GOOS development in the Mediterranean Sea MedGOOS – MOON

GOOS development in the Mediterranean Sea: MedGOOS – MOON Activities and Plans Report prepared for the GOOS GRA Forum 2008 by Kostas Nittis1 & Nadia Pinardi 2 1 MedGOOS Chair, HCMR, Greece 2 MOON co-Chair, INGV, Italy November 2008 Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................................3 Basin scale collaborative efforts / systems .................................................................................4 The Forecasting System ............................................................................................................4 Observations ..............................................................................................................................5 National contributions / systems ................................................................................................8 Albania ........................................................................................................................................8 Bosnia and Herzegovina ...........................................................................................................8 Croatia .........................................................................................................................................9 Cyprus ...................................................................................................................................... 10 France ....................................................................................................................................... 12 Greece ...................................................................................................................................... 14 Italy ........................................................................................................................................... 15 Malta ......................................................................................................................................... 17 Montenegro ............................................................................................................................. 19 Slovenia .................................................................................................................................... 20 Spain ......................................................................................................................................... 21 Turkey ...................................................................................................................................... 23 Interactions with Users & other international initiatives ...................................................... 27 Relevant Policy developments................................................................................................... 28 Marine Strategy Directive ...................................................................................................... 28 Maritime Policy ....................................................................................................................... 28 Summary and Perspectives ........................................................................................................ 30 Annex 1: Members of MedGOOS and MOON .................................................................... 31 2 Introduction This brief report provides an overview of GOOS related activities in the Mediterranean Sea and has been prepared as a contribution to the 4th GOOS Regional Forum of 2008. It is prepared by MedGOOS and MOON, the two associations that work closely together to develop the Mediterranean component of GOOS and promote Operational Oceanography in the region. MedGOOS (www.medgoos.net) is the GOOS Regional Alliance in the Mediterranean with a membership of 19 members from 16 riparian countries. It is established under the auspices of UNESCO-IOC to provide a regional framework for partnerships, synergies and capacity building for operational oceanography to the benefit of all coastal states in the region. The MedGOOS Secretariat is established in Malta at the IOI-Malta Operational Centre (University of Malta); the current Chair is from the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research. The Mediterranean Operational Oceanography Network (MOON, www.moonoceanforecasting.eu) is an evolution of the EuroGOOS Mediterranean Task Team. It brings together marine research centres from the region to contribute to the planning and implementation of the operational ocean observing and forecasting system in the Mediterranean, promoting the development and optimization of the scientific base, the technology and the information system for operational oceanography, and targeting the GOOS goals to consolidate and expand the concerted monitoring and forecasting systems for Sustainable Development, Marine State Assessment and Risks Management. MOON is led by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Italy). The membership of the two associations is provided in Annex-I. The development of an operational capacity in the Mediterranean Sea is carried out through both: a) collaborative efforts through multi-national projects that aim to develop the basin scale monitoring and forecasting capacity; these projects are funded mainly by the European Union Research Framework Programs b) nationally funded programs usually focusing on EEZ / sub-regional systems and applications but also contributing to the basin scale system; these efforts are partially coordinated through MOON & MedGOOS The recent developments at these two levels is described in the following sections. Reference is also made to the relevant policy developments as well as to advancements regarding major institutional users in the Mediterranean Sea. 3 Basin scale collaborative efforts / systems The backbone of a Mediterranean ocean Forecasting System (MFS) has started to be developed in late 90’s and in 1998 an MFS Science and Strategy Plan was developed for the implementation of the observing and modeling system. The efforts to develop operational oceanography to a large extend through realization of this plan has been supported by several EU funded research projects such as MFSPP (1998-2001), MAMA (2002-2004) and MFSTEP (2003-2005), focusing entirely on the Mediterranean Sea, and more recently MERSEA (2004-2008) and ECOOP (2007-2009) that have a pan-European scope. Furthermore, the MedGOOS and MOON members have contributed to several other research oriented projects that have advanced our understanding for the Mediterranean Sea dynamics (recent examples SESAME, CIRCE) or extended our monitoring capacity (FerryBox, SeaDataNet etc). These projects have managed to develop a robust pre-operational capacity as well as a mature community of operational oceanography in the Mediterranean Sea with contribution from both Research and Operational Agencies. The main activities during the next 3 years will be streamlined under the Marine Core Service of GMES (www.gmes.info) which will be implemented by the MyOcean project from 2009 to 2011. GMES (recently renamed to Kopernikus) is a joint EU and ESA initiative that will develop a European autonomous capacity to monitor the earth for environmental and security applications. It will be the contribution of Europe to GEOSS and its marine component is one of the three more mature services that will be developed first (fast track services). The Forecasting System The MFS basin scale forecasting system operated by INGV (Italy) is based on a 1/16o implementation of the OPA model and provides on a daily basis, forecasts of the hydrodynamics of the Mediterranean Sea for the next 10 days. It uses atmospheric forcing from the ECMWF (European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) as well as higher resolution limited area atmospheric model results. It assimilates in-situ temperature and salinity profiles as well as remote sensing products of Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Level Anomaly. Model domain and bathymetry for the MFS basin scale forecasting system The basin scale forecasting products are used by several shelf and coastal systems that downscale the information through higher resolution models. These models use the basin 4 scale product for initial and boundary conditions, have a 1.5 to 3km resolution and are operated by national / regional providers Shelf and coastal seas operational models in the Mediterranean Observations The main basin scale observing components of MFS are: • The satellite observations providing Sea Surface Temperature (SST), Sea Level Anomaly (SLA) and Ocean Colour Chlorophyll (OCC) products • The Ship of Opportunity Program (SOOP) providing profiles of temperature and salinity • The ARGO program of profiling drifters • The Mediterranean Moored Multi-sensor Array (M3A) i.e. the network of moored Eulerian observatories. • The gliders All five components have been developed during the MFSPP and MFSTEP projects and have afterwards being sustained through other EC funded or national projects. The long term sustainability of the observing system is an important issue that should be addressed by GMES and the European Marine Observations and Data Network (EMODNet) proposed by the recent Maritime Policy. The Mediterranean SOOP program (http://vosdata.santateresa.enea.it:54321/mfs/) has been designed taking into account the regional characteristics and using the following principles: • provide repetitive measurements along transects from coast to coast, • the transects must cross significant dynamical features of the circulation, • the sampling distance should resolve, as well as possible, the mesoscale, • the technologies for data collection must be robust and simple, to be used on ships of opportunity, eventually by ship personnel. The number of XBT profiles provided by the SOOP program exceeds 500 per month during periods of intense sampling coinciding with major projects, while it drops to 50-100 profiles per month when a central funding support is not available (which is the case during the last 3 years). Since 2001 83 ARGO floats have been deployed in the Mediterranean Sea (http://poseidon.ogs.trieste.it/sire/medargo/active/index.html) either through research projects or as national contributions. These floats have offered more than 6000 profiles over the past 7 years and today 20 of them are still active. Efforts are made to guarantee the long term operation of these systems in the Mediterranean through the EuroARGO project that aims to coordinate the European contribution to the international ARGO program. 5 XBT profiles in the Mediterranean Sea from the SOOP program Evolution of ARGO floats operating in the Mediterranean Sea. Color denotes contributions from countries / projects Regarding the network of multi-parametric mooring stations, three of them have been developed during the MFSPP and MFSTEP projects (1998-2005) based on upgrades of national buoy systems (http://www.poseidon.hcmr.gr/M3A/). They have been subsequently maintained by national funds and through the EU Mersea project (2004-2008) while they are currently being upgraded through the recently funded EuroSITES (2008-2011) project that aims to provide an important contribution to the OceanSITES international program (www.oceansites.org). The ongoing upgrades include additional sensors for CO2 and pH as well as extension of the observing capacity to deeper layers. 6 The M3A multi-sensor moorings network of the Mediterranean Sea and outline of the E1-M3A station Within MFSTEP and Mersea, some glider activities have started in the Mediterranean Sea and the data processing and distribution is carried on by Coriolis in France. This innovative observing system is presently deployed on national funds through research projects. Nonetheless the contributing laboratories, grouped within EGO (European Gliding Observatories : http://www.locean-ipsl.upmc.fr/gliders/EGO/) are making their data freely available in real-time through the Coriolis data center First semester 2008 8 gliders operating at the same time from 4 countries The exchange of model data and observations between the MOON partners is regulated by a Data Exchange Agreement now signed by 11 Members of MOON. This agreement regulates the operational release of the products and safeguard the property rights of the data originators allowing also joint ventures between MOON Members. 7 National contributions / systems The recent progress and developments at national level are summarized below. Albania During the last two years, IHM is implementing a plan which has as the main objective a multidisciplinary monitoring of sea waters surrounding the Albanian coast in Adriatic and Ionian Sea. In order to achieve this important objective, a network of oceanographic stations has been designed. The stations are located in Shengjin, Durres, Vlora and Saranda and therefore the project is named Albanian Coastal Network (AlCoNet). The station of Durres is actually reconstructed and equipped with meteorological and some oceanographic instruments. The observations will be carried out three times a day in order to realize a complete monitoring of physical and biochemical parameters. In all stations samples for oxygen, Chlorophyll-a and inorganic nutrients are plan to be collected. In one of the stations (station of Durres) zooplankton monitoring will be realized for the study of the zooplanktonic taxonomic abundance. In this station water samples for the determination of pico and nano plankton cell abundance will be obtained. This station is chosen as representative for the Albanian coastal zone. The main goal of this project is two provide continuous and updated information of the health state of the sea, including the evolution of physical and biochemical properties. Products such as climatological values, time series etc. will be provided by means of a web in the near future. The web will include updated information for both the scientific community and the general public including MedGOOS and MOON modelling community. Bosnia and Herzegovina • • • • • Coastal waters are monitored only for temperature during summer period (so as occasionally during summer period for bathing water quality) Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism financing project design for waste water collection in Neum Municipality (the only coastal municipality in BiH), in order to support protection of flora and fauna (Ministry web site info of Oct 2007) Adriatic Sea watershed (Mediterranean - rivers Neretva, Cetina and Trebisnjica, and their tributaries) monitored for water level by water and energy administration Adriatic Sea watershed (rivers Neretva, Cetina and Trebisnjica, and their tributaries) monitored for water quality by water administration Biological monitoring in Mediterranean part of BiH relates to watersheds of rivers Neretva, Cetina and Trebisnjica, no biological monitoring at coastal area. Before the war in BiH (till 1991) monitoring of flora and fauna at river bottom was implemented in Neretva at Zitomislici and Cpljina , so as at confluence of Trebizat and Bregava to Neretva After the war such type of monitoring established again in June 2003 at Zitomislici and Capljina downstream (Višići) on river Neretva From 2008 monitoring is implemented also at confluence of Trebizat and Bregava to Neretva, so as at natural lakes: Blidinjsko lake, Boračko lake and Hutovo-Deransko lake, so as artificial accumulations i: HE Rama i HE Salakovac. • • • 8 Croatia During 2006-2008, IOF (Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries) with other Croatian oceanographic institutes have participated in a number of international and national scientific and/or monitoring projects. In the frame of these projects (ITHACA, DART6, ADRICOSMextension, NASCUM) thermohaline, optical and dynamical properties were studied. The new equipment the ADCP instrumentation was mounted on the speed craft and operated under way. The XBT measurements continued in 2006 in the South Adriatic transect Dubrovnik-Bari, and meteorological station was installed onboard the ferry Marco Polo. The radar measurements within the bi-lateral project with Italy performed surface currents measurements with a radar network in the Northern Adriatic. Within the long-term monitoring projects (“National monitoring project JADRAN” (7 cruises/year) and regional project “PAG_KONAVLE” (4 cruises/year)) the physical, chemical, biological and geological parameters were collected at the stations in figure 1 (left). In the frame of the National monitoring project JADRAN, the three buoys (in front of Rovinj, in the Kaštela Bay and in the Split channel) are in the sea, still in experimental phase (figure 1, right). Actual data from Jadranka and Visanka can be found at the web site of the Institute (http://www.izor.hr/eng/intro.html, at On-line services, Meteo.Ocean online data). Figure 1. Map of permanent monitoring stations (left) and location of buoys (right). Seasonal cruises of physical parameters were also performed in the coastal area for the purpose of “Jadranski project” (lead by the Water authorities (Hrvatske vode; http://www.hvjp.hr/)). Within this project a number of workshops were organized for the staff mainly from the state agencies. The modeling experiment of the ASHELF2 forecasting (Vis-Drvenik-Pelješac area) which started as a part of the ADRICOSM project continued through the national monitoring project JADRAN. Recently, improved is the Adriatic hydrodynamic model by introducing the internal tides. The database of the IOF has been updated continuously with the data from national monitoring activities. The temperature and salinity data are quality controlled and stored in the database. These data at standard oceanographic depth are available on demand. The metadata in ROSCOP are mandatory for each cruise, and are freely available. Current project for the Croatian Environmental Agency (http://www.azo.hr/) engaged all coastal institutes and provides information about the state of marine environment along the Croatian coast. In addition to indicators of eutrophication, oxygen depletion and shellfish toxicity, given are different physical, chemical and biological parameters for a number of stations (see fig 2). These data and analysis will soon be available clicking from the interactive image. 9 Figure 2. Stations for the control of water quality. The forecast for tides is given for 7 stations along the eastern Adriatic coast in the frame of national monitoring project Jadran, and can be found at http://www.izor.hr/jadran and http://www.mijeneonline.hhi.hr/index_mj_e.asp. Several microbarographs are purchased and should be mounted through November in three middle Adriatic ports (Vela Luka, Stari Grad and Vis) for the purpose of meteo-tsunamis study/forecasting. International recognition for our oceanography occurred in 2007, when our journal Acta Adriatica was included into the Sci-expanded list of journals. The content of the recent volumes can be found at the web http://www.izor.hr/acta/hr/index.html . We are looking forward for the 37m long oceanographic vessel to be deployed in the sea by the end of this year from the shipyard in Split, since most of the works have been completed without delay. Finally, a number of conferences/workshops which included ocean topics took place in Croatia in the last six months: • International Symposium on Meteo tsunamis was held in Vela Luka, Croatia, 20-21 June 2008. • EARSEL 1st International conference on remote sensing techniques in disaster management and emergency response in the Mediterranean region was held in Zadar, Croatia, 20-24 September 2008, with the participation of oceanographers. • MWWD 3rd international conference on Marine Waste Water Discharge and Coastal Environment took place in Cavtat, 27-31.10.2008. • Centre for Advanced Academic Studies in Dubrovnik is hosting the Workshop “Recent advances in Adriatic oceanography and marine meteorology” organized for 5-7 November. Cyprus Recent activities of OC-UCY (Oceanography Center, University of Cyprus): 1) Continuation of the operation and improvement of the Cyprus Coastal Ocean Forecasting and Observing System (CYCOFOS) : a) downscaling operational flow forecast from basin-intermediate-high-ultrahigh resolution, i.e hierarchically downscaling from 7 km to 600 meters (Fig.1). b) Remote sensing: MODIS and re-analyzed SAR data for the detection of oil spills, surface zooplankton images using satellite remote sensing SST and Chlorophyll. 2) Participation in EC funded projects related to OO, such as MERSEA-IP, ECOOP 3) Deployment of several surface drifters in the Eastern Mediterranean Levantine Basin provided/transmitted data in NRT (Fig.2) 4) Operational applications of the Mediterranean oil spill and trajectory model using the MOON forecasting products from MFS, CYCOFOS, SKIRON to provide oil spill 10 predictions during the Lebanese oil pollution crisis in summer 2006. This environmental crisis is considered the biggest so far oil pollution in the Eastern Mediterranean. The predictions where used by local, sub-regional, EU and UN relevant agencies. 5) Purchase of 2 Gliders and testing in the coastal areas of Cyprus (Fig.3) Figure 1. Hierarchically downscaling forecasts from MFS basin (7 km) to CYCOFOS ultra high resolution (600 m). OC-UCY scheduled near-future activities 1) Deployment of 2 Gliders in the Eastern Mediterranean Levantine Basin 2) Deployment of several surface drifters in the Levantine in collaboration with OGS 3) Upgrade of the Paphos Sea Level Station and deployment of another one to fulfill the objectives of the IOC ICG- NEAMTWS. 4) Release of 1’ resolution forecast for Levantine Basin 5) Install 2 additional coastal sea level stations 6) Upgrade the MedGOOS 3 ocean observatory in the SE Levantine Basin Figure 2. Deployment of 3 surface Argosphere drifters in the Eastern Mediterranean Levantine Basin, SeptemberDecember 2007. Figure 3. Testing the OC-UCY Gliders in the coastal sea area of Cyprus, September-October 2008 11 France During the past 2 years, major achievement on the French Mediterranean coast has been accomplished in the framework of PREVIMER. (http://www.previmer.org). PREVIMER is a system providing coastal observation and forecast. It is being developed since 2006, within planning contract between the French State and the Brittany region for a total investment of 13,18 M€ from Brittany and PACA1 regions, FEDER funds, Ifremer, SHOM2, IRD3 and Meteo France. PREVIMER’s main objective is to produce routine analyses and forecasts on the marine environment state in coastal zones, at various scales with a capacity for zooming-in to specific local areas. Timescales include both retrospective analyses and short-term forecasts: T+144 (6 days) corresponding to the accurate forecasts from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecast. PREVIMER provides 6 days forecasts of various geographical and thematic applications, on a routine daily basis and with high time increment: • circulation, temperature and salinity at surface and bottom in the north-western Mediterranean Sea, based on the MARS-3D model with a 1.5-km resolution, 30 depth levels and using boundary conditions from the Mercator and MFS system, • wave height and direction, observation and forecast, at various scales with zooming capabilities to very local scales with the WaveWatch III model, 1 2 Provence, Alpes, Cote d’Azur region, Navy Hydrographic and Oceanographic Office 3 Agency for research and development in overseas territories. 12 Observations In situ observations used in Previmer are: • the meteorological buoys network operated by Météo France, • the wave buoys network (Candhis) operated by CETMEF, • the tide gauges network operated by SHOM, • multiparameter fixed stations. Future developments will be focussed on the one hand on the deployment of TS sensors on voluntary fishing vessels Furthermore, since 2004, IFREMER has coordinated several cruises in the Western and Eastern Mediterranean seas in the framework of the MYTILOS/MYTIMED projects which aims to draw up a reference status of chemical contamination of coastal Mediterranean waters. A standard protocol has been developed and applied at the basin scale. Man-made cages containing mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) have been installed along the coasts in order to assess contamination of the marine environment by The in situ observation chemicals. 40 compounds including heavy metals, networks on the French persistent organic products and radionuclides have been Mediterranean coast analyzed. The caging technique compensated for the scarcity of natural shellfish stocks in significant parts of the coast and enable comparison between sites regardless of their physicochemical and trophic characteristics. Models linking a biometric parameter of each sample (the condition index) to pollutant levels make it possible to adjust raw data on contamination for a reference individual, by making a clear distinction between physiological factors (growth) and environmental ones. From 2004 to 2006 the coverage of the western Mediterranean basin has been achieved with 124 stations installed for three months along Western Mediterranean shores (continental coasts of the Balearic Islands, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and Maghreb). In 2007and 2008, mussel cages has been installed and recovered in the Eastern Mediterranean along the Greek, Syrian, Lebanese, Tunisian and Adriatic coasts. This work has been partly funded by Interreg IIIB MEDOCC program, supported by MAP/MEDPOL and carried out in partnership with numerous scientific institutions from the Mediterranean countries. PCB in mussels (Mytilos 2004-2006) The results show that the most highly impacted areas are mainly urban and industrial areas and the outlets of major rivers. When going from the coast towards open sea a far higher dilution effect is observed for organic compounds than for metals. For metals, levels measured offshore are generally found to be similar to those in natural shellfish populations living along the coast. 13 Greece Recent progress The national monitoring and forecasting system of Greece (POSEIDON, www.poseidon.ncmr.gr ) has been developed and is operated by HCMR since 1998. Its main components are: • The monitoring system based on a network of oceanographic buoys (11 buoys to support a 7 stations network) • The forecasting system based on a suite of numerical models • The Operational Centre for the data analysis and processing, the production of forecasts and the dissemination of information to end users Every three (3) hours the buoy network collects and transmits in near real time data for a) atmospheric conditions at sea level (air temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction), b) surface wave conditions c) upper layer oceanographic parameters (currents speed and direction, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chl-a). Following an automated quality control, data are released to end users including the research community. Example of POSEIDON forecasting products (wave height and direction) A major upgrade is carried out during the last 3 years (Poseidon-II, 2005-2008), aiming to upgrade and expanded the buoy network and the forecasting capacity of the POSEIDON system. The project has: • Expanded the buoy fleet / network with 5 more open sea systems, thus expanding the observing capacity in the surrounding seas (east Ionian, west Levantine) • Developed two reference stations: one for monitoring deep water characteristics for climate change studies (0-1600m, Pylos Station) and one for complete monitoring of biochemical processes and air sea interactions. The later is a follow up of the E1-M3A station of the south Aegean and is equipped with temperature and salinity sensors for the 0-1000m layer and biochemical sensors for the euphotic zone (0-100m, chl-a, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, PAR). The surface buoy hosts a complete set of sensors for air-sea interaction studies (wind speed and direction, air pressure, air temperature, wave height and direction, relative humidity, precipitation, radiance, irradiance, radiometer and pyranometer) as well as an ADCP for current speed measurements in the upper 100m. • Developed a tsunami detection module based on a deep sea platform, as a first step towards a Tsunami Early Warning System for the Mediterranean Sea • Expanded the forecasting capacity to the whole Mediterranean Sea and improved its quality through data assimilation methods (satellite and in-situ observations). The new meteorological forecasting system is based on a high resolution (1/20°) application of the non-hydrostatic ETA model in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The hydrodynamic models follow a downscaling approach based on variational initialization techniques (VIFOP package) and provide 1/30° forecasts for the Aegean Sea and 1/10° for the Mediterranean. Data assimilation for the basin scale model uses the Singular Evolutive Extended Kalman (SEEK) filter while the assimilated data set is multivariate including AVISO sea level height, AVHRR sea surface temperature, MEDARGO floats T and S profiles and XBT observations. The wave model is based on the WAM-Cycle4 code and 14 • follows the same resolutions and nesting approach (from 1/10° for the Mediterranean to 1/30° for the Aegean). A higher resolution (1/20°) product based on WaveWatch-III that covers both Mediterranean and Black seas is currently under pre-operational evaluation Developed an ecosystem forecasting capacity for the whole Mediterranean Sea. The system uses an ERSEM-based ecosystem model at a resolution of 1/10° coupled to the basin scale hydrodynamic model of the same resolution. The system has been evaluated in hindcasting mode against remote sensing ocean colour data (MODIS, 2003) and in-situ observations and appears to reproduce well the main biochemical characteristics of the Mediterranean. The next phase will be the assimilation of ocean colour data using the same SEEK method applied for hydrodynamical forecasting. Poseidon buoy network (summer 2008), and the E1-M3A timeeries system Future Plans and perspectives The third phase of Poseidon will focus on deep sea and climate related processes. The motivation is to contribute to the exploration of the deep sea environment, with emphasis on its response to global change including possible feedback mechanisms. The Mediterranean Sea is an ideal area for such studies since it is a “miniature ocean”, while the first indications of climate change impacts in this area have already been reported. During the next three years (2009-2011) HCMR has planned to: • Build and operate a deep sea observatory (bottom platform) at the deepest basins of the Mediterranean Sea (more than 2000m) in the south-east Ionian • Instrument the deep platform with appropriate sensors for climate change monitoring and biochemical processes (temperature, salinity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen) • Improve the air-sea interaction monitoring capacity and introduce new technology sensors for climate-relevant parameters such as CO2 and pH • Develop appropriate modeling tools for long term integrations to predict the future state of the Mediterranean Sea under different IPCC scenarios Italy The Italian National Group for Operational Oceanography (GNOO) coordinates national activities in this field. The GNOO mission, activities and participants are presented on its web site: http://gnoo.bo.ingv.it . Its participants are: INGV, CNR, ENEA, USAM, OGS, IIM, CONISMA, ARPA-EMR and GNOO has strong relationship with ISPRA. GNOO: • operates and continuosly improves the Mediterranean Forecasting System and the Adriatic Forecasting System-AFS MFS(http://gnoo.bo.ingv.it/mfs) (http://gnoo.bo.ingv.it/afs ) • has developed the system for ecosystem forecast in the Mediterranean Sea. • is developing application for the oil spill monitoring and forecasting for the coast guards and the Italian Ministry of Environment and Sea. • coordinated with the ‘Rapid Environmental Assessment’ carried out together with the NATO center in La Spezia. • coordinates the operational oceanography in situ and satellite data collaction and dissemination in Italy and contribute to the MOON MEDARGO and MOON-SOOP-VOS programs 15 • GNOO-USAM provide daily atmospheric products to GNOO-INGV for the oceanographic forecast production. MEDARGO program Here below some of the recent data collected from May 2006: MEDARGO floats stations (2619) in the Mediterranean from May 2006 to September 2008. Today (September 2008) 20 floats are active in the Mediterranean: 16 (3 from MFSTEP project, 13 French) transmit data in real time (data can be accessed at: www.coriolis.eu.org/cdc/dataSelection/cdcDataSelections.asp ; while trajectories and float status can be seen at: http://doga.ogs.trieste.it/sire/medargo/active/table_out.html) In addition to the MEDARGO program GNOO within MOON is also coordinating the Mediterranean Surface Velocity Programme that consist of a surface drifter network that distribute data on surface current velocity. Data can be accessed at the following web site: http://doga.ogs.trieste.it/sire/medsvp/ SOOP campaigns: Approximately 50 cruises have been performed in this period. The following figure shows the XBT stations (1275) in the Mediterranean from May 2006 to September 2008. The table below the figure shows the monthly statistics of the collected data. XBT stations (1275) in the Mediterranean from May 2006 to September 2008. The table shows the monthly statistics of the collected data. Approximately 50 cruises have been performed in this period. Two of the SOOP tracks to VOS tracks have been upgraded adding meteo stations have been installed on two tracks (Trieste – Dures and Bari/Brindisi-Dures). The tracks have been performed one time for the moment as shown in the figure below. 16 Stations of VOS-SOOP tracks in the southern Adriatic sea. Tracks have been performed in the November-December 2007. M3A buoys in the Ligurian Sea (W1-M3A), and in the Southern Adriatic Sea (E2-M3A) and coastal buoys The W1-M3A buoy in the Ligurian Sea had a major accident during 2007 and now is back at sea and is operational working also transmitting data to the GTS through the Italian Met Service, ItMS. Data can be accessed at the following web site http://www.odas.ge.issia.cnr.it/ The E2-M3A buoy in the Southern Adriatic Sea had several problems, meteo data can be accessed in delayed mode at the following web site: http://poseidon.ogs.trieste.it/boma_mfstep/meteo_24h.html In addition to these above mentioned buoys other buoys are included in the MOON and GNOO framework: • S1 buoy coordinated by CNR-ISMAR, the buoy is located at the Po river mouth and data can be accessed at the following web site: http://s1.bo.ismar.cnr.it/perl/s1_home.pl • MAMBO buoy coordinated by OGS, the buoy is located in the Gulf of Trieste and data can be accessed at: http://poseidon.ogs.trieste.it/mambo/ Satellite daily products of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and Surface Chlorophyll (Chl-a). The satellite products related to SST and been improved and are available in real time at the following website: http://gos.ifa.rm.cnr.it/index.php?id=373 The chl-a products can be accessed at the following website: http://gos.ifa.rm.cnr.it/index.php?id=373 The Fishery Observing System (FOS) in the Adriatic Sea The FOS system has been expanded and presently 12 ships are collecting the data in the Adriatic Sea. The transmission system has not been upgraded yet. Malta The Physical Oceanography Unit (PO-Unit) constitutes the research arm of IOI-MOC. The Unit undertakes oceanographic research, in a holistic perspective, including operational observations and forecasts, specialised data management analysis and participation in international cooperative ventures. The overarching research themes of the PO-Unit cover coastal meteorology, hydrography and physical oceanography with a main emphasis on the experimental study of the hydrodynamics of the sea in the vicinity of the Maltese Islands. The Unit has mainly endeavoured to promote activities in operational oceanography by the installation and maintenance of permanent sea monitoring systems, and the provision of meteo/marine forecasts. A main recent achievement is the upgrading of the ROSARIO II Malta Shelf forecasting system, and the publishing of the MARIA / Malta atmospheric and wave forecasts. The PO-Unit also acts as a national oceanographic data centre and 17 promotes the IOC/IODE (Committee on International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange) products and activities in Malta. The PO-Unit has strengthened its activities, know-how and capability through the participation in several EU funded regional scientific projects (MFSTEP; SEASEARCH, ESEAS-RI and MFSTEP in FP5) and is currently involved in various FP6 pan-european projects, namely SESAME, ECOOP and SEADATANET, as well as in two INTERREG projects, WERMED and RISKMED. Today it is also partner in several European and Mediterranean networks like ESEAS (the European Sea Level Service), MedGLOSS (the Mediterranean regional subsystem of the Global Sea Level Observing System with a local station for real-time sea level, sea temperature and atmospheric pressure measurements in Portomaso), and MOON (the Mediterranean Operational Oceanography Network). The main endeavours of the Unit in the last two years consisted of the following: The collection of sea level data from the station in the marina at the Malta Hilton Portomaso, which forms part of a regional network of sea level stations (MedGLOSS) and constitutes the first real-time monitoring station for oceanographic observations in Malta (http://www.capemalta.net/pounit/levmalta.html); The operational running of the realtime coastal meteo station on the breakwater of Marsaxlokk Bay for the delivery of observations of wind, wind gust, air temperature, air pressure and relative humidity at high sampling intervals (http://www.capemalta.net/MARSAXLOKK); The setting up of a new automatic station for the operational collection of atmospheric heat flux data; The conduction of a survey to collect sub-surface sea currents at a number of stations around the Maltese Islands; The operational running and upgrading of the ROSARIO II marine forecasting system which provides routine online meteo-marine bulletins for the area around the Maltese Islands (http://www.capemalta.net/MFSTEP/results0.html); The upgrading and operational running of the MARIA/ETA atmospheric modelling system (http://www.capemalta.net/maria/pages/atmosforecast.html); Use of ocean modelling and outputs from the marine forecasting system for oil drift applications on the shelf area around Malta; The operational running of an online wind and wave climatology for the Central Mediterranean providing a user-friendly system for access to statistical information on wind and wave conditions; Identification and recovery of oceanographic data sets from third parties; Participation in international research networks, including the Mediterranean Operational Oceanography Network (MOON) which brings together marine research centres from the region to contribute to the planning and implementation of the operational ocean observing system in the Mediterranean. 2D plots showing ROSARIO-II forecast fields for sea surface temperature and currents 18 The Medgoos Secretariat The MedGOOS Secretariat provides administrative support and assists in the coordination of MedGOOS activities. The Secretariat secures the continuous flow of information related to MedGOOS and its project activities, among the members. Important developments, training opportunities, conferences, seminars, etc. related to ocean monitoring and forecasting in the region are circulated to the members by the MedGOOS Secretariat. This strengthens the network and brings its components closer together. The main activities of MedGOOS in the last year were: Preparation and conduction of the MedGOOS Assembly in Athens The meeting served to share ideas on how MedGOOS should follow up and prepare actions in connection with the Blue Book on the EU Maritime Policy. The meeting was held back to back to the Mediterranean Operational Oceanography Network (MOON) Assembly. Preparation of the AL-Bahri proposal The main effort in connection with MedGOOS was the drafting of the Al-Bahri project brief that we aspire to conduct from the MedGOOS Secretariat. The Al-Bahri sketch proposal has also been submitted to DG MARE for direct support. The initiative puts focus on two main streams of action: - internationalise the EU maritime policy in the Mediterranean - use tools supported by operational oceanography to put common policies in practice The proposal has been intentionally given an arabic name....Al-Bahri means 'the sailor'.....it is to promote the participation of the Arab countries in this initiative which we will run through the MedGOOS channels with other regional partners. The brief puts together the concept, expresses ideas and gives an indication on what it aims to deliver. This initiative was presented at the EU meeting in Slovenia (Portoroz). Montenegro During the last two years, the Institute of Marine Biology Kotor is partner in international oceanographic project Adricosm star with main goals to multidisciplinary monitoring of continental shelf and modelling data in South Adriatic area. The stations (52 station) are distributed on transects (RADiales in Spanish) more or less perpendicular to the shore line of the South Adriatic Sea (Fig. 1) . Fig. 1 Adricosm Star position and transect All the transects and visited on a seasonal basis and cover the continental shelf. In all the stations CTD casts and samples for oxygen, Chlorophyll-a and inorganic nutrients are obtained. In 21 stations for each transect sampled water for micro phytoplankton taxonomic abundance studies are obtained. These samples are analyzed by means of optic microscopy. Also in the area of river Bojana, we established mesoscale CTD position (fig. 2). More information is possible find on the internet page: http://gnoo.bo.ingv.it/adricosm-star/ 19 Fig. 2 Adricosm Star transect and position (mesoscale) Slovenia A group of the Marine Biology Station of the National Institute of Biology that studies the dynamics of coastal waters is also active in building up the infrastructure of measurements and computing that lead towards operational oceanography. The project ‘ISMO’ of the INTERREG IIIa Italy-Slovenia provides for comprehensive monitoring of the state of the sea and for the provision of information to the expert community and the general public concerning ecological and oceanographic conditions. The state-of-the-art technology previously installed at sea was recently upgraded with underwater and surveillance cameras and a new Ethernet communication link between the receiving centre and a coastal buoy over a distance of 5 km was established via a microwave system. In this way instruments associated with the buoy (the ADCP current meter at the sea-floor, the acoustic anemometer, CT probe and sensors inside the buoy’s hull) can be contacted individually. Updated environmental information is offered to the public via websites. The interactive website also enables the public to run a circulation coastal model for simple driving (i.e., wind stress or wind speed). The team working with numerical simulations in a coastal sea and analysis of measurements is converging towards an operational forecast within the scope of the national research program. This goal is going to be achieved through a series of specific tasks which are related to the study of coastal dynamics. These tasks are related to numerical studies of circulation, e.g. the climatic circulation of the Gulf of Trieste, a hind cast of synoptic circulation of the northern Adriatic Sea during the passage of a summer storm, integration of tides in circulation, analysis of several years of measurements of currents below the coastal buoy and winds above it as well as an analysis of surface wave measurements. Study of the mechanisms that affect the spread and evolution of surface waves is ongoing together with the beginning simulations of wind-driven waves. There are a few teams that are joining efforts in establishing operational oceanography in Slovenia and it is expected that joint efforts in this direction with experts from other Mediterranean countries will result shortly. 20 Spain Puertos Del Estado DEEP WATER BUOY NETWORK The deployment of the buoy network finished in 2006 with the incorporation of two new stations: Dragonera and Cabo de Palos Buoys. The system has been enhanced: all the buoys have directional wave sensors and transmit wave spectra in real time. COASTAL WATER BUOY NETWORK Buoy distribution within this permanent network is highly dependent on the harbor demands and therefore subject to continuous change. During the last three years several new permanent stations have been incorporated to the network (e.g. Melilla and Barcelona buoys) and two more will be moored in the near future in the Strait of Gibraltar area (Algeciras and Tarifa buoys). All the wave sensors are in process of renovation in order to make them directional. Puertos del Estado Real Time Monitoring System TIDE GAUGES NETWORK In 2006 Puertos del Estado started the tide gauge network renovation process: so far, 11 tide gauges of the original network have been replaced by radar sensors. During this period, the network has also been increased by 9 new stations. These new sensors have a higher sampling frequency (2Hz), which allows the computation additionally of agitation parameters. At present, 1minute averages of sea level are transmitted each 1 minute to Puertos del Estado for the new equipments (each 5 minutes for the remaining old sensors). The renovation of the whole network will be finished in 2009. Additionally, a new tool is available through Harbor Wave Forecast Puertos del Estado web site to visualize sea level real time data. Applications This tool includes a tsunami and long wave detection algorithm, as well as an alert system. OCEANIC WAVE FORECAST SYSTEM To take fully advantage of the new wind fields provided by Spanish Meteorologic Institute (a higher resolution HIRLAM application is currently in use) to force the wave forecast, Puertos del Estado has also increased the resolution of the wave system and has developed new applications for the Gulf of Cádiz and the Canary Islands. At this moment, a new product derived from the oceanic wave forecasting system is being developed. This new development is a tool for ship routing to provide the wave forecast along a certain route and for the time that the ship will be at each moment. LOCAL WAVE FORECAST SYSTEM This high resolution wave application developed for the Spanish harbors has been progressively extended in the last three years. At this moment the system is made up of 9 harbor applications: 4 in the Mediterranean Sea and 5 in the Atlantic Ocean. In the future the system will be continuously expanded with new applications as new harbors require the service. At this moment three new harbors have demanded it: Cádiz (the application is almost finished), Las Palmas and Málaga Harbor Authorities. 21 SPANISH OCEAN FORECAST SYSTEM ESEOMED is the regional component of the Spanish Ocean Forecast System focused on the Western Mediterranean basin. This system, developed within the ESEOO project, provides short-term (72 h) forecast of currents and other oceanographic variables (temperature, salinity, among others). The ESEOMED numerical application was developed in collaboration by IMEDEA and Puertos del Estado, using the DieCAST (Dietrich/Center for Air-Sea Technology) model. The atmospheric forcing is provided by the Spanish Meteorological Institute (AEMET) and the runs are nested to the large scale global Mediterranean model (MFSTEP). Puertos del Estado is in charge of the operational service, and forecast info is daily updated and made available through the ESEOO web site www.eseoo.org. DOWNSCALING TO HARBORS A dynamical downscaling approach, consisting of a set of increasingresolution nested model applications able to solve processes from basin scales to harbor local scales, has been used to simulate local circulation in Barcelona and Tarragona harbors. The final goal of this initiative is to provide harbor managers continuous information of the met-ocean local conditions helpful to develop their activities minimizing environmental risks. Once verified the reliability of the system in these two harbors, the aim is to progressively extend the experience to the rest of Spanish harbors. Downscaling to Harbors SEA LEVEL/STORM SURGE FORECAST Puertos del Estado is implementing, within the ECOOP project, a multi-model ensemble for storm surge focused in the south of Europe using operational sea level forecast systems (e.g. Météo France, MeteoGalicia and Puertos del Estado). This system is already implemented, in a pre-operational phase, in Puertos del Estado. The outputs are given in several Spanish Harbors which provide real time sea level data. IEO (Instituto Español de Oceanografía) activities. During the last two years, IEO is implementing an ambitious plan devoted to the multidisciplinary monitoring of continental shelf and slope waters surrounding the Spanish Mediterranean coast. In order to achieve this goal, a net of oceanographic stations has been designed. The stations are distributed on transects (RADiales in Spanish) more or less perpendicular to the shore line and therefore the project is named RADMED (RADiales in the MEDiterranean). All the transects and visited on a threemonthly basis and cover the continental shelf and part of the continental slope in order to detect changes in physical and biochemical distributions between coastal and open waters. Some deep stations (> 2000m) have been included for the monitoring of deep water thermohaline and biochemical properties. In all the stations CTD casts and samples for oxygen, Chlorophyll-a and inorganic nutrients are obtained. In two stations for each transect zooplankton oblique trawls for the study of the zooplanktonic taxonomic abundance are accomplished. In these two stations water samples for the determination of pico and nano plankton cell abundance are obtained. These samples are analyzed by means of flow citometry. These two stations are chosen as representative of shelf and open sea waters. In the inner station, water samples for micro phytoplankton taxonomic abundance studies are obtained. These samples are analyzed by means of optic microscopy. 22 The main goal of this project is two provide continuous and updated information of the health state of the sea, including the evolution of physical and biochemical properties. It will be an important support for the administration assessment. Products such as climatological values, time series and trends will be provided by means of a web in the very near future. The web will include updated information for both the scientific community and the general public. CTD raw data for model assimilation and validation are available under request, especially for MedGOOS and MOON modelling community. Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CSIC-CEAB) In the past ten years, the CSIC-CEAB has been actively carrying out activities relevant to the development of Operational Oceanography services in the framework of EU and nationally funded projects (MFSPP, MFSTEP etc.). At present, the CSIC-CEAB participates in EU funded project SESAME and is part of the MOON/EuroGOOS Consortium. The CSIC-CEAB is about to initiate a nationally funded project OAMMS (Observation, Analysis and Modeling of Mediterranean Systems). The following actions have been or are being implemented in the field of Operational Oceanography: • Oceanographic observations including physical, chemical and biological magnitudes following different strategies: o XBTs launching from ships of opportunity (VOS). o Acquisition of remotely sensed images (MERIS, SEAWiFs, etc.) o Multiparametric meteo and oceanographic buoy moored by 350 m of depth in the NW Mediterranean o Time series of biogeochemical sampling and analysis • Historical data retrieval from 50 years of oceanographic research in the NW Mediterranean including: o Oceanographic data (T/S/Nutr/O2/Chlorophyll, etc.) o Phytoplankton taxonomy • Modeling of circulation and biogeochemical processes in the NW Mediterranean Sea. Turkey IThe Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS-METU) has carried out various sea-going experiments (with R/V BİLİM) and forecasting activities during the period of interest. It has participated in various national and international projects, summarized below. In the MFSTEP project, a forecast model has been developed for the Cilician Basin, which has been running forecasts on a daily basis since 2005. The model domain covered the eastern part of the northern Levantine Sea between Turkey, Cyprus and Syria. Daily forecasts for the Cilician Basin can be found at the http://linux-server.ims.metu.edu.tr/kilikya. The model is initialized with data from 5 days before the current time and run for 10 days, giving 5 days of forecasts every day at horizontal resolution of 1.35km, and driven by hourly atmospheric fluxes. The initialization, boundary conditions and forcing are based on MFSTEP regional modeling. 23 Figure 1. The model domain and example of a surface temperature forecast, for the Cilician Basin / Shelf Model developed during MFSTEP. In the following MERSEA project XBT data were collected during the second TOP period on board a TURKON container ship along the west – east Mediterranean transect (Figure 2) in September 2007, and duly sent to ENEA by GPRS data transmission, and inserted in the Coriolis data base. The simultaneous sampling of the western and the eastern basins of the Mediterranean allowed comparison of upper ocean features on a single transect in Figure 2. A lot of the observed structure reflected well known features detected in the historical syntheses of the Mediterranean circulation, though the XBT data collection allowed a concurrent picture with a high resolution along this particular transect extending across neighboring basins of the Mediterranean Sea. Later in April 2008, XBT data were collected on board the R/V BİLİM of the IMS/METU along an eastern Mediterranean Levantine basin transect and duly delivered by GPRS data transmission, to be inserted in the Coriolis data base. Figure 2. The west – east Mediterranean transect XBT drop locations, and (b) temperature cross-section on this transect, September 2007. 24 Based on the Cilician Basin forecasts, and the OSCAR oil spill model, a nowcast-forecast Oil Spill Model for the Eastern Mediterranean BOTAŞ Oil Terminal, the termination point for the Baku -Tblisi - Ceyhan pipeline carrying Caspian oil to the eastern Mediterranean, was developed in collaboration with SINTEF, and Botaş International Ltd. (BIL). Daily forecasts of circulation in the vicinity of the terminal and the Gulf of İskenderun were generated and oil spill scenarios were tested (Fig. 3). Figure 3. (a) Surface temperature and velocity based shelf circulation forecast in the Gulf of İskenderun, and (b) oil spill simulation near the BOTAŞ oil terminal based on the forecasts. Figure 4. The model domain and example of a surface temperature forecast, for the Northern Levantine Shelf Sea Model. In the ECOOP project, training activities are targeted. In addition, the Northern Levantine / Shelf model (Fig. 4), based on the MFSTEP regional / shelf modelling strategy is being run to yield 5 days of hindcast and 5 days of forecast every day. The model has been enlarged to extend along the entire Mediterranean Coast of Turkey, with the same resolution and forecast cycle as before. The forecasts are being presented on the http://linuxserver.ims.metu.edu.tr/klevant web page, and via ftp. The forecast data from either of the Cilician Basin or Northern Levantine / Shelf models will soon be available via THREDDS openDAP server established at the IMS-METU In the SESAME project, the IMS-METU is responsible for sub-basin and basin scale experiments in the Black Sea, the Turkish Straits System (Bosphorus, Dardanelles Straits and the Sea of Marmara), Levantine Basin and the Cilician Basin, as well as ecosystems modeling in the Black Sea, Turkish straits and Cilician basin areas. There has been a number of local projects supported by the Turkish Scientific and Technical Research Council, TÜBİTAK, that were instrumental in data collection and analyses, including fixed, real-time observation stations, in the Turkish Seas, and in supporting some of the modeling activities. Through these programs there has also been a meteorological 25 component in development, using coastal observations, atmospheric circulation and transport modeling on a regional scale, including data assimilation. In addition to experiments in the Black Sea, Levantine Sea and the Turkish Straits, these projects have enabled IMS-METU to extend its observation networks and develop forecasting activity, with collaboration of various government institutions. TÜBİTAK-MRC Preparation of system (in the scope of national contingency planning) for operational applications of the oil spill and trajectory model using the MOON forecasting products from MFS to provide oil spill predictions. The near real-time wind fields provided by the Turkish State Meteorological Service are used to force the trajectory forecasts. MOON forecasting products of MFS are considered using the climatological mean current fields. The study was conducted by Marmara Research Center of TUBITAK and IMS-METU. 26 Interactions with Users & other international initiatives A variety of organizations are users of operational monitoring and forecasting products in the Mediterranean Sea. Most of them are national authorities (environment agencies, coast guards, local authorities, port operators etc) who usually receive services through the national providers i.e. members of MedGOOS and MOON. At a basin scale the main user is UNEP-MAP that implements the Barcelona Convention for the Mediterranean Sea. The close collaboration with UNEP-MAP has been decided during a dedicated meeting (Athens, July 2006) and a series of activities have been agreed. Among them, the signature of an MoU between MOON and UNEP-MAP that will describe this collaboration in a more formal way. Two main areas where operational oceanography products can be used by UNEP-MAP have been identified: a. for the eutrophication assessment, satellite remote sensing products (ocean color) can be used; indeed monthly maps of chl-a estimates since 1997 were provided by MOON to MEDPOL which is the unit of UNEP-MAP responsible for these assessments b. for oil spill combating the relevant unit of UNEP-MAP (REMPEC) can use and provide to member states the relevant ocean forecasting products (currents, waves, winds) or the specific oil-drift forecasting models developed and operated by the operational oceanography community. Indeed this collaboration has been realized at various events such as, LIBANESE OIL POLLUTION (August 2006), GIBRALTAR ACCIDENT (05/09/2007), MONTENEGRO Oil spill detection (25/01/2008), UND ADRYIATIK ACCIDENT (06/02/2008), MARTI PRIDE ACCIDENT (07/03/2008) The collaboration with UNEP-MAP will be further developed especially in the framework of the recently adopted European Marine Strategy Directive for the protection of the marine environment (see also next section) MedGOOS and MOON has closely followed some initial developments of GEO in the region. They participated in organization of the GEO Coastal Zone Community of Practice (CZCP) Workshop “Observing System Requirements for Managing and Mitigating the Impacts of Human Activities and Coastal Inundation in the Mediterranean Region” that took place in Athens, 9-13 June 2008. The workshop offered the opportunity of dialogue between the two different (“open sea” and “coastal”) communities that did not have the chance to work under the same umbrella in the past. The workshop concluded that in general, the offshore marine observing system is in good condition and needs continued support and enhancement. Coastal marine and terrestrial observing systems have the added complication of the need for more involvement and control by individual States. Therefore, the needs are more varied among States and in particular between the northern and southern rims of the Mediterranean. More extensive capacity building and coordination of activities are needed, especially in the southern rim countries. MedGOOS also participated in the consultation / coordination meeting between representatives of European Sea Level Network operator groups and projects moderated by IOC/GLOSS, in support of the Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System in the North Eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and Connected Seas (NEAMTWS) that took place in Paris IOC/UNESCO (9-10 October 2007). Since the sea level data collection in the Mediterranean Sea is coordinated by MedGLOSS the role of MedGOOS is limited to the link with other relevant activities such as modeling and forecasting as well as use of new technologies such as pressure sensors onboard open sea bottom platforms. 27 Relevant Policy developments Marine Strategy Directive The European Union has recently developed a Marine Strategy Directive for the environmental protection of Europe's seas and oceans. The directive will oblige member states to ensure that EU marine waters are environmentally healthy by 2020 at the latest. One of the key issues is the development of efficient monitoring strategies for each of the European Seas and the use of operational oceanography products is being considered. This was the topic of a dedicated workshop organized by EEA (European Environmental Agency) entitled "Connecting operational oceanography with the European Marine Strategy and EEA assessments" (Copenhagen on 23-24 October 2006). The workshop was in the framework of EMMA (European Monitoring and Marine Assessment) with support from DG Environment of the European Commission and marked the beginning of a cooperation with the EEA and with the Conventions mandated to report on the state of the marine environment. The ultimate goal of this process is to improve marine monitoring and assessments (MMA) in Europe through a wider and more systematic usage of operational oceanography (OO) products. In practice, the workshop brought together two communities: those delivering operational information products for the marine environment and those concerned with MMA. The dialogue helped the two communities identify what they have in common, what should be expected and what can be delivered in the short and longer term. The main conclusions were that OO can give a strong contribution to the Physical features considered in the Marine Strategy Directive (MSD) “Initial assessment”, primarily for temperature, salinity and currents, and secondarily for bathymetry. Many products are available and are being already used in assessments (e.g. definition of seasonal variability, trends, anomalies etc). For the Biological elements there are already available products primarily for nutrients and phytoplankton and secondarily for zooplankton, and oxygen. However both the observing and modeling capacity for ecosystem parameters needs to be improved through additional investments in monitoring systems and RTD. The workshop also suggested new parameters that should be considered for the marine assessments such as: sea level, sea ice, wave regime, light, CO2 and pH. The workshop appreciated that OO is currently in a transitional phase from research to operations and GMES provides the framework for such a transition leading to long-term sustained production. The GMES Marine Core Service will provide generic public good deliverables capable of underpinning multiple applications and MMA will be one of them. Maritime Policy An Integrated Maritime Policy for the European Union has been proposed in 2006 and the MedGOOS-MOON networks have jointly contributed to the open consultation through a communication entitled: “Internationalising the EU Maritime Policy in the Euro-Med region and building upon Marine Research and Operational Oceanography to write the policy in practice”. The two networks supported the Commission’s statement that a Maritime Policy “... should be supported by excellence in marine scientific research... “. They also welcomed the recognition of the importance of systematic ocean observations to support multiple activities. They offered to promote the development of operational oceanography in the Mediterranean underpinning the needs for achieving the pertinent goals set by the EU Maritime Policy. In particular, they offered their experience to develop the Mediterranean Component of the proposed European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODNet) based on the capacity of their members that have jointly developed over the past 10 years essential components of the Mediterranean Monitoring and Forecasting System. Furthermore, the communication of MedGOOS & MOON put the focus on the following points: • the impact and benefits of ocean observations and forecasting in favour of the sustainable exploitation of marine resources in the region through the use of emerging science and 28 technology, taking into account the more demanding needs of an evolving knowledge-driven society and the greater reliance of future regional economic growth on the marine sector; • the need for marine technology developments linked to operational oceanography, both to address the needs for improved observations, forecasts and assessments (such as in marine instrumentation, ocean sensor development, servicing of marine operational observing systems, adaptive modeling, sustainable development applications in the framework of ecological economics) as well as to promote solutions in support of novel services, benefits and added-value products in the marine sector; • the support of regional partnerships, arrangements and mechanisms for capacity building, co-management, sharing of efforts and co-exploitation of benefits, possibly within the framework of a stronger EU-Mediterranean Cooperation in the marine sector and a Euro-Med Research Area. 29 Summary and Perspectives The main effort of the MedGOOS and MOON communities over the past three years (20052008) was the improvement and consolidation of the basin scale monitoring and forecasting systems that have been build through major EU funded project during 2000-2005. This has been achieved through new RTD funding from EU and national sources as well as through coordination with operational systems of certain countries. The effort is ongoing and the community is currently participating in projects addressing the in-situ observations (EuroARGO, EuroSITES) or research oriented projects that improve our modeling capabilities and understanding of Mediterranean marine dynamics (SESAME, CIRCE). Those initiatives have created a capacity to monitor and forecast the physical state of the Mediterranean Sea with appropriate resolution for basin scale and shelf seas applications, while first steps towards an analogous capacity for the ecological state are underway. The transition from pre-operational systems to fully operational as well as their long term sustainability is among the future priorities. The first goal will be addressed through the MyOcean project (2009-2011) that will implement the Marine Core Service of GMES. The pan-European system delivered by this project will eventually enter an operational mode after 2012 under the appropriate funding mechanisms. The sustainability of the in-situ observations necessary for such a system is also being discussed under the GMES umbrella but a more detailed plan is currently not available. The recently developed European Marine Strategy Directive and Maritime Policy are expected to contribute to this sustainability problem since they will put pressure on Member States to develop and operate appropriate monitoring systems. However this applies only to the EU members of the Mediterranean Sea and, thus, the issue of north – south difference of capabilities will remain if not increased. MedGOOS and MOON continue to stress this problem that in some cases (e.g. Maritime Policy) has been appreciated at a political level. Efforts are also made to keep as many Mediterranean countries (network members) as possible involved in the EU funded projects. This is a slow capacity building process that cannot truly address the problem but helps to prepare the community for possible future more substantial opportunities. The need to put more effort on the development of the coastal component of GOOS in the Mediterranean Sea has been agreed as a priority in the recent MedGOOS and MOON assemblies (2007). This will require more coordination of national efforts since coastal systems are usually funded and operated at national or local level. As presented in this report, many countries are developing a coastal monitoring capacity but not necessarily following the same strategies and standards. 30 Annex 1: Members of MedGOOS and MOON MedGOOS Members 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Albania (Institute of Hydrometeorology) Bosnia & Herzegovina (Hydro-Engineering Institute Sarajevo) Croatia (Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries) Cyprus (Oceanography Center, University of Cyprus) Egypt (National Institute of Oceanography & Fisheries) France (Institut Francaise pour l’Exploitation de la MER) Greece (Hellenic Centre for Marine Research) Israel (Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research Ltd.) Italy (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Ente Nazionale per le nuove Energie e l’Ambiente) Malta (IOI-Malta Operational Centre, University of Malta) Morocco (Mohamed V University) Slovenia (Marine Biological Station of Piran) Spain (Puertos del Estado, Instituto Espanol de Oceanografia) Tunesia (Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer) Turkey (Institute of Marine Sciences, Middle East Technical University) Montenegro (Institute for Marine Biology) Chairman: Kostas Nittis (HCMR, Greece), Executive Secretary Aldo Drago (IOI-Malta Operational Centre) MOON Members 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Italy Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Sede di Ravenna, Centro Interdipartimentale per la Ricerca sulle Scienze Ambientali, Italy Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze Marine, Italy Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze dell'Atmosfera e del Clima, Italy Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto per l’Ambiente Marino Costiero, Sezione di Messina, Italy Ente per le Nuove tecnologie, l'Energia e l'Ambiente, Progetto Speciale Clima Globale, Italy Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale, Italy MERCATOR OCEAN, France Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer, France Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Laboratoire d'Oceanographie de Villefranche, Station Zoologique, France Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Pole d'Oceanographie Cotiere de l'Observatoire Midi-Pyrenees, Laboratoire d'Aerologie, France University of Athens, Greece Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Greece Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Institute of Accelerating Systems and Applications, Greece Israel oceanographic & Limnological Research, Israel Bar Ilan University, Israel Oceanography Centre of Cyprus, University of Cyprus, Cyprus Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Spain Labortory d’Enginyeria Maritima, Spain Puertos del Estado, Spain Middle East Technical University, Institute of Marine Sciences, Turkey International Ocean Institute-Malta Operational Centre, University of Malta, Malta 31 24. National Institute of Biology, Marine Biology Station, Slovenia 25. Andrija Mohorovicic Geophysical Institute, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia 26. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Studi sui Sistemi Intelligenti per l'Automazione, Sezione di Genova, Italy 27. Instituto Espanol de Oceanografia, Spain 28. Alexandria University, Egypt 29. Institut National de Recherche Halieutique, Morocco 30. Meteo France, France Co-chairs: Nadia Pinardi (INGV, Italy) and Pierre Bahurel (Mercator-Ocean, France) 32