Open Service Network for Marine Environmental Data

Relationships between physical and biological variables

Users
The expected users of the National Observatory and Global Network pilot will be scientific researchers wishing to identify and use long term time series in order to quantify ecosystem responses to natural variability, climate change or the impact of anthropogenic activities. Examples may include comparing long term change in zooplankton concentration to water temperature or relating optical properties to chlorophyll concentration.
A second user category, operational users, may find it useful to compare, in near real time, contemporary satellite and in situ data in order to provide input to water quality monitoring systems, for example, on phytoplankton chlorophyll-a concentration. (Go to pilot in the EUMIS portal)

Products
The Western English Channel Observatory (WECO) provides a range of biological, chemical physical and optical measurements, available through an existing database linked to an existing web feature server (WFS).
An example of the in situ datasets offered are chlorophyll-a data generated using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) collected since 1999 (Figure 1). These in situ time series could then be compared with EO data for the region (Figure 2).
The service will be expanded to a global scale by the addition of datasets provided by the ChloroGIN project. The Chlorophyll Global Integrated Network (ChloroGIN) project is linking together data providers in Europe, Africa, North and South America and in India, with in situ data. ChloroGIN is mentioned in the GEO 2009- 2011 work plan within EC-09-01, and is the focus for the African marine component of the EC FP7 DevCoCast project. In essence, ChloroGIN is building components of the GEO System of Systems (GEOSS) focusing on marine ecosystems, and inherent in the project is the concept of distributed data providers.
Figure 1 Chlorophyll-a data from station L4 generated using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) during 2009
Figure 2 MODIS chl-a image from 27th September 2010 for Western Channel Observatory

Ecosystem model validation

Users
The expected users of the Research Project for Ecosystem Model Validation pilot will be scientific researchers wishing to compare the coupled physical and biological models which are being run in hindcast mode with historical EO data for validation.

Products
The Marine Ecosystem Evolution in a Changing Environment (MEECE) project aims to use a combination of data synthesis, numerical simulation and targeted experiments to boost knowledge and develop the predictive capabilities needed to learn about the response of marine ecosystems. The project is in the process of producing a 40 year set of hindcasts of biogeochemical variables. These hindcasts could then be compared with EO data for the region (Figure 3), allowing a number of statistical analyses to be performed.

Phytoplankton blooms in Gulf of Biscay an English Channel

Users
The first level of dissemination is within this distributed network of marine laboratories (around 15 laboratories) located all around the French coast and overseas Departments coasts, that is dedicated to the daily management of the network by making available all the complementary information

The second level of dissemination is towards the Department Prefectures and towards the Governmental services in charge of Maritime Affairs. Part of the duty of these two administrative bodies is, after advice from the REPHY network, to temporary stop shellfish fishery and aquaculture activities in areas which are concerned by potential harmful algae blooms.

Both internal observers and scientists of the REPHY network and representatives of Department Prefectures and Maritime Affairs services will be part of the User Group 6.

Products
Permanent monitoring of micro-algae blooms is performed by the Phytoplankton and Phytotoxins networks (REPHY) operated under the control of Ifremer. Other sources of information are also taken in account such as satellite sea-colour imagery and hydrodynamical models outputs.

One of Ifremer’s objectives is to compare systematically time series of in situ data and satellite data for these parameters at some selected stations.

Figure 4 : REPHY (French PhytoPlancton Network), more than 300 stations along the French coasts

Figure 5: Chl-a, Modis, computed with Ifremer regional algorithm

Figure 6: Regional Chl-a algorithm validation at the network stations (Cabourg, MODIS OC5 vs In situ 2003-2005)