Novel tools and products to better monitor Earth's oceans
The EU's Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative (now Copernicus) aims to achieve an autonomous European EO capability. In the marine sector, the first wave of GMES applications involved mainly 'upstream' services. These include the MyOcean series, which seeks to put in place an integrated pan-European ocean monitoring and forecasting capacity. With EU funding, the OSS2015 (Ocean strategic services beyond 2015) addressed the limitations holding back the wider implementation of MyOcean products with a view to benefiting Copernicus' marine monitoring service beyond 2015. Project partners created a methodology to optimally deploy observation floats at sea to complement EO. They identified key factors that drive marine ecosystems in order to produce biochemical parameters. This will help to better understand and reliably predict marine ecosystems' response to anthropogenic changes which are beneficial to implementing European policies on climate change and marine environment protection and exploitation. The OSS2015 team delivered a time series of innovative biogeochemical products to provide a picture of the current state of marine ecosystems and climate monitoring around the world. A collaborative research platform with remote access capabilities was launched that generates tailored on-demand EO products for scientists. It also provides validation tools, personal data storage and data exchange facilities. Project outcomes resulted in recommendations on a Copernicus green offshore marine service for consideration during the next phase of the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service. OSS2015 both improved the quality and usability of MyOcean products and contributed to the development of integrated marine observation networks.
Keywords
Earth observation, Copernicus, MyOcean, ocean monitoring, OSS2015
