Ziel
The foreseen Marine Strategy Directive and associated Maritime Policy of the European Union embrace a new holistic view to the coastal seas, which exploits the synergies of observations and modelling. One huge problem is to get suitable observations. In the case of sea level and sea state, these would traditionally be provided by in situ stations. The sparse distribution of these stations, or even total absence in parts of the coastline hampers the whole 'monitoring and modelling' process. In many cases, remote sensing is the only feasible way to retrieve any information for coastal regions. Altimetry, in particular, is capable of providing sea level data as well as high-value sea state products (including waves and wind). When employed in synergy with modelling, potential benefits may increase significantly, for instance for monitoring and prediction of sediment transport and erosion by coastal currents. A number of studies have provided a general understanding of the difficulties and challenges in interpreting altimeter-derived measurements in coastal seas.
The ALTICORE (value added satellite ALTImetry for COastal REgions) project aims at mitigating or removing, where possible, the obstacles to operational use of altimetry over coastal areas, with particular reference to the European seas (Mediterranean, Black, Caspian, White and Barents). It has two complementary and interconnected components: one is the definition and development of an advanced altimeter data processing system, and the other is the design and implementation of a GRID-compliant system for efficient access to distributed archives of data. Its structure will consist of regional data centres, each one with primary responsibility for maintaining its regional archives by selecting the best corrections and ensuring quality control. Centres will operate a set of web-services allowing access to the full functionality of data extraction, and a central web server will provide a simple interface to the web services to give interactive access to users.
ALTICORE will have two main benefits:
a) it will make coastal altimetry data of higher quality than the currently available products, and
b) it will make the data immediately available to modellers and data integrators. We expect to advance coastal altimetry, from the present under-exploited status, into pre-operational use with a fully implemented system for the production of quality- controlled data and their dissemination, through graphical and command-line interfaces, to the end-users.
Developing the ALTICORE system will provide a vehicle for knowledge transfer on Data GRID technology to NIS partners, and will contribute both to the ongoing International Altimeter Service effort and to the building of a sustained coastal observing system in the perspective of GMES and GEOSS initiatives.
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Italien