Category: MUMM

On Thursday 6 August a Sowerby’s beaked whale ran into trouble near the eastern harbour dam of Nieuwpoort. With some difficulty the unfortunate animal could be escorted back to the open sea, but the chances of survival were estimated to be low. In the evening of Friday 7 August it turned out that the marine mammal had indeed died, and was washed ashore dead on the beach of Wenduine. This is only the seventh known case of a Sowerby’s beaked whale in Belgium, but already the second in 2020. By means of an autopsy an attempt will be made to gain insight into the cause of death of the animal.

Nieuwpoort, 6 August 2020

On Thursday 6 August, shortly after noon, a stranding marine mammal was sighted near the eastern harbour dam of Nieuwpoort. As usual, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) and the local emergency services were informed and the procedures for stranding marine mammals were initiated. The animal was initially reported as a harbour porpoise, but in the meantime it was clear that it was a larger species and was suspected to be a bottlenose dolphin. Due to the urgency – a living marine mammal in trouble in shallow waters – lifeguards, police and bystanders decided to make an immediate rescue attempt and try to escort the animal to deeper waters. This turned out not to be an obvious task, and the disorientated animal got itself stuck between the stones along the palisade. Sharp stone edges and barnacles caused superficial wounds there, which, however, gave rise to bloody scenes. The next attempt to make the animal choose open water was successful, around 13:30 it disappeared from the radar and was not seen again all afternoon.

It was only after the whole event that specialists were confronted with the images, and it became clear that we were dealing with some sort of beaked whale (probably a Sowerby’s beaked whale, see video © Luc David). A type of small whale considered unlikely to survive in the shallow North Sea … Nevertheless, escorting it out to sea and hoping for the best was the only scenario involving a small chance of survival.

 

 

Wenduine, 7 August 2020

Unfortunately, what was feared soon became reality: the next day the beaked whale washed ashore dead around 20:30 on the beach of Wenduine. The identification as a Sowerby’s beaked whale could be confirmed, and it turned out to be a young female with a length of 3.59 m and a weight of 510 kg. The carcass was removed from the beach the same evening and moved to the technical room of the local fire brigade. In the early morning of Saturday 8 August, it was transferred to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Ghent, where an autopsy will take place the same day.

Cause of Death Being Investigated

Since beaked whales are animals that seek their food (mainly cuttlefish and squids) in the deep sea (Atlantic waters), and thus in principle have no business in the shallow southern North Sea, it is likely that the cause of death must be sought there: a lost and disoriented animal that ended up in the wrong place, where it has neither nutritional nor survival chances. This was the case for the beaked whales that were previously identified in Belgium. The additional injuries sustained in Nieuwpoort are not expected to be the direct cause of death, but they may have contributed to the further weakening of the animal. For the time being, however, all this is speculative, and the results of the autopsy have to be awaited. Also the role of a rope that turned out to be wrapped around the tail base when washed ashore in Wenduine will be investigated.

Belgian Beaked Whales

As far as we know, this is only the 7th documented case of a Sowerby’s beaked whale in Belgium. Remarkably, it is already the second case in 2020, after a young female washed ashore in Ostend on 15 January of this year. For the older cases we have to go back to 1972, 1969, 1954, 1933 and 1835. More information about the Belgian cases, about the stranding of January 2020, and about beaked whales in general, can be consulted in the article about the stranding of January 2020.

On 24 – 25 September 2020, the first EU4Ocean workshop– Designing Ocean Literacy action in Europe will be organised by the EU4Ocean Coalition – a new initiative on ocean literacy of the European Commission.

Following the official announcement by the Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius during the first international Virtual Ocean Literacy Summit (World Ocean Day, June 8 2020), founding members of the EU4Ocean Platform have recently kicked-off their work: 76 organisations (including the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences) and initiatives eager to connect, collaborate and mobilise efforts on ocean literacy. Members gathered online to get to know each other, and shared ideas of collective actions on three priority themes: Climate and Ocean, Food from the Ocean, and Healthy and Clean Ocean.

At the same time, the Youth4Ocean Forum is gathering its founding members, a group of young people aged between 16 and 30 who are passionate about the ocean.  Founding members have just met online to join forces to support changes in mindsets and practices across Europe that will contribute to a healthy and sustainable ocean.

This summer, the Network of European Blue Schools is being established to bring the ocean into classrooms – and students to the ocean! Teachers, school managers, marine educators and students will be provided a handbook to help them engage in the “Find the Blue” challenge. Students will create and implement practical action-oriented problem-solving educational projects addressing ocean issues and challenges. Successful projects will earn their school the European Blue School certification.

A diverse community engaged in Ocean Literacy is growing in Europe.

On 24 September, a series of interactive and participatory online workshops will serve as platform for founding members and key stakeholders to present the ambition, organisation, process and tools put in place for supporting collective action for each of the three communities of the EU4Ocean Coalition.

Online workshops planned on 24 September include:

• The EU4Ocean coalition: what, what for, how? (morning)

This webinar will reflect the focus of, and interconnection between, the three communities of the EU4Ocean coalition: the EU4Ocean Platform, the Youth4Ocean Forum and the Network of European Blue Schools. Winners of the #YoungOceanWaves contest will be announced during this online workshop.

• Engaging in the EU4Ocean platform (morning)

This webinar will focus on the need for collective change of understanding, values and actions, as well as on the growing importance of communication and capacity building for effective joint efforts. It will present the first operational work of the EU4Ocean Platform.

• Mobilising the Youth: the Youth4Ocean forum (afternoon)

Youth is a drive for change. The webinar will pave the way for the Forum to operate and promote collaborations between young enthusiastic people.

• The Network of European Blue Schools: embarking on a journey for ocean literacy (afternoon)

Ocean literate children will be responsible adults. In this webinar, schools and teachers will share experiences in Ocean Literacy and identify drivers and pre-conditions for success and key areas for future work. The EU Blue School handbook and certification process will be presented.

September 25 will be dedicated to building momentum for collective actions, mobilising representatives of the three communities at the EU and at the regional sea basin scales in the Baltic, North Sea, Atlantic, Mediterranean & Black Sea basins, which express the EU diversity, cultural richness, and knowledge sharing.

Online workshops planned on 25 September include:

• Building collective Ocean Literacy initiatives at the sea basin scale (morning)

Five parallel online workshops will be co-organised to investigate specific marine and Ocean Literacy challenges in European sea basins. Participants will be encouraged to share their know-how and identify opportunities for collective actions.

• Paving the way to collective initiatives addressing key marine challenges (afternoon)

Combining plenary and parallel group sessions, this workshop aims at setting the basis for collective ocean literacy initiatives on Climate and Ocean, Food from the Ocean, and Healthy and Clean Ocean.

Save the date: 24 – 25 September and join the first EU4Ocean workshop– Designing Ocean Literacy action in Europe!

Bring your ideas, get inspired, and take action for the ocean.

Registration to the event will open soon. Stay tuned!

A new consortium has been selected to provide high-resolution ocean color products derived from Sentinel-2 in the Copernicus Marine portfolio. Such products will be distributed operationally by early 2021. These new products will support the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), and Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP), as well as many downstream applications.

The addition of high-resolution ocean color products is important to support coastal communities because such data is considered a key element for the effective management of coastal resources. Such high-resolution (<300m) ocean color products are not yet part of the Copernicus Marine portfolio. In order to complement the existing low-resolution (>300m) ocean color products with high-resolution ones,  Mercator Ocean has published last April 2020 a call for tender to implement and operate a service delivering Level 3 and Level 4 products for the European regional seas based on the use of Sentinel-2 data (see more here).

Several propositions were received, analyzed, and evaluated; the consortium gathering Brockmann Consult GmbH from Germany, the REMSEM-team of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) from Belgium and VITO from Belgium has successfully won the call. Kick-off of these new activities took place on July 9.

The selected consortium builds on the experience gained over several years in developing high-resolution services for Research & Development projects (such as HIGHROC, DCS4COP, Multisync, or CyanoAlert), Copernicus Services (Copernicus Land and Climate) and as downstream service providers.

The new High-Resolution Ocean Colour (HR-OC) production unit, complementing the existing Low-Resolution Ocean Colour Thematic Centre, will ensure the production of Sentinel-2 Total Suspended Matter Turbidity and Chlorophyll-a datasets for all 6 regional seas in Europe (Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Baltic Sea, European North West Shelves, Iberian-Biscay-Irish seas, and the Arctic Ocean) over the coastal strip up to 20 km from the shore. The figure shows an example of the new Sentinel-2 product compared to an already available Copernicus Marine Service product.

These new products will support European Directives such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the Water Framework Directive, and Maritime Spatial Planning in addition to a variety of downstream applications including offshore operations, coastal engineering, habitat monitoring, aquaculture, Harmful Algae Bloom (HAB) monitoring, adaptation and mitigation to climate change. Such high-resolution products will address the need from our Environmental, Societal, and Economical user communities, for market sectors such as “Ocean Health”, “Policies & Ocean Governance & Mitigation” and “Coastal Services”.

Source: https://marine.copernicus.eu/successful-kick-off-new-copernicus-marine-high-resolution-ocean-color-service/

On the 28^th of May 2020, the European Marine Board (EMB) launched Policy Brief No. 8 on “Policy Needs for Oceans and Human Health”, produced together with the EU-funded SOPHIE (Seas, Oceans and Public Health in Europe) project.

The health of humans and of the ocean are inextricably linked. Humans can gain benefits from the oceans and its ecosystem services including food and energy, but their health can also be at risk from aspects such as storms and pollution. In turn, the health of the ocean can be significantly impacted by human activity, and therefore a balance needs to be sought to safeguard the health of both. However, at present, there is no policy at national or European level that explicitly addresses Oceans and Human Health.

The Policy Brief on Policy Needs for Oceans and Human Health summarizes the policy challenges when attempting to address both ocean and human health together, and the cooperation and research needed to enable those challenges to be addressed. It proposes ways in which the existing regulatory framework could be adapted to incorporate Oceans and Human Health. It also provides recommendations relating to data and indicators, monitoring, funding and training.

 

Recommendations

The Policy Brief is built on the recommendations highlighted throughout the course of the SOPHIE project, especially those presented in two project outputs: the Strategic Research Agenda for Oceans and Human Health in Europe, and the policy report, which examines how regulatory strategies and tools linked to the EU Integrated Maritime Policy relate to Oceans and Human Health.

The overarching recommendations for Oceans and Human Health are:

• To promote the development of a ‘Health (and Environment) in All Policies’ approach, the research community must champion such an approach and identify current shortcomings, taking into account equity and equality, using national and European science advice mechanisms and policy reviews;
• To link human health to ocean health policies, European policy makers should explore opportunities to reframe, adapt or reinterpret existing marine policies to incorporate Oceans and Human Health;
• To embed “marine” in the study and practice of Environment and Health, the Oceans and Human Health community must raise awareness, build the community, train and collaborate with interested parties;
• To design and implement dedicated Oceans and Human Health indicators, Oceans and Human Health researchers and relevant stakeholders need to cocreate appropriate indicators, monitoring approaches and management tools through collaborative projects and initiatives at all relevant scales;
• To support evidence-based management in an Oceans and Human Health context, the research community should develop dedicated data streams by identifying data sharing, management and harmonization needs within existing data frameworks;
• To build an integrated architecture for health and environmental data in Europe, the marine and terrestrial data management and health data sectors should collaborate to share best practices and lessons learnt, building on relevant ongoing activities at European level such as the European Open Science Cloud;
• To better understand the benefits of monitoring for policies covering both ocean and human health, the community in collaboration with economists and social scientists need to conduct cost-benefit analyses to justify the trade-offs;
• To safeguard both ocean and human health, the community needs to support policy makers to conduct systematic assessments to ensure feedback on data and indicators. To ensure consistency across Europe this might need to be coordinated at a European level; and
• To increase the support for Oceans and Human Health in research, sectoral and regional cooperation programmes, research funders should acknowledge the importance of Oceans and Human Health, and fund collaborative, transdisciplinary research that is co-designed by all stakeholders.

The Policy Brief can be downloaded here. A set of cartoons was also created especially for this publication by Jacob Bentley. You can download the full set of images here. A video, created by Seascape Belgium in the framework of the Seas, Oceans and Public Health in Europe (SOPHIE) project, stresses the need for more research in the area of Oceans and Human Health so that we can better understand the interactions that we have with our coasts, seas and oceans, and how these interactions impact our health and the health of the marine environment. It also calls on a growing community of diverse stakeholders to come together to advance Oceans and Human Health in Europe.

For more information please contact Paula Kellett, Science Officer, European Marine Board Email: pkellett@marineboard.eu.

The European Marine Board (EMB) is a leading European think tank in marine science policy. EMB is a network with a membership comprising over 10,000 marine scientists and technical staff from the major national marine/oceanographic institutes, research funding agencies and national networks of universities from countries across Europe. The Board provides a platform for its member organizations to develop common priorities, to advance marine research, and to bridge the gap between science and policy to meet future marine science challenges and opportunities. The Belgian Federal State is represented in the EMB by the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) and in the EMB Communications Panel by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS).

Crazy about the ocean? The #EU4Ocean Coalition is launching the #YoungOceanWaves contest: What the ocean means to me. We are looking for cool videos & photos that show your connection to the ocean!

The #YoungOceanWaves contest, promoted by the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) of the European Commission encourages everybody – especially young people – to show what the ocean means for them: Marvelous colours and living creatures? Fun? Sports? Crazy or relaxed adventures? Delicious food or jobs?

Join the #YoungOceanWaves contest and show your connection to the ocean!

How does it work?

The contest runs from 14 July to 18 August 2020, midnight.

To take part in the competition, just follow these steps:

• Share a (maximum) 30-second video or a photo on your public Instagram account, showing what the ocean means to you.
• Use the required hashtag #YoungOceanWaves in your post.
• Feel free to add #EU4Ocean and #Youth4Ocean in your post.
• Be creative! If you make videos, feel free to express yourself as you like: choose a subject… or be the subject! Move, dance, sing, play, draw, paint, make collages, build something, recite a poem, or perform. Alternatively, if you post a picture, feel free to use filters, effects, collages, etc.

Winners will be chosen by a Jury Panel that will award amazing prizes!

Check the participation rules below.

Eligibility criteria

• You must be at least 18 years old and have a public Instagram account to take part in the contest.
• You can only enter as an individual.
• Whe sharing your video or photo, the use of the #YoungOceanWaves hashtag in your post is compulsory to take part in the contest.
• Any language can be used in the video. Video entries not submitted in English must be accompanied by subtitles in English to guarantee wide understanding. Photos that include non-English text must be accompanied by a translation into English as well
• Only one submission is allowed per participant. Multiple submissions will not be considered.
• Posts on Instagram Stories are NOT allowed.
• Re-posts of older posts are considered as long as they are published between 14th July and 18th August 2020. Older posts for which the hashtag is only added in the description text afterward will not be evaluated.
• Entries shall not infringe intellectual property rights of third parties or image rights (See Terms & Conditions below)

Contest specifications

1. The video must not exceed 30 seconds in length. Any submitted entry of a longer length will not be considered. No specifications are provided for photos.
2. The video can be in any format (i.e.  Animation, documentary, music video, dynamic infographic, etc.) and you can choose from various possibilities (i.e.: a video with no dialogue, video using simple verbal expressions, video using a multi-lingual dialogue; a video with voiceover, film using subtitling, etc.). The same rule applies to the photos (i.e.: with text, with no text, etc.).
3. Any language can be used in the video. Video entries not submitted in English must be accompanied by subtitles in English to guarantee wide understanding. Photos that include non-English text must be accompanied by a translation into English as well.
4. The video should not have any inappropriate content, language, or imagery (no violence, racist comments, pornographic or personal attacks on people or organisations, etc.).  The DG MARE Team and Jury Panel reserve the right to disregard those participating videos that we deem to be inappropriate, unlawful, or objectionable.
5. Copyrights: Videos/photos realised for the contest shall be original work and shall not infringe any third party’s intellectual property rights such as copyrights, related rights, trademarks, or any privacy rights and image rights. Don’t take images of private persons without their consent. No children should be recognisable in the photo. Several sites have free music available for your video and you should use something that does not have copyright (Free music and sound effects for your video from YouTube). Many websites offer low-cost and free stock footage that you can use for your video (www.pexels.com; www.pixabay.com).
6. In case your video/photo is selected for prizes, you will be asked to fill out an online form to a) grant permission to have your name, contribution, biography, and photo on the Maritime Forum website and other online channels of the European Commission, as well as on the online channels of the project partners* managing the contest, and b) confirm that your work does not infringe intellectual property rights of third parties or image rights  Failure to fill out the form will result in disqualification from the contest.
7. By participating in the contest, you also give consent to the European Commission, to use your photos/videos for their own publicity purposes and communication.
8. The organiser reserves the right to change or replace the competition prizes and/or modify the rules and regulations of the competition as and when necessary, without prior notice.

Terms & Conditions

Detailed Terms & Conditions can be found HERE. Please read them carefully.

Award criteria

Videos and photos will be judged by multiple juries, against the following criteria:

• Message content (Focus on your connection to the ocean)
• Creativity & originality: Be original, innovative, inspiring, engaging, witty
• Videography interest and quality: the variety of shots, camera angles, sound effects, adequate zooming, lighting, location, the sequence of shots, sound and image quality
• Use of language: take care of grammar, spelling, and clear formulation of messages. Any language is allowed, as long as English subtitles are integrated into the video, and text in English is included in the photo.

Timeline

• 14-18 August: contest running
• 19-20 August: 1st Pre-selection
• 24–27 August 2nd Pre-selection by internal jury
• 1-3 September: Selection of winners from Final Jury
• 7-10 September: Winnaars worden gecontacteerd en inzendingen verzameld
• Rond 15 September: Briefing of the winners
• 24 September: Award of the winners and screening of videos/photos during the EU4Ocean Coalition online workshop

Selectie en jury

• 1st selection: A first screening of the entries will be made by the EU4Ocean project internal team. This selection disqualifies the entries that do not meet the eligibility & minimum award criteria
• 2nd selection: A shortlist of the 20 best photos and videos will be made by an internal jury panel composed of members of the EU4Ocean project
• Final selection: 3 winners and 7 finalists will be selected by a high-level Jury Panel (description of jury members)

Prizes

Winning videos/photos will be featured on the Youth4Ocean Forum website, be rewarded at the virtual event that will take place on 24 – 25 September and receive a certificate.

1st prize: A GoPro camera
2nd prize: A 1-year online subscription to National Geographic
3rd prize: Goodie bag from the Nausicaā Centre National de la Mer aquarium
From 4th to 10th place: Participants will win a 20€ value voucher

Contacts

Communication: Check your Instagram message box regularly. If you win, we will contact you via private message. (Note: If someone you are not following sends you a message, that message will appear in your inbox as a request. To accept or reject the message, swipe left (iOS) or tap and hold (Android) on the message.

You may always reach us with questions: youngoceanwaves@ecologic.eu

Send a message or add a comment

*EU4Ocean is a project funded by the European Commission and implemented by a consortium of 12 partners across Europe, which includes: ACTeon (coordinator, France), Seascape Belgium (Secretariat of the European Marine Observation and Data Network and the European Atlas of the Seas, Belgium), the European Marine Board (EMB, Belgium), Nausicaá-National Sea Centre (France), the World Ocean Network (WON, France), Ciência Viva (Portugal), the European Marine Science Educators Association (EMSEA, Belgium), Ecologic Institute (Germany), the European Centre for Information on Marine Science and Technology (EurOcean, Portugal), Secretariat of Submariners  (S.Pro, Germany), MARE Nostrum (Romania), European Schoolnet (Belgium), and Farah Obaidullah (Independent Ocean Advocate & Founder Women4Oceans, The Netherlands).

The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences is a founding member of the EU4Ocean Platform, one of the three key components of the EU4Ocean coalition.

The Belgian Coast Guard continues to invest in the international fight against air pollution over sea using the so-called ‘sniffer’ sensor. This sensor makes it possible to measure sulphur compounds in the emissions from ships at sea, and to check to what extent these ships comply with the applicable sulphur standards. In order to be prepared for the restrictions that will apply on nitrogen emissions from ships in the North Sea from 2021 onwards, and to be able to monitor these too, the sniffer technology was expanded in the spring of 2020 to also detect nitrogen compounds. The results of the first test flights are promising.

Since 2016, the Belgian Coast Guard has been using a so-called ‘sniffer’ sensor on board of MUMM’s aircraft (Britten-Norman Islander, registration number OO-MMM), which is used above sea to check for environmental and nautical violations. This sensor is an important instrument in the fight against air pollution, which in particular allows to deduce the sulphur content in the fuel from measurements of sulphur dioxide (SO₂) in the emissions of ships at sea. This puts Belgium in the international spotlight with regard to the enforcement of the sulphur legislation. In 2020, the ‘sniffer’ sensor was extended to also enable the measurement of nitrogen compounds (so-called NOx emissions) from ships at sea.

Nitrogen Emission Control Area

As of 1 January 2020, the maximum permitted sulphur content of marine fuel was reduced from 3.5% to 0.5%. In the SECA zone (Sulphur Emission Control Area), of which Belgium has been part since 2015, the standard is even stricter with only 0.1% allowed.

 On 1 January 2021, an emission control area for nitrogen oxides will also come into operation in the North Sea and Baltic Sea, in short the NECA (Nitrogen Emmission Control Area). Regulation 13 of MARPOL Annex VI sets NOx emission limits for marine diesel engines. Ships built from 2021 onwards will have to comply with the strictest NOx standards in the NECA area. The aim is to achieve a gradual reduction of NOx emissions from ships sailing in this and other NECA areas by 2040. Different standards apply to older ships and these must also be respected.

For the North Sea and Baltic Sea, the NECA area corresponds geographically to the SECA area. From 2021 onwards, therefore, it will simply be referred to as the North Sea and Baltic Sea ECA area (see map).

Nitrogen Monitoring Needs

NOx emissions play an important role in the formation of particulate matter (fine dust) and the eutrophication of the marine and terrestrial environment. Near the earth’s surface, they also play a role in the formation of ozone, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming and can also lead to significant respiratory problems. Both SOx and NOx from ships also contribute to the acidification of heavily navigated coastal areas.

North Sea Minister Philippe De Backer: “Air pollution at sea not only affects our marine environment but also damages the health of our population. That’s why we continue to invest in better measuring instruments to map out air pollution. This is the only way we can improve enforcement and ensure healthy air for people and the environment”.

The NOx Sensor

However, until recently, there was no precise mechanism for the enforcement of NOx regulations allowing the detection of non-complying vessels. Enforcement could only be carried out by checking the possession of a valid international certificate for the prevention of air pollution, and was therefore not based on measurements or sampling. Such a certificate is then regarded as prima facie evidence to establish compliance. Many ships also use emission reduction techniques (e.g. a catalyst) to ensure compliance with nitrogen requirements. Again, there is no method yet in place to verify with certainty that ships have activated this emission reduction equipment in good time before entering a NECA.

In order to be able to extend the monitoring of ship emissions at sea with the measuring of nitrogen compounds, a modified NOx sensor was purchased and integrated into the airborne sniffer system. For this purchase, North Sea Minister Philippe De Backer made a budget of € 70,000 available to the Scientific Service Management Unit of the North Sea Mathematical Model (MUMM) of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) in 2019.

“Using the new sensor, we are able to carry out NOx checks above sea, which is very valuable because there is no empirical method of monitoring these substances to carry out enforcement in the port”. clarifies Ward Van Roy, one of MUMM’s air operators. “In addition, the new sensor also increases the accuracy of our sulphur measurements. The light sensitivity of the sulphur sensor to nitrogen monoxide (NO) can be corrected with the nitrogen measurements”.

Promising

Early July 2020 the first test flights with the nitrogen sensor were carried out. These can be referred to as a great success, and give confidence that an enormous amount of information on the nitrogen emission of ships at sea will be collected. This should lead to a better understanding of how effective offshore NECA monitoring can be developed to improve enforcement in cooperation with port inspection authorities. In this way, MUMM and the Coast Guard will further develop Belgium’s pioneering role in the monitoring of ship emissions at sea, and Belgium will be ready to fulfil its enforcement role in the field of nitrogen emissions as from 1 January 2021.

Also check out the recent video that focuses on the sulphur emission monitoring, with at the end already a brief preview on the inclusion of the monitoring of nitrogen emissions in the task package.

In order to monitor the eutrophication status of the Belgian coastal zone, detect potentially critical situations as quickly as possible, and comply with the EU Water Framework and Marine Strategy Framework Directives, permanent surveillance of the coastal waters is essential. Remote sensing using optical sensors and satellite imagery can provide a spatial overview of the eutrophication status of this area. In the MULTI-SYNC project, researchers (led by the RBINS REMSEM team) aim to improve this service by developing new methods for using typical low-resolution ocean color data in synergy with high-resolution satellite data as provided by Sentinel-2.

At the start of the school holidays, many of us have started dreaming of spreading a towel on the beach, letting our gaze wander where the waves touch the sky after enjoying some delicious seafood on the boardwalk.

Covering more than two-thirds of the earth’s surface, the seas and oceans are complex ecosystems that provide essential services for the maintenance of life on Earth. At the heart of the climate system, the marine environment is our greatest source of biodiversity and also contributes significantly to economic prosperity, social well-being and quality of life.

An environment to protect

The protection of the marine environment is therefore crucial. To acquire the legal tools essential for this protection, the EU adopted in 2000 the European Water Framework Directive and in 2008 the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Belgium, like the other EU member states, is required to comply with these directives, to maintain the “good ecological status” of its waters (surface, underground and coastal) and to ensure regular reporting of water quality to the European bodies.

Sentinel-2 image in true colours of the study area (10 m resolution) and Suspended Particulate Matter product (SPM)

To monitor the eutrophication status of the Belgian coastal zone and to detect potentially critical situations as quickly as possible, permanent operational surveillance is essential.

Traditional seaborne monitoring is still considered the main monitoring tool today. But this only provides point information and is very expensive.

Satellites to see better

Remote sensing offers solutions that have been explored by the MULTI-SYNC project (Multi-scale synergy products for advanced coastal water quality monitoring) led by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) and financed by the STEREO programme of the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO). The use of satellite images for monitoring combines many advantages. In addition to reduced cost, they provide information over the entire stretch of the Belgian territory of the North Sea and this with great temporal and spatial resolution. In addition, the image processing benefits from a technique called DINEOF that interpolates values in cloudy zones (regions where data of the ocean cannot be detected) developed by the ULg-GHER, partner of the project.

From scientific research to application

The degree of water eutrophication can be determined by their chlorophyll-a concentration, an indicator of phytoplankton biomass.

Using daily data from optical sensors specifically dedicated to ocean colouring (SeaWiFS, MODIS, MERIS, VIIRS, Sentinel-3), the researchers of the MULTI-SYNC project have developed an approach to map chlorophyll-a concentrations and other products like total suspended matter at high resolution.Eutrophication of the Belgian coastal zone. Regions with the highest concentrations (Chl P90 > 15µg L^-1) are indicated in red. This map is made using MERIS satellite products with a spatial resolution of 1 km.

Thanks to these products, they can provide a spatial overview of the eutrophication status of the Belgian coastal area, where the problem areas are directly visible in red. These maps are integrated in the eutrophication assessment report provided by Belgium within the framework of European directives and therefore make it possible to directly support the actions necessary to achieve its objectives in terms of water quality.

Sentinel-2 image of May 1st, 2016 (true colour image on  top, and chlorophyll-a product below) showing a near-shore algal bloom near Ostend

In MULTI-SYNC, researchers aim to improve this service by developing new methods for using typical low-resolution ocean color data in synergy with high-resolution satellite data as provided by Sentinel-2. This type of satellite is able to provide chlorophyll-a products with a spatial resolution of up to 10 m, which allows the detection of near-shore algal blooms, undetectable by traditional ‘ocean color’ satellites or by in situ monitoring by boat.

 

Source text : Website Belgian Earth Observation

One of the objectives of the JERICO-S3 project is to develop an e-infrastructure that will enable users to have direct, easy access to data, tools and information that they need on coastal seas. To achieve this, developers need to understand who you are, what you are doing, what you need to do it and what the task outcomes are. To this end, JERICO-S3 launches a call for user stories that will provide developers with exactly that information.

JERICO-S3

The EU Horizon2020 project JERICO-S3 will provide a state-of-the-art, fit-for-purpose and visionary observational Research Infrastructure (RI), expertise and high-quality data on European coastal and shelf seas. The project will support world-class research, high-impact innovation and a window of European excellence worldwide.

It will be structured regionally around four Pilot Super Sites (PSS) and five Integrated Regional Sites (IRS). Through this innovative structure, JERICO-S3 is targeting a more integrative approach to better observe the coastal ecosystem, raising up the scientific excellence and developing the potential of the different sites, with consideration of the regional and local ecosystems. The preliminary development of an e-infrastructure (VRE, Virtual Research Environment) will support scientists and users by offering access to dedicated services and help progress on the design of the Research Infrastructure and its strategy for sustainability.

In JERICO-S3, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences is represented by the Marine Forecasting Centre.

Request for user stories

To build an e-infrastructure that will enable you (stakeholders and end users) to have direct, easy access to the data, tools and information that you need, the developers need to understand how they can help you in your work. To reach such understanding, user stories are being collected.

What is meant by a User Story? A User Story is a very high level and informal record of who you are, what you are doing (job or task title/description), what you need to do it (what sort of tools, data, knowledge you need for that job or task) and what the task outcomes are. It could also mention any special needs – in quantity or quality of the data and information.

You may just have one user story, or you may have several. Please complete a form for each of your stories. Also, forward this survey to your colleagues. You could also add additional user stories on behalf of other people or your own stakeholders and end users.

The JERICO-RI, a Pan European Sustainable Research Infrastructure

JERICO-S3 follows 2 previous EU funded projects: JERICO-FP7 (2011-2014) and JERICO-NEXT (2015-2019). All were coordinated by IFREMER, and JERICO-S3 was officially launched on 1 February 2020 and kicked off in San Sebastian, Spain, on 17-21 February 2020.

The JERICO-RI is a long-term framework providing high-quality marine data, expertise and infrastructures for Europe’s coastal seas. The data are multidisciplinary, standardised, quality controlled, sustained, interoperable and free to access and use.

The vision is to improve and innovate the cooperation in coastal observatories in Europe by implementing the coastal part of a European Ocean Observing System, to cooperate with other European initiatives as ESFRI (EURO-ARGO, EMSO, EMBRC), Integrated Infrastructures (FIXO3 etc.), OCEAN OF TOMORROW sensors innovation project (SenseNET, NEXOS), the emerging European biological network (EMBRC) and EMODnet to contribute to provide services to the research community and the society.