The Importance of Marine Observatories and of RAIA in Particular

Abstract

Coastal and Oceanic Observatories are important tools to provide information on ocean state, phenomena, and processes. They meet the need for a better understanding of coastal and ocean dynamics, revealing regional characteristics, and vulnerabilities. These observatories are extremely useful to guide human actions in response to natural events and potential climate change impacts, anticipating the occurrence of extreme weather and oceanic events and helping to minimize consequent personal and material damages and costs. International organizations and local governments have shown an increasing interest in operational oceanography and coastal, marine and oceanic observations, which resulted in substantial investments in these areas. A variety of physical, chemical and biological data have been collected to better understand the specific characteristics of each ocean area and its importance in the global context. Also the general public's interest in marine issues and observatories has been raised, mainly in relation to vulnerability, sustainability and climate change issues. Data and products obtained by an observatory are hence useful to a broad range of stakeholders, from national and local authorities to the population in general. An introduction to Ocean Observatories, including their national and regional importance, and a brief analysis of the societal interest in these observatories and related issues are presented. The potential of a Coastal and Ocean Observatory is then demonstrated using the RAIA observatory as example. This modern and comprehensive observatory is dedicated to improve operational oceanography, technology, and marine science for the North Western Iberian coast, and to provide services to a large range of stakeholders.

Numerical Modeling Tools Applied to Estuarine and Coastal Hydrodynamics: A User Perspective

“…With the development of high-resolution numerical modeling systems, essential decision-making support instruments became available for an effective and integrated marine and coastal management. Numerical models are essential to properly assess the effect of each forcing driver, accurately representing the dynamical processes of estuarine/coastal systems [10]. Their input can be manipulated to represent the impact of changes in initial and boundary conditions, topo-bathymetric features, and coastal structures [12].…”

“…However, field campaigns are usually expensive, often difficult and not always effective. As a consequence, there is a lack of continuous and long-term observations, being these regions generally under-sampled and poorly understood [10]. This limited knowledge, related with the lack of systematic monitoring and interface system complexity, leads to a high degree of uncertainty about the expectable effects of future scenarios associated with man-made interventions, climate change, and extreme events.…”

Editorial for Special Issue “Radar Technology for Coastal Areas and Open Sea Monitoring”

“…This has led to growing attention towards the sea and its behaviour by the scientific community. In order to characterise coastal and open-ocean dynamics at the proper spatial and temporal scales, over the past few years the development of marine observatories has been spurred and promoted (e.g., [1,2]). These observation infrastructures can be composed of different platforms, each providing specific information on one or more parameters (either physical, hydrological, biological or chemical), which can then be used to reconstruct the status of the system.…”

Modelling the Main Hydrodynamic Patterns in Shallow Water Estuaries: The Minho Case Study

“…Using high-resolution numerical models, it is now possible to overcome the lack of in situ observations and to characterize the real behaviour of these regions, while providing valuable information to promote population safety and the sustainability of their ecosystems and ecosystems services [3,6]. Numerical models are essential for a proper assessment of the effect of each forcing driver, accurately describing the dynamical processes of the estuarine system [7]. Numerical solutions provide a deep understanding of the hydrodynamic characteristics of complex coastal environments, assessing and predicting the effects of hazardous and extreme events, anthropogenic intervention or climate change, and properly depicting the estuarine hydrodynamic patterns associated with morphological changes.…”