Baltic Sea System Study

Objective

Coastal oceans in the highly dynamic boundary area between the terrestrial and oceanic realms are exposed to considerable external forcing by natural phenomena and human intervention. Particularly, semi-enclosed intra continental coastal seas with the reduced water renewal, such as the Baltic Sea, are most vulnerable to the human component. Due to the uncertainties in differentiating the impact of climate variability from anthropogenic disturbances the future reaction of coastal ecosystems to increased stress and to counter-measures is not predictable at present.
The Baltic Sea System Study (BASYS) aims at reducing these uncertainties in a multi-disciplinary project with 8 scientific subprojects: Pelagic processes, Lateral transport, Nearshore processes, Atmospheric load, Climate impact, Environmental record in the sediments, Systems analysis and modelling and Mesoscale physics. The 3 major objectives of the project are: - to improve the quantification of past and present fluxes
- to further the understanding of the susceptibility of the Baltic Sea toexternal forcing
- to achieve a sound scientific basis for the understanding of future changes. The work of BASYS encompasses retrospective aspects by studying the sedimentary record, long-term time series and hindcasting models as well process oriented studies on important system components like vertical and lateral fluxes, food web structure and their regulation by mesoscale physical phenomena. The 4 major working tasks are:
- assessment of time scales of significant changes and limits of complexityfor prediction
- translation of lateral and vertical gradients into mass balances - estimation of the sediment recording capacity in relation to lateral transporand pelagic-benthic coupling
- differentiation between natural and anthropogenic external forcing byunderstanding the preindustrial variability of the ecosystem. The various subsystems of the Baltic Sea are highly variable in their biogeochemical behaviour. The field work cover representative site and results are upscaled to basin and larger scales by various model approaches. The combination between process oriented work, assembling of historical data, modelling and the geological record will allow for robust testing for predictive capability and for development of generic strategies in coastal ecosystem research.

Fields of science

• natural sciences › earth and related environmental sciences › atmospheric sciences › climatology › climatic changes
• natural sciences › biological sciences › ecology › ecosystems › coastal ecosystems

Programme(s)

• FP4-INCO - Specific research, technological development and demonstration programme in the field of cooperation with third countries and international organizations, 1994-1998

Topic(s)

• 0102 - Cooperation with the countries of central and eastern Europe and with the new independent states of the former Soviet Union

Call for proposal

Data not available

Funding Scheme

CSC - Cost-sharing contracts

Coordinator

BALTIC SEA RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Address

15,seestrasse 15
18119 Rostock /Warnemunde
Germany

Participants (19)

Christian-Albrechts Universität Kiel

Germany

Address

Olshausenstraße 40
24118 Kiel

Estonian Marine Institute

Estonia

Address

32,lai Street
0001 Tallinn

FINNISH ENVIRONMENTAL INSTITUTE

Finland

Address

6,kesäkatu 6
00251 Helsinki

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ESTONIA

Estonia

Address

80-82,kadaka Street 80-82
0026 Tallinn

Geological Survey of Finland

Finland

Address

4,betonimiehenkuja
02150 Espoo

INSTITUTE OF OCEANOLOGY POLISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Poland

Address

55,powstancow Warszawy 55
81-712 Sopot

Institute of Ecology - Estonian Academy of Sciences

Estonia

Address

2,kevade
0001 Tallinn

Institute of Geology

Lithuania

Address

13,sevcenkos
2600 Vilnius

Institute of Hydro-Engineering - Polish Academy of Sciences

Poland

Address

7,koscierska
80 953 Gdansk

Klaipéda University

Lithuania

Address

84,manto Street 84
5818 Klaipèda

Latvian Fisherie Research Institute

Latvia

Address

6,daugavgrivas Street
1007 Riga

Lund University

Sweden

Address

1,
221 00 Lund

STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITET

Sweden

Address

Svante Arrhenius Vaeg 21 A
106 91 Stockholm

Sankt-Petersburg Branch of the State Oceanographic Institute

Russia

Address

2a,line 23d
199026 Sankt-petersburg

UNIVERSITY OF HAMBURG

Germany

Address

Martin Luther King Platz 6
20146 Hamburg

UNIVERSITY OF LATVIA

Latvia

Address

3,miera Street 3
2169 Salaspils 1

UNIVERSITY OF TARTU

Estonia

Address

46,vanemuise Street 46
2400 Tartu

University of Szczecin

Poland

Address

3a,felkzaka Street
71 412 Szczecin

University of Turku

Finland

Address

20014 Turku