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 sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changesnatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystemscoastal 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 EU contribution No data Address 15,seestrasse 15 18119 Rostock /warnemunde Germany See on map Total cost No data Participants (19) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all Christian-Albrechts Universität Kiel Germany EU contribution No data Address Olshausenstraße 40 24118 Kiel See on map Total cost No data Estonian Marine Institute Estonia EU contribution No data Address 32,lai street 0001 Tallinn See on map Total cost No data FINNISH ENVIRONMENTAL INSTITUTE Finland EU contribution No data Address 6,kesäkatu 6 00251 Helsinki See on map Total cost No data GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ESTONIA Estonia EU contribution No data Address 80-82,kadaka street 80-82 0026 Tallinn See on map Total cost No data Geological Survey of Finland Finland EU contribution No data Address 4,betonimiehenkuja 02150 Espoo See on map Total cost No data INSTITUTE OF OCEANOLOGY POLISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Poland EU contribution No data Address 55,powstancow warszawy 55 81-712 Sopot See on map Total cost No data Institute of Ecology - Estonian Academy of Sciences Estonia EU contribution No data Address 2,kevade 0001 Tallinn See on map Total cost No data Institute of Geology Lithuania EU contribution No data Address 13,sevcenkos 2600 Vilnius See on map Total cost No data Institute of Hydro-Engineering - Polish Academy of Sciences Poland EU contribution No data Address 7,koscierska 80 953 Gdansk See on map Total cost No data Klaipéda University Lithuania EU contribution No data Address 84,manto street 84 5818 Klaipèda See on map Total cost No data Latvian Fisherie Research Institute Latvia EU contribution No data Address 6,daugavgrivas street 1007 Riga See on map Total cost No data Lund University Sweden EU contribution No data Address 1, 221 00 Lund See on map Total cost No data STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITET Sweden EU contribution No data Address Svante arrhenius vaeg 21 a 106 91 Stockholm See on map Total cost No data Sankt-Petersburg Branch of the State Oceanographic Institute Russia EU contribution No data Address 2a,line 23d 199026 Sankt-petersburg See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITY OF HAMBURG Germany EU contribution No data Address Martin luther king platz 6 20146 Hamburg See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITY OF LATVIA Latvia EU contribution No data Address 3,miera street 3 2169 Salaspils 1 See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITY OF TARTU Estonia EU contribution No data Address 46,vanemuise street 46 2400 Tartu See on map Total cost No data University of Szczecin Poland EU contribution No data Address 3a,felkzaka street 71 412 Szczecin See on map Total cost No data University of Turku Finland EU contribution No data Address 20014 Turku See on map Total cost No data