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The accuracy of the in situ observation depends of the platforms and sensors that have been used to acquire them (see next §I.3). All observations are aggregated by the In Situ Thematic center and provided to users together with metadata information on the platforms that were used to perform the observations. In near real time (within a few hours, maximum one week from acquisition) the quality of the observation are tested using automatic procedures and flags (see Table ) are positioned to inform the users of the level of confidence attached to the observations. The In Situ TAC relies on observing systems maintained by institutes that are not part of the In Situ TAC and CMEMS project is not contributing to the maintenance and setting up of the observing systems it uses. - The variety of platforms available to monitor the status of the ocean is very diverse within the different regions. Key performance indicators (KPIs) were developed to provide an overview of the system status. - In some regions the number of available platforms is on a critical low level to provide an adequate representative overall view of the state of the ocean o Specifically, the Black Sea observing network lacks platforms that monitor the region o Within the Arctic most of the data is obtained by regular vessel cruises or dedicated scientific expeditions. The availability of data from these scientific expeditions is often delayed so they are not available for the RT data stream which results that the data is not available for data assimilation of the operational models. - The percentage of data flagged as ‘good data’ is varying from region to region. Within the Black Sea and in the Arctic region critical low numbers of available observations impacting the provision of a good and representative real time data product is detected within the temporal frame of the project. The same counts for the availability of observations on the Shelves within the IBI and for the deep areas within the Mediterranean Sea. The sustainability of the Global Ocean network is still not guaranteed and highly relies of project funds. In all the regions biogeochemical data are relatively scarcely available. Published Refereed Current 14.A TRL 9 Actual system "mission proven" through successful mission operations (ground or space) Manual (incl. handbook, guide, cookbook etc) Standard Operating Procedure

The development and use of FerryBox systems as a cost-effective instrument for continuous observations of the marine environment has been well established since more than 15 years. The systems have evolved to maturity and are since widely used around the coastal ocean of Europe. The availability of newly developed sensors allows the extension of FerryBox measurements to more biogeochemical parameters which are of interest for the requirements of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The FerryBox community initially formed from the partners of an EU funded FerryBox project provides mutual exchange of experience and is now organized within EuroGOOS as a so called FerryBox Task Team (www.ferrybox.org). Within the EU funded infrastructure projects JERICO and JERICO-NEXT the technical harmonization as well as the developing of best practise guides for FerryBox systems have been a step further to high quality environmental data products. Within JERICO-NEXT it has been decided to build up a common FerryBox database and data portal in order to make the FerryBox data more available and visible. Furthermore this database will be function as a close link to the Copernicus Marine Environmental Monitoring Services (CMEMS) and the EMODnet portal.

Hovedmålet for prosjektet er til å utarbeide et forslag til et fremtidig overvåkingsprogram for norske havområder i tilknytning til Tilførselsprogrammet. Dette har som mål til å skaffe oversikt over tilførslene av olje og miljøfarlige stoffer til norske kyst- og havområder fra alle kilder og danne grunnlag for en helhetlig overvåking. Rapporten gir først en oversikt over aktiviteter som ble gjennomført i vinter 2008/2009. Deretter følger en oversikt over etablert overvåking og kunnskapsmangler. På dette grunnlaget framsettes forslag til supplerende, langsiktig overvåking av tilførsler og miljøtilstand for de norske kyst- og havområdene SFT

There is a growing interest in placing wind farms offshore. 140 GW of offshore wind are currently being planned to reach the EU energy 2020 goal. However, an offshore wind farm occupies a large area and competes with other users of the maritime space. The integration of an offshore wind farm with other marine energy producers such as wave energy and other maritime users such as aquaculture farms may result in significant benefits in terms of economics, optimising spatial utilization, and minimising the environmental impact. In this research project, the integration benefits and disadvantages have been evaluated by the proposed study cases, however these cases are unrelated to Statoil’s planned wind projects.

Årsliste 2008 I forbindelse med ”Bergen havn – Tiltaksplan fase II” ble det forelått å gjøre tiltak mot de forurensede sedimentene i Bergen havn. En del av forslaget gikk ut på at pilottiltak skulle gjennomføres i Kirkebukten. Denne rapporten presenterer resultater fra et prosjekt med mål om å kartlegge konsentrasjonen av ulike miljøgifter i Kirkebukten, samt å vurdere faren for rekontaminering av området etter et eventuelt pilottiltak. Det ble samlet inn sedimentprøver fra seks stasjoner i og rundt Kirkebukten. Analysene viser at konsentrasjonene av metaller ligger fra tilstandsklasse I til IV i SFTs risikoveileder og at alle stoffgruppene av organiske miljøgifter (organiske tinnforbindelser, PAH og PCB) finnes i konsentrasjoner tilsvarende tilstandklasse V ved flere av stasjonene. Resultatene fra simuleringene med modellsystemet SMS indikerer at det er et stort potensiale for rekontaminering etter en eventuell opprydning av Kirkebukten. På bakgrunn av dette anbefaler vi at pilottiltak ikke gjennomføres, men at opprensingen i hele Puddefjorden gjøres i én omgang. FYLKESMANNEN I HORDALAND

Årsliste 2008 Statens Forurensningstilsyn

Årsliste 2006 Kystdirektoratet tildelte sommeren 2006 Geoconsult AS oppdraget med de videre undersøkelsene ved U864-vraket utenfor Fedje. Som underleverandør ble NIVA tildelt oppgaven med å gjennomføre miljøovervåkning, kartlegging av kvikksølvforurensing i sedimentene, utarbeide overvåkningsplaner og vurdere tildekking av forurensede sedimenter. Formålet med disse undersøkelsene var å etablere et faktagrunnlag som kunne brukes til å avgjøre de videre tiltakene med sikte på å fjerne forurensningsfaren fra det marine miljøet i området vest for Fedje. Rapporten beskriver resultatene fra kartlegging av kvikksølvkonsentrasjonen i overflatesedimentene nær vraket, miljøovervåkningen, samt strømmålinger, forslag til langsiktig miljøovervåkning og resultater fra etterkontroll av vraket 5 uker etter endt mudring. Undersøkelsene for å avgrense det forurensede området viste at arealet som er markert til meget sterkt forurenset (tilstandsklasse III – V) rundt vraket av U-864 er ca. 30.000 m2 stort. Leiremassene i bunn av mudringshullet og nær kjølen på akterseksjonen er lite til ubetydelig forurenset (Tilstandsklasse I). I forbindelse med de gjennomførte arbeidene på sjøbunnen ble det foretatt miljøovervåkning ved hjelp av vannprøvetaking, turbiditetsmålere og sedimentfeller. Resultatene viste at det spesielt under sugemudringsperioden foregikk en spredning av partikler mot øst, nord og nordvest. Vannmassene hadde ikke konstant forhøyede kvikksølvkonsentrasjoner under mudringsoperasjonen, noe som kan indikere at det forekommer episodiske hendelser med oppvirvling av forurensede masser. Partiklene som akkumulerte i sedimentfellene var sterkt til meget sterkt kvikksølvforurenset. Disse resultatene viser at det er vanskelig å gjennomføre arbeid ved vraket uten at det forekommer en viss spredning av kvikksølv. Strømretningen i bunnvannet var stabil med en nordvestlig retning. Ved bunnen var gjennomsnittshastigheten ca. 0.1 m/s, mens den ca. 40 meter over sjøbunnen var ca. 0.3 m/s. Maksimum observert strømhastighet i bunnvannet var 0.87 m/s, mens maksimum observert strømhastighet 40 meter over sjøbunnen var 1.6 m/s. Det anbefales å dekke til de sedimentene som er mest forurenset, mens mudring må begrenses til det som er nødvendig for å komme til vraket for inspeksjon og eventuelt uthenting av kvikksølvbeholdere fra vraket. Dekklaget bør bestå av et ca. 50 cm tykt lag med olivinsand og et øvre ca. 20 cm tykt gruslag (partikler > 10 mm) for beskyttelse mot erosjon. Geoconsult

agencies to maximise benefits from operational monitoring programmes (e.g. EuroGOOS, ECOOP GMES). As pressure upon national resources mount and growing awareness of environmental problems with a transboundary nature continues, for example at a catchment level in the Water Framework Directive and for a prospective European marine directive, the need for (international) collaborative regional initiatives have begun to be realised. As the first step towards establishing a wider regional initiative a European Marine Ecosystem Observatory (EMECO) has been established within the North Sea. To develop EMECO (www.cefas.co.uk/emeco) a bottom – up approach has been adopted based upon collaboration between agencies with statutory responsibilities for a range of environmental pressures from monitoring and assessment of nutrients and hazardous substances, wave monitoring to fish stock assessments. The monitoring programmes associated with such activities are by nature long-term and these programmes form key components of EMECO. However, there are a range of other programmes with either a relevant North Sea component (EU Ferry Box programme, International CPR programme, Smart-Buoy programme) or are part of wider initiatives (e.g. satellite remote sensing) that will also contribute to the observatory. It will also embrace initiatives to protect and conserve renewable and sustainable resources such as Marine Protected Areas and closed area for fisheries such as the Dutch Cod Box. The observatory will provide an opportunity to integrate research with monitoring and assessment programmes and to undertake reviews at a regional level to identify gaps in information and develop strategies to address shortcomings. Within the ecosystem approach, ICES is increasingly aware of the need to include ecosystem considerations in its fisheries assessment models in order to enhance their predictive properties. Moreover, ICES’ preparedness to carry out integrated assessments could be greatly enhanced by the scientific framework embedded in EMECO. This paper will describe the approach taken so far with EMECO, will explore the relationships and chances for collaboration with other initiatives (ECOOP GMES, EuroGOOS) and will examine how EMECO might contribute to ICES’ needs for environmental information in fisheries and ecosystem advice. Keywords: ecosystem observatory, monitoring, Ferry Box, Smart-Buoy, remote sensing

In this paper we discuss characteristic properties of radar signatures of oceanic and atmospheric convection features in the Greenland Sea. If the water surface is clean (no surface films or ice coverage), oceanic and atmospheric features can become visible in radar images via a modulation of the surface roughness, and their radar signatures can be very similar. For an unambiguous interpretation and for the retrieval of quantitative information on current and wind variations from radar imagery with such signatures, theoretical models of current and wind phenomena and their radar imaging mechanisms must be utilized. We demonstrate this approach with the analysis of some synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images acquired by the satellites ERS-2 and RADARSAT-1. In once case, an ERS-2 SAR image an a RADARSAT-1 ScanSAR image exhibit pronounced cell-like signatures with length scales on the order of 10-20 km and modulation depths of about 5-6 dB and 9-10 dB, respectively. Simulations with a numerical SAR imagaing model and various input current and wind fields reveal that the signatures in both images can be expained consistently by wind variations on the order of±2.5 ms, but not by surface current variations on realistic orders of magnitude. Accordingly, the observed features must be atmospheric convection cells. This is confirmed by visible typical cloud patterns in a NOAA AVHRR image of the test scenario. In another case, the presence of an oceanic convective chimney is obvious from in situ data, but no signatures of it are visible in an ERS-2 SAR image. We show by numerical simulations with an oceanic convection model and our SAR imaging model that this is consistent with theoretical predictions, since the current gradients associated with the observed chimney are not sufficiently strong to give rise to significant signatures in an ERS-2 SAR image under the given conditions. Further model results indicate that it should be generally difficult to observe oceanic convection features in the Greenland Sea with ERS-2 or RADARSAT-1 SAR, since their signatures resulting from pure wave-current interaction will be too weak to become visible in the noisy SAR images in most cases. This situation will improve with the availability of future high-resolution SARs such as RADARSAT-2 SAR in fine resolution mode (2004) and TerraSAR-X (2005) which will offer significantly reduced speckle noise fluctuations at comparable spatial resolutions and thus a much better visibility of small image variations on spatial scales on the order of a few hundred meters.

2019 IMEKO TC-19 International Workshop on Metrology for the Sea (MetroSea 2019), 3-5 October 2019, Genova, Italy.-- 6 pages, 6 figures, This paper presents the ecology and policy basis as well as the technology solution for a Martera funded project (ARIM). The project develops platforms for bentho-pelagic monitoring using an arrangement of crawler and stationary platforms. A combination of visual and acoustic sensing along with standard oceanographic sensors supports advanced and continues spatial-temporal monitoring. Just as important is the automatic processing techniques under development that will allow habitat and species (or categories of species) to be automatically recognized and reported during the mission and thus support science and monitoring services without backing from expensive ship time. First version develops autonomy under controlled conditions with a tethered crawler exploring the neighbourhood of a cabled stationary instrumented garage. Our vision is that fuel cell technology will enable us to use the system for selfsustained long-term autonomous operations for science as well as for industry purposes, ARIM is funded by the MarTERA partners, the Research Council of Norway (RCN), German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and Spanish Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) and co-funded by the European Union