Mediterranean network to Assess
and upgrade the Monitoring and forecasting
Activity in the region
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MAMA is a project involving major
institutions from all the Mediterranean countries and
funded by the Vth Framework Programme of the European
Union. MAMA focuses on the trans-national pooling of scientific
and technological resources through the sharing of experiences
and the transfer of expertise, to bring capacities at
comparable levels, and provide an integrated effort towards
the planning and design of the initial ocean observing
and forecasting system in the Mediterranean. The focus
will be on the sustainable use of the coastal zone, on
the interaction with end-users and raising awareness on
the benefits of ocean forecasting with dissemination of
results and products.
View the working documents:
PART
B and PART
C of the MAMA proposal submitted to FP V;
Description
of the Work to be conducted in MAMA
How will MAMA be implemented?
MAMA will be implemented through the planned activities,
divided into 9 workpackages, with a strong emphasis on
cooperation and networking.
Within this Work Package a stocktaking
and identification exercise of the situation in the Mediterranean
will be carried out with regard to:
- present capabilities in terms of
research institutions
- availability of technological infrastructures
and equipment
- human resources and funding capability
This will be done
both in conjunction with authorities on a national level
in each individual country and as well as with international
organisations operating in the Mediterranean.
An inventory of
existing observing programs and monitoring systems in the
Mediterranean basin constitutes the first step towards the
identification of the existing systems that can feasibly
be networked to operate in near-real-time. For each observing
system information is collected on parameters observed,
instrumentation and platforms, maintenance practice, sampling
and analysis methodology, data management and quality assessment,
and product access.
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WP2 MAMA – OBSERVING SYSTEM |
A scientific assessment
of existing ocean observing systems in the Mediterranean
at regional, coastal and national scales will take place
in order to design scientifically proven and cost effective
real time coastal data acquisition systems, fully integrated
to the basin scale system.
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WP3 MAMA - CAPACITY BUILDING |
This Work Package
will contribute to develop the basic technical and scientific
expertise required to participate in the GOOS. This WP proposes
a scheme of visiting S&T personnel of MAMA members at
specialised centres in the MAMA consortium. The aim is to
transfer expertise within the network, involving in the
enabling experience all Mediterranean countries, on a equal
opportunity basis.
The state-of-the-art
of numerical modelling and data assimilation will be assessed
and an initial ocean modelling system for the Mediterranean
shelf and coast areas will be designed by integrating the
experience in modelling carried out in RTD EU Projects such
as the Mediterranean Forecasting System Pilot Project (MFSPP).
Work in this task will include the implementation of high-resolution
circulation models in key shelf/coastal areas not yet covered
by the MFSPP and will also ensure an effective transfer
of know-how and modelling experiences to new partners.
Design and test, through a pilot implementation, the basis
of a Mediterranean ‘virtual data and information centre
in the form of an internet-based inter-agency networking
system for the exchange of data and information. The aim
is to initiate a proto-type data and information management
system that supports an end-to-end process starting from
the data/meta-data flow and merging between operational
agencies, through the processing, integration and enhancement
stages, and up to the viewing and exploitation by users.
All the MAMA participants will be empowered with know-how
and tools for the management of operational data and information,
and for access and use of the MAMA virtual centre and other
on-line related services. A marine data and information
management (MDIM) workshop will provide guidelines for such
an information system.
The MAMA WWW will
act as a reference point in the Mediterranean by having
links to national and institutional web sites and operational
ocean forecasting programmes. The aim of MAMA WWW is to
encourage regional interaction and to highlight the benefits
of operational forecasting to potential users whilst raising
public awareness. The dissemination of results on the WWW
will also serve to enhance information exchange. A web-based
regional directory, MeDir, will produce a searchable database
of marine agencies, institutions and professionals and their
activities on operational forecasting in the Mediterranean.
A campaign will be undertaken throughout the duration of
the project to promote awareness on MedGOOS and the benefits
of ocean forecasting in the Mediterranean. The campaign
will address a full hierarchy of stakeholders, such as governmental
agencies and authorities, policy-makers, marine scientific
community, marine industries, services sector, and the public
at large. The main aim is to secure greater support and
commitments from various governments.
| WP8
MAMA - DISSEMINATION & PRODUCTS |
The tasks in this Work Package will address the use of data
for the management of marine resources at short term by
developing user-friendly interfaces for viewing forecast
results and 3D data. Open and constructive links will be
established with the end-user community in order to identify
their needs and priorities. This will be achieved mainly
through the development of web-based demonstration tools.
One of these will provide guidance and information on Integrated
Coastal Zone Management and on protection from coastal erosion.
A dedicated pilot exercise for the coastal zone will merge
in situ and satellite data providing information on the
current trends of the coastal marine environment.
| Update
on MAMA activities and results |
After the first year of activities, several key activities
have already been initiated. The network is working in
harmony and following anticipated schedules, already a
good result given the geo-political complexity of the
partnership.
A key activity is the
assessment of the present activities and capabilities to
routinely monitor and assess the state of the marine environment
in each of the Mediterranean countries. The information
is being collected by means of a survey conducted by an
online Questionnaire on Marine Monitoring Activities in
the Mediterranean covering a comprehensive overview on the
availability of technological infrastructures and equipment;
human resources and funding capability; and existing national/international
initiatives related to operational oceanography in the region.
Country profiles are also being prepared to give an overview
on:
- the operations of institutes/agencies/organisations
dealing with the monitoring, assessment and forecasting
of the state of the ocean and coastal areas;
- the national structure for the support and conduction
of marine monitoring and research activities;
- the key public administration/authorities responsible
for marine affairs, and for environmental policy
formulation and implementation;
- the relevance of the maritime sector in the economic activities
of each country;
- implications for MedGOOS in the optimal design and implementation
of operational forecasting for maximal
benefits to the coastal states.
The information will serve
to build a regional database on the current arrangements
and facilities for pre-operational ocean monitoring and
forecasting, and will provide the basis for an assessment
on the needs and potentialities for operational oceanography
in the region. The MeDir directory consisting of an online
searchable database of marine scientists and professionals
working in the Mediterranean region (http://ioc2.unesco.org/medir)
has already been established by the MedGOOS Secretariat
in collaboration with IODE Secretariat.
The first version of the MAMA website (http://www.ifremer.fr/mama)
has been developed using state-of-the-art technology and
on the basis of a dynamic content management system with
a multiple author environment, providing a community portal
to partners. The MAMA website supports special facilities
including a calendar, in-built search engine, forum discussions
and a dedicated area reserved for exchanges between the
MAMA partners. The website will evolve throughout the project,
and use facilities to make it auto-sustaining, requiring
little maintenance effort after full development, and compatible
to future enhancements and extensions. Besides providing
a tool for easy and fast communication amongst the partners,
the MAMA WWW is being developed to serve as a showcase on
operational oceanography in the region and to promote awareness
by means of dedicated Partner Pages focussing on each country,
and giving the MAMA WWW a regional dimension and scope.
The promotion of awareness
and understanding on the benefits of ocean monitoring and
forecasting is a key element of MAMA. The MAMA awareness
campaign is targeting to address the entire hierarchy of
stakeholders throughout the project, to gain the support
of key players, service providers, end-users and the general
public, seeking to obtain consensus and commitments from
governments for the implementation of MedGOOS. Dedicated
National Awareness Meetings, to be staged in each country
mainly throughout the next 12 months, aim to promote the
concepts and benefits of operational ocean monitoring to
a wide audience of governmental and non-governmental stakeholders.
These meetings will also provide an opportunity for direct
consultation, to identify national needs for capacity building,
infrastructure and local organisational frameworks. Moreover,
the meetings will target to fuel the creation of strong
linkages between the scientific community involved in preparing
the basis of operational oceanography, and the policy community
committed to securing a sustainable society. This should
serve as a catalyst to establish national commitments in
favour of MedGOOS, possibly through the creation of National
GOOS Planning Committees, involving data and potential service
providers, end-users and potential beneficiaries, including
entities involved in policy making, environmental management
and marine industry.
MAMA is also targeting
to contribute to the design of the initial observing system
in the region. A report on “Monitoring Strategies”
has prepared the background for methodologies to define
monitoring strategies for operational observing systems
that optimally describe the state of marine ecosystems.
The report focuses on monitoring strategies for the three
bio-geographical areas: the open ocean, the coastal ocean
and inshore areas. The attention is purely devoted to GOOS
objectives: to provide data on an operational basis for
nowcasting/ forecasting. The report recommends elements
that will constitute the initial observing system. It develops
tools and concepts for the design of an operational observing
system to repeatedly assess and anticipate changes in the
status of marine ecosystems on national to global scales,
by extracting the most important temporal and spatial scales
from data and with well-defined optimal sampling strategies.
A number of already available
NRT remote sensing products are being assembled to provide
to MAMA partners a general compendium of applications using
a range of satellite observations, at different levels of
processing, accuracy, spatial resolution, spatial and temporal
coverage, NRT delay and platforms. Products developed by
some partners such as the Cyprus Coastal Ocean Forecasting
and Observing System (CYCOFOS – www.ucy.ac.cy/cyocean/)
and the new satellite receiving station installed at the
Institut de Ciències del Mar (Spain) will be included
MAMA is also contributing
to the development of indicators on the health of the ocean
for a sustainable use of the coastal zone. Many coastal
ecosystems are subject to stress and degradation from pollution
and various stressors. Several research programs have addressed
this problem and produced relevant data sets on specific
areas. The value of existing data sets can be highly increased
by combining them into a common data set to determine large
scale relationships. A specific programme addressing this
task has been initiated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission (www.ioc.unesco.org/benthicindicators). Important
attributes of such an indicator are: (1) reliability in
their ability to detect stress where stress actually exists;
and (2) ease of use and broad applicability in different
parts of the world. In a first study, macroinfaunal and
TOC (total organic carbon) data from 7 regions around the
world were merged into a common data set. They were examined
to look for consistent patterns of association and identify
TOC critical points for evaluating risks of adverse environmental
conditions leading to effects on the benthos. Species diversity
was selected as the primary response parameter. Relevant
results will be discussed in relation to the ability to
identify critical points in selected environmental and biological
variables that could serve as indicators, or “warning
signals”, of related adverse environmental conditions
leading to stress in the benthos.
The capacity building
element of MAMA is mainly conducted by means of a visiting
scientist exchange scheme. While contributing to strengthen
the network, the training-on-the-job experiences offered
within the scheme are enabling the development of skills
required to participate in the GOOS. In the first year of
activity the putative host centres have provided several
training offers. Four training visits have already been
performed. Some training visits are performed outside the
MAMA network, at selected centres for technology transfer.
Four high-resolution circulation models are being implemented
in key shelf/coastal areas on the southern and eastern Mediterranean
shores not yet covered by previous numerical modelling efforts.
These models are being developed by the four MAMA partner
institutes in the respective countries with the assistance
of the reference modelling institutions UNIBO-CIRSA ( University
of Bologna) and IMC (International Marine Centre - Sardinia).
The models are nested to the basin-wide Mediterranean General
Circulation Model developed at the Mediterranean Forecasting
Centre (UNIBO-CIRSA). These model implementations are serving
as a very effective transfer of modelling experiences to
new partners in key countries.
MAMA-Net is preparing
to establish a one-stop showcase of operational ocean data
and information. The objective of this activity is to initiate
a prototype data and information exchange system to support
exchange of operational data/meta-data between agencies,
and provide access to operational prototype products for
MAMA partners. The current networking capabilities of the
partners has been assessed and the identification of the
networking requirements for MAMA-Net are being defined.
This will lead to the definition of parameters and products
to be exchanged through MAMA-Net, together with common indexes
and standard protocols for exchange. The publication of
operational products on MAMA-Net will include the development
of software tools for pre-processing of data and transformation
to GTS format. The selection of appropriate encoding / compressing
methods for forecasting model outputs is also being considered.
The list of products (data or metadata) to be distributed
by project partners has already been partially defined with
elements including: Real time data from M3A and Poseidon
networks and meteorological – wave – circulation
products by NCMR; Temperature (XBT) data from Ships of Opportunity
by ENEA; Sea Level Data from coastal stations by IOLR and
IOI-MOC; Sea Level Data in NRT and Archived R/S Data by
IMBC; R/S data by ICM/CSIC; and Hydrological data by IFREMER.
Preparations are also
underway for a ‘Marine Data and Information Management’
(MDIM) workshop, scheduled within the programme of the 4th
MAMA general meeting in Rome next June. The workshop aims
to address the steps needed for an improved data and management
system with enhanced efficiency, adapted to handle data
and information in operational mode, and with full geographical
coverage of the basin. The key elements on the agenda of
the workshop are to:
- present the state-of-the-art
and future look in MD&IM for the Mediterranean
- assess the current oceanographic data management practices
and functionality of the data exchange and
information flow mechanisms in the Mediterranean
- discuss and recommend an efficient and integrated marine
data and information management system that
addresses the specific needs of the region, meets the requirements
for operational oceanography and
ensures full geographical coverage at basin and coastal
scale
- adapt MDIM practices towards adding value to ocean data
in response to the needs of users
furnish participants with an overview of relevant tools
for MD&IM
MAMA is also establishing
open and constructive links with the end-user community
to identify their needs and priorities. The aim is to prove
the usefulness of operational oceanography through pilot
demonstration applications and tools. The two main streams
of work are to develop:
- a web-based system providing
guidance and information on protection from coastal erosion
and on Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) in general.
The Coastal Erosion Protection and ICZM Guidance Demonstrator
(CEROSPIG), aims to provide information on coastal erosion
problems, and to develop a capacity for an integrated Coastal
Zone Management based on forecasts of the coastal environment;
- a user-friendly
interface and provision of tools (software) for viewing
and using forecast and ecosystem results. The transformation
of data into usable products is still an area to be fully
explored and enhanced. Current products are heavily based
on physical measurements in the coastal seas and the upper
ocean. This task addresses the need to improve and ease
the capacity of analysing, merging and using observed and
modelled data for the management of the marine resources
at short term. The capacity to analyse merged data sets
(in situ, satellite and modelled) and extract the major
information for practical applications is being investigated
by a dedicated pilot exercise for the coastal zone. In situ
and satellite data will be merged to provide information
on the status and trends of the coastal marine environment.
These products are intended to provide information in the
form of a water quality index based on temperature, salinity,
oxygen, nutrients concentration. It also aims to provide
an example of ‘near real time’ information to
ocean managers and the public in general.
