CLS contributes to EuroSea: Gathering more knowledge for a sustainable use of the ocean

Europe with its long coastlines, many peninsulas, marginal seas, gulfs and bays is closely interlocked with the ocean. In times of sea-level rise and global warming, it is important to know exactly what processes take place around the coast and in the ocean. However, there are still major gaps in ocean observing.

An international consortium of 55 partners organized through the EuroSea project is set to change this. The project, coordinated at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, kicked off in Brussels this week.

CLS, a major contributor to French and European ocean data production initiatives, and expert in satellite Altimetry data processing and their joint use with in-situ measurements, is proud to be part of this project consortium.

The oceans provide us with food and oxygen. They are trade routes and climate buffers. They serve as places for recreation, but often also as waste dumps. Storms, rising sea levels, tidal waves and pollution threaten people and ecosystems along the coasts. This is particularly true of Europe with its vast populated coastlines, marginal seas, gulfs and bays.

Responding to knowledge gaps

Yet, despite the immense importance of the oceans, there are still major gaps in our knowledge of the ocean interior, due to missing or insufficiently linked ocean observations. Such knowledge gaps make it difficult to assess the present ocean status, as well as predict how best to plan for future developments for a sustainable use of the oceans.

Through the EuroSea project, an international consortium of 55 partners has now joined forces with the aim to significantly improve ocean observation in Europe and beyond. The European Union is funding the project until 2023. Kicking off the project, 80 researchers and guests from politics and industry are meeting at the opening conference at the Royal Belgium Institute for Natural Science (RBINS) in Brussels this week.

“The aim of the project is to better combine existing capacities in the European marine observing system, to fill existing gaps and to make the resulting data and information available to users more easily,” says coordinator Dr.Toste Tanhua from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel.

CLS’s role within EuroSea

CLS, world leader in satellite altimetry data processing, will be involved with several phases of the project, notably by providing objective guidelines to improve existing elements and/or implement new components of the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea Observing system for ocean state estimate and validation of future high-resolution satellite observations such as the one which will be provided by the SWOT mission. CLS will also provide expertise for the validation of current satellite missions and in particular Sentinel-3A&B.

In addition, outside the EuroSea project, CLS provides a range of Argos & Iridium airtime and value-added processing solutions to obtain remote, high frequency ocean observations from around the globe and contributes to all the major international oceanography programs, including Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), since 1986.

The EuroSea  project paves the way for a sustained ocean observing system that not only provides researchers, but also users such as fisheries, aquaculture, coastal protection, offshore energy generation and ultimately the public with the information they need and demand. In doing so, it contributes to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, the UN Decade for Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, and the G7 Initiative Future of the Seas and Oceans.

Funding

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 862626.