Skip to main content
European Commission logo print header

Monitoring and assessment of the ecological quality of inland and marine waters

Obiettivo

Specific Objectives:

1. Development and intercalibration of ecological quality status assessment systems of surface waters (European Centre for Ecological Water Quality and Inter-Calibration) 1.1 To establish the draft register for the intercalibration network, to co- ordinate and assist Member States (MS) and Candidate Countries (CC) in selection of common surface water types and sites for the intercalibration network 1.2 To co-ordinate the WFD CIS Ecological Status cluster supporting further development of the surface water ecological status classification systems in MS and CC 1.3 To develop guidance for analysis and reporting of the results from the intercalibration exercise 1.4 To support development of WFD compatible monitoring system (contribution to the WFD CIS working group on monitoring) 1.5 To assess the environmental benefits of the Nitrates and UWWT Directives 1.6 To develop and test applicability of biological quality indicators for WFD compatible classification of coastal waters 1.7 To develop and apply the methodology to assess the influence of climate change on ecological quality of European surface waters, in conjunction with MS and CC 1.8 To devise a collaborative strategy with DG ENV to contribute to the design and implementation of the reporting requirements of the MS under the WFD;

2. Enhanced development and validation of Earth Observation (EO) advanced regional algorithms for the retrieval of coastal/marine constituents supporting the monitoring of coastal and marine ecosystems on a European scale) 2.1 To develop regional bio-optical algorithms, using comprehensive marine and atmospheric data from specific measurement campaigns, for the quantification of optically significant seawater constituents (i.e. Chl.a TSM and Yellow Substance ¡V organic matter) through satellite imagery 2.2 To develop statistical methods for the optical classification of regional coastal waters through satellite imagery for the successive application of the most appropriate algorithms in the production of coastal/marine maps of optically significant constituents (i.e. Chl.a TSM and Yellow Substance) 2.3 To use autonomous in-situ measurement systems (at reference sites) for the continuous validation of primary optical remote sensing products 2.4 To support HELCOM/MONAS activities in the frame of the HELCOM ¡¥Satellite Project and further development of the network with HELCOM institutions (including Candidate Countries and Russia);

3. Development and application of regional sea numerical models to derive physical and high level biological data required for ecosystem studies and indicator development on a European scale 3.1 To implement and to apply a high resolution (2 nm) North Sea and Baltic Sea model 3.2 To implement and to validate a numerical physical 3-D model for the Black Sea (in collaboration with Candidate Countries) 3.3 To implement and to validate an ecosystem model for the Baltic Sea 3.4 To contribute to EEA, EEA-ETC Water and Inter-Regional Forum (network of Regional marine Conventions) working groups and set up a network of modeling institutions for all European regional seas (Member States and Candidate Countries);

4. Development and validation of coastal/marine indicators to support the assessment of eutrophication phenomena for all European regional seas 4.1 To extend the physical resistance to eutrophication (PSA Index) and Eutrophication Risk Index/EUTRISK models to all European Seas in order to identify potentially sensitive areas (Version 1) 4.2 To improve the methods for PSA and EUTRISK (Version 2) 4.3 To evaluate the meaningfulness of combining the PSA and the EUTRISK to show the environmental benefits of EU Water Legislation (WFD, Nitrates, UWWT Directives) 4.4 To customise informatics tools for the integration, access and dissemination of inland, coastal and marine geo-referenced water data with other spatial data sets.

Anticipated milestones and schedule:
1. Development and intercalibration of ecological quality status assessment systems of surface waters (European Centre for Ecological Water Quality and Inter-Calibration) Result of the metadata-analysis and metadatabase structure (June 2003); Common types, pressures, and geographical intercalibration groups of MS and CC selected for the intercalibration network (June 2003) Meta database of the sites selected in the intercalibration network (Nov 2003) Draft register for the intercalibration network submitted to WFD committee (Dec 2003) Finalized guidance document for the intercalibration exercise (Dec 2003) Guidance on lake monitoring of inland surface waters (Dec 2003) CHARM workshop, draft reference conditions for phytoplankton in the Baltic (Nov 2003) Identification of data sets appropriate for the assessment of climate change on water quality;
2. Enhanced development and validation of Earth Observation (EO) advanced regional algorithms for the retrieval of coastal/marine constituents supporting the monitoring of coastal and marine ecosystems on a European scale) Execution of measurement campaign at specific regional seas (Baltic Sea in June-July 2003, Adriatic Sea from February to October 2003) Workshop on algorithm inter-comparison HELCOM Project (February 2003);
3. Development and application of ¡¥regional sea¡¦ numerical models to derive physical and high level biological data required for ecosystem studies and indicator development on a European scale High resolution data production for North Sea and Baltic Sea (March 2003); Physical model set up and test runs for the Black Sea (June 2003); First biological model results for Baltic Sea (October 2003);
4. Development and validation of coastal/marine indicators to support the assessment of eutrophication phenomena for all European regional seas Completed validation exercises of Version 1 of PSA and EUTRISK for North Sea and Adriatic Sea (March 2003) First results of PSA and EUTRISK (Version 1) for the Channel, Bay of Biscay, West Portugal and Eastern and Western Mediterranean and Baltic Sea (March - Dec 2003); Successful testing of improved methods (Version 2) for PSA and EUTRISK for selected test areas (Oct. 2003); Successful testing of SCA ARION information system (July 2003). The execution of this Action requires, in addition to collaboration between the four Tasks, collaboration with Action 6.2-No. 102 (Monitoring the variability of marine ecosystems), Action 5.2-No. 95 (Integrated assessment of chemical and biological quality in EU inland, coastal and drinking water), Action 97 (European Spatial Data Infrastructure) and Action 5.2-No. 119 (Integrated water quality assessment at the EU scale).
Planned Deliverables:
1. Development and intercalibration of ecological quality status assessment systems of surface waters (European Centre for Ecological Water Quality and Inter-Calibration) Draft Register for the intercalibration network (Dec 2003) Metadata analysis and database for the intercalibration network Guidance on setting harmonized Ecological Quality Ratios (EQR) for the ecological status classification systems for surface water of MS and CC Guidance on lake monitoring as a part of the WFD CIS guidance on surface water monitoring Assessment of natural variability of phytoplankton in the coastal Baltic Sea (Nov 2003) Identification of data sets appropriate for the assessment of climate change on water quality;
2. Enhanced development and validation of Earth Observation (EO) advanced regional algorithms for the retrieval of coastal/marine constituents supporting the monitoring of coastal and marine ecosystems on a European scale) Regional algorithms for the Baltic Sea and Adriatic Sea (Dec 2003) Methods for the statistical classification of sea water optical characteristics (Dec 2003) Validated primary optical products at specific coastal sites (Dec 2003) Report on algorithm inter-comparison for the Baltic Sea (HELCOM Project) (May 2003) Contribution to HELCOM/MONAS group and EEA-ETC Water and the Inter- Regional Forum (network of Regional Marine Conventions) working groups (Jan ¡V Dec 2003);
3. Development and application of regional sea numerical models to derive physical and high level biological data required for ecosystem studies and indicator development on a European scale Implemented and validated physical model set ups for the North Sea, Baltic Sea (Feb 2003) and Black Sea (June 2003) High Resolution physical model data for the North Sea and Baltic Sea (May 2003) Preliminary data sets from the ecosystem model for the Baltic Sea (Oct. 2003);
4. Development and validation of coastal/marine indicators to support the assessment of eutrophication phenomena for all European regional seas PSA and EUTRISK maps with higher spatial resolution (about 2nm) for the North Sea (April 2003) Improved methods for PSA and EUTRISK (Version 2, more complete physical and biological representation) (Nov 2003) First results (maps) for PSA and EUTRISK for the Baltic Sea, the Channel, the Bay of Biscay, West Portugal, Eastern and Western Mediterranean Sea (potential extensions to the Irish Sea and the Black Sea are depending on progress with establishing collaborations, also in Candidate Countries) (May V Dec 2003); First prototype of a distributed information system for geo-referenced data (May 2003).
Summary of the Action:
ECOWAT supports the Commission Services and national/international bodies linked to EU policy issues with:
1) delivery of comparable data sets and environmental indicators;
2) their subsequent integration into sound scientific information at various geographical scales, and;
3) carrying out scientific and technical tasks related to implementation and monitoring of Directives. The activities within ECOWAT address topics related to water quality (e.g. eutrophication, ecological quality status), and support the management of inland, coastal and marine areas. The derived information constitutes a basis to compare and set harmonised objectives for the ecological quality status of surface waters on a European scale; and the tools developed contribute to the implementation of integrated approaches to coastal zone management. Within the frame of the European Centre for Ecological Water Quality and Inter-Calibration (in collaboration with DG ENV and CIS of WFD) this Action also provides a platform for the inter- calibration and harmonisation of the ecological quality assessment systems in the EU.

In particular, ECOWAT targets the implementation and monitoring of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), the Nitrates Directive, the Urban Waste Water Treatment (UWWT) Directive, the European Marine Strategy, the 6th Environmental Action Program and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (A Strategy for Europe). Rationale The EU has applied and continues to develop water protection policies covering inland, coastal and marine aquatic ecosystems. The implementation and monitoring of legislation and policies necessitate the provision of reliable and comparable data and information, and assessment tools. These political instruments (e.g. Directives) derive from an increasing public concern about citizen's health, preservation of natural resources and bio-diversity, as well as address the protection against natural disasters and/or anthropogenic insults. The overall objective of this Action is to provide scientific and technical support, data and tools to assist the definition, implementation and monitoring of EU water policies and legislation.

Invito a presentare proposte

Data not available

Meccanismo di finanziamento

JRC - Joint Research Centre research

Coordinatore

Institute for Environment and Sustainability
Contributo UE
Nessun dato
Indirizzo
Via E. Fermi 1
21020 Ispra
Italia

Mostra sulla mappa

Costo totale
Nessun dato