Abstract. Statistics of transit and residence times in the Adriatic Sea surface, a semi-enclosed basin of the Mediterranean, are estimated from drifter data and Lagrangian numerical simulations. The results obtained from the drifters are generally underestimated given their short operating lifetimes (half life of ∼ 40 days) compared to the transit and residence times. This bias can be removed by considering a large amount of numerical particles whose trajectories are integrated over a long time (750 days) with a statistical advection-dispersion model of the Adriatic surface circulation. Numerical particles indicate that the maximum transit time to exit the basin is about 216-260 days for particles released near the northern tip of the Adriatic, and that a particle entering on the eastern Otranto Channel will typically exit on the other side of the channel after 170-185 days. A duration of 150-168 days is estimated as the residence time in the Adriatic Basin.

In a future scenario of increasing temperatures in North-Atlantic waters, the risk associated with the expansion of the harmful, benthic dinoflagellate Ostreopsis cf. siamensis has to be evaluated and monitored. Microscopy observations and spatiotemporal surveys of environmental DNA (eDNA) were associated with Lagrangian particle dispersal simulations to: (i) establish the current colonization of the species in the Bay of Biscay, (ii) assess the spatial connectivity among sampling zones that explain this distribution, and (iii) identify the sentinel zones to monitor future expansion. Throughout a sampling campaign carried out in August to September 2018, microscope analysis showed that the species develops in the south-east of the bay where optimal temperatures foster blooms. Quantitative PCR analyses revealed its presence across almost the whole bay to the western English Channel. An eDNA timeseries collected on plastic samplers showed that the species occurs in the bay from April to September. Due to the water circulation, colonization of the whole bay from the southern blooming zones is explained by inter-site connectivity. Key areas in the middle of the bay permit continuous dispersal connectivity towards the north. These key areas are proposed as sentinel zones to monitor O. cf. siamensis invasions towards the presumably warming water of the North-East Atlantic.

Statistics of transit and residence times in the surface Adriatic Sea, a semi-enclosed basin of the Mediterranean, are estimated from drifter data and Lagrangian numerical simulations. The results obtained from the drifters are generally underestimated given their short operating lifetimes (half life of ~ 40 days) compared to the transit and residence times. This bias can be removed by considering a large amount of numerical particles whose trajectories are integrated over a long time (750 days) with a statistical advection-diffusion model of the Adriatic surface circulation. Numerical particles indicate that the maximum transit time to exit the basin is about 216–260 days for objects released near the northern tip of the Adriatic, and that a particle entering on the eastern Otranto Channel will typically exit on the other side of the Channel after 170–185 days. A value of 150–168 days is estimated for the residence time in the Adriatic basin

The main objective was to study relationships between the regional biogeography of Dinophysis species and water masses circulation along the European Atlantic coast. Hydrodynamic connectivities were estimated with a Lagrangian approach. Available and validated physical hindcasts from regional hydrodynamical models, with different resolutions were used. The target area is the Bay of Biscay (NE Atlantic) and connectivity was evaluated between a set of spatially distributed stations and during temporally specified periods. Different indexes related to connectivity properties such as mean, median, most frequent transit times were calculated. To illustrate the dispersion pattern, a molecular approach was jointly set-up to describe the species composition of this genus. At the seasonal scale, a high connectivity within the Bay of Biscay was observed with a slight northward connectivity from Galicia coastal waters to the Shelf of the Bay of Biscay. By comparison to the connectivity between shelf waters of French Brittany and English Channel waters, a higher connectivity between shelf waters of French Brittany and the Celtic Sea shelf was observed. The species mixing in the Bay of Biscay from Galicia waters to the Celtic Sea was confirmed by the genetic analyses despite the absence of Dinophysis sacculus in natural samples. The molecular methodology developed for this work, permitting at least the description of the species composition, also highlights, at the European scale, an unexpected low genetic variability which echoes the complex taxonomic classification inside the genus and the difficulties encountered by national monitoring programs to reach a taxonomic resolution at species level. It is now necessary to start some monitoring at the species level before realizing mid- or long-term forecasts.

This paper describes the work in progress in the XERIC project, funded within the Horizon 2020 EU program, which is aimed at building and testing a new climate-control system. The latter integrates a vapour compression cycle with a liquid desiccant cycle to increase Battery Electric Vehicles autonomy thanks to its increased energy efficiency. The modeling activity carried out on the design of an innovative Three-Fluids Combined Membrane Contactor (3F-CMC) and on the development of a lumped-parameters model to predict the 3F-CMC performance is described. The physical assumptions considered in the lumped-parameters model are presented. Results of 2D and 3D numerical heat and mass transfer simulations are used to get input data for the lumped code. The effect of air spacer design on the overall component performance is presented