small geographic zones. The complex behaviour of the coupled wave-current system represents challenging risks for socio-economic activity at sea: merchant shipping, renewable energy production, oil & gas operations, fishing activities, and tourism. In addition, the intensification of sea fluxes as the result of global climate changes even complicates marine safety challenges and increases the number of risks related to unfavourable ocean. Accurate, high-resolution estimate of ocean surface currents is both a challenging issue and a growing end-user requirement. Yet, the global circulation is only indirectly monitored through satellite remote sensing; to benefit the end-user community (science, shipping, fishing, trading, insurance, offshore energy, defence), current information must be accurately constructed and validated from all relevant available resources. The objective of the Space4SafeSea project is to develop and validate for maritime safety applications an ocean state product based on synergetic use of a new merged ocean current and surface wave data in the Great Agulhas region, an area synonymous of hazardous sea state and rogue waves due to the interaction between the wave and the current. The new merged ocean current will be derived from Altimeter data and AIS-based current using the Multiscale Inversion for Ocean Surface Topography (MIOST) variational tool. The directional spectrum of sea surface waves from SWIM will be used in conjunction with a wave-model output and swell ray propagation model. The resulting data processing methodology and implemented algorithms will provide robust estimations for spatial distribution of complicated ship navigation zones due to sea-state conditions. An initial version of this product will be followed by evaluation and feedback from end-users who have directly experienced ground truth situations, leading to further methodology and technical development cycles to successively refine the final product output. |
| Swarm for Ocean Dynamics | Satellite magnetic field observations have the potential to provide information on dynamics, heat content and salinity throughout the ocean. It is well established that the ocean generates a time-varying magnetic field that depends on its [...] | Technical University of Denmark (DK) | Science | ionosphere and magnetosphere, Ocean Circulation, Ocean Indicators, ocean science cluster, oceans, swarm | Satellite magnetic field observations have the potential to provide information on dynamics, heat content and salinity throughout the ocean. It is well established that the ocean generates a time-varying magnetic field that depends on its motions and electrical conductivity structure. With ten years of high quality observations available from the Swarm satellite trio, and with recent advances in geomagnetic field modelling and data processing strategies, there are now new possibilities for extracting this signal of interest. The Swarm for Ocean dynamics project aims to retrieve the Ocean-Induced Magnetic Field (OIMF) signal, going beyond previously identified tidal signals, and to interpret it with the help of advanced numerical simulations using the latest oceanographic information. The project involves (i) a dedicated scheme for processing Swarm satellite data including corrections for known signals of magnetospheric and ionospheric origin, (ii) high resolution global modelling of the time-dependent internal field at Earth’s surface (iii) spatio-temporal filtering to isolate the time-varying OIMF signal, and (iv) analysis of high resolution numerical simulations based on 4D oceanic flows and conductivities. |
| SwellStats – Unfolding the Sea State Bias: Isolating a physical mechanism causing swell dependence of SAR altimeters | The Unfolding the Sea State Bias: Isolating a physical mechanism causing swell dependence of SAR altimeters (SwellStats) project is a project funded by ESA aiming at improving the reliability of the estimates of the sea surface’s geophysical [...] | ISARDSAT S.L. (ES) | Science | altimeter, oceans, permanently open call, science | The Unfolding the Sea State Bias: Isolating a physical mechanism causing swell dependence of SAR altimeters (SwellStats) project is a project funded by ESA aiming at improving the reliability of the estimates of the sea surface’s geophysical parameters made by SAR altimetry processing, increasing its value to assess informed climate-related decisions. Estimates of the geophysical parameters of sea surface can be obtained from satellite-based altimetric measurements by interpreting the way in which the surface shapes the reflected pulses of the radar. To do so, the state-of-the-art model used in conventional altimeters considers three significant parameters: the mean surface height, the standard deviation of the sea surface and the backscatter cross-section of the surface. However, with SAR altimetry, the picture is not so clear. When there is a distinct swell in addition to the local wind waves, these three parameters are not sufficient to adequately determine the backscattered waveform. In these cases, using the state-of-the-art model to interpret the returned pulse will give biased estimations of the geophysical parameters. This bias depends on swell, which is variable over the oceans. SwellStats will develop a specific physical mechanism that causes swell dependence of the backscattered waveform, and a method to test this hypothesised mechanism. This method will be a practical means of determining the swell sea directly from SAR altimetric data and avoiding the swell induced bias. The project kicked-off in June 2023 and will last for one year. |
| The Marine Atmosphere eXtreme Satellite Synergy – MAXSS | The general objectives of this activity is to foster the scientific exploitation of EO-based products to improve the observation, understanding and prediction of extreme wind events and their interaction with the ocean and the earth system. In [...] | IFREMER (FR) | Science | ocean science cluster, oceans, science, SMOS | The general objectives of this activity is to foster the scientific exploitation of EO-based products to improve the observation, understanding and prediction of extreme wind events and their interaction with the ocean and the earth system. In particular, the required activities include (1) the development, implementation and validation of new methods allowing to fully exploit and optimally combine the wind information obtained in extreme wind conditions (>35 m/s) from different spaceborne sensors, mainly SMOS and S-1 but also other mission data (e.g., Radarsat-2, AMSR-2, Aquarius, SMAP, CYGNSS, radar altimeters…) in order to build a long time series (at least 10 years) of global multi-mission synergy wind products in high to extreme wind conditions (>35 m/s), (2) the production of an atlas of extreme wind events collocated with measurements of the underlying ocean environment as measured from satellite sensors (Sea Surface Height, Sea Surface Temperature, Ocean Colour, Sea Surface Salinity, Wave height) or from auxiliary datasets from in-situ and/or models (ex. Mixed Layer Depth), (3) the exploitation of this reference database to foster new scientific results on how extreme wind events impact the ocean in term of ocean physics, ocean biology and air-sea fluxes, including feedback processes, and how this impacts major Earth System cycles from synoptic to interannual and decadal time scales and (4) the exploitation of this reference database to support the operational user community. |
| World Ocean Circulation | The objectives of this activity are to (i) develop and validate innovative methodologies allowing to optimize the synergetic capacity offered by satellite data, in situ measurements and numerical models for improving the retrieval of upper-layer [...] | OCEANDATALAB (FR) | Applications | ocean health flagship, ocean science cluster, oceans, platforms, science, sea surface topography, sustainable development | The objectives of this activity are to (i) develop and validate innovative methodologies allowing to optimize the synergetic capacity offered by satellite data, in situ measurements and numerical models for improving the retrieval of upper-layer ocean circulation products over FOUR high-priority pilot areas chosen as to represent at best the diversity of the world ocean circulation regimes, i.e. one polar sea area, one western boundary current, one upwelling region, one coastal area, and ii) in line with the objectives of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, demonstrate the unique capacity of the innovative products to support effective actions aiming at procuring a clean, safe, sustainably harvested and productive ocean by targeting FOUR high priority pilot applications, i.e. Pollution Monitoring, Safe Navigation, Sustainable Fisheries and Renewable Marine Energies. In order to answer the project’s objectives, the consortium will investigate the four following themes: Theme 1: Sea-state current interactions for Safe Navigation Theme 2: 3D currents and vertical motion for Sustainable Fisheries Theme 3: Surface Lagrangian drift for a Clean Ocean Theme 4: HR wave and current model assessment for a Productive Ocean For each theme, a minimum of two users have been engaged. Their role during the project is twofold. First, they will provide support to the consortium for the user requirement consolidation both in terms of products needed and ocean processes of utmost importance for their applications. Second, it is expected that feedback on usefulness and impact of the WOC products will be obtained through the impact studies performed by the users. In addition to the development of innovative methods and products targeting direct answers to the user needs, a series of tools will be also developed, implemented and maintained during the project. These tools should ease and maximize the WOC users’ involvement and further aim to attract potential new users. |