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This study is dedicated to the dynamics in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the German Bight under different forcing scenarios. A large amount of data has been collected in the North Sea over the last decades to characterize MPAs, which can shed light on long-term changes in the North Sea dynamics from abiotic part to ecosystem. At the moment, a question is raised about the interconnection between MPAs and their representativeness for the larger area. Nowadays, this issue can be resolved with the existing numerical instruments and accumulated observations. We paid particular attention to the tidal dynamics in the North Sea since tidal residual circulation and asymmetric tidal cycles significantly define circulation patterns, transport and accumulation of biogeochemical material, and the distribution of bedforms in this relatively shallow region. We analyzed in detail the tidal energy transformation and the role of higher harmonics in the domain. The tidal ellipses, maximum tidally induced velocities, energy fluxes and residual circulation maps are constructed and analyzed. The numerical tool used in this study is the FESOM-C model (Androsov et al., 2019), which works with triangular, rectangular or mixed grids and is equipped with a wetting/drying option. A grid with a resolution of up to 10 meters in the flooded areas is used. Androsov, A., Fofonova, V., Kuznetsov, I., Danilov, S., Rakowsky, N., Harig, S., Brix, H., and Wiltshire, K. H.: FESOM-C v.2: coastal dynamics on hybrid unstructured meshes, Geoscientific Model Development, 12, 1009-1028, 10.5194/gmd-12-1009-2019, 2019.

Phytoplanktonic organisms are particularly sensitive to environmental change, and, as they represent a direct link between abiotic and biotic compartments within the marine food web, changes in the functional structure of phytoplankton communities can result in profound impacts on ecosystem functioning. Using a trait-based approach, we examined changes in the functional structure of the southern North Sea phytoplankton over the past five decades in relation to environmental conditions. We identified a shift in functional structure between 1998 and 2004 which coincides with a pronounced increase in diatom and decrease in dinoflagellate abundances, and we provide a mechanistic explanation for this taxonomic change. Early in the 2000s, the phytoplankton functional structure shifted from slow growing, autumn blooming, mixotrophic organisms, towards earlier blooming and faster-growing microalgae. Warming and decreasing dissolved phosphorus concentrations were linked to this rapid reorganization of the functional structure. We identified a potential link between this shift and dissolved nutrient concentrations, and we hypothesise that organisms blooming early and displaying high growth rates efficiently take up nutrients which then are no longer available to late bloomers. Moreover, we identified that the above-mentioned functional change may have bottom-up consequences, through a food quality-driven negative influence on copepod abundances. Overall, our study highlights that, by altering the phytoplankton functional composition, global and regional changes may have profound long-term impacts on coastal ecosystems, impacting both food-web structure and biogeochemical cycles.

In order to monitor long-term variability in or eventual change of the planktonic community a semi-quantitative analysis of gelatinous zooplankton has been ongoing since 2009 in the Sylt-Rømø Bight, a region of high ecological importance within the Marine Protected Area National Park Schleswig Holsteinisches Wattenmeer. The sampling is tightly linked to the LTER Sylt Roads time series thus enabling the coupling of species occurrence to the respective hydrochemical and physical conditions in the water column.

In order to monitor long-term variability in or eventual change of the planktonic community a quantitative analysis of meroplankton is ongoing since 1996 in the Sylt-Rømø Bight, a region of high ecological importance within the Marine Protect Area National Park Schleswig Holsteinisches Wattenmeer. Since 2014 the sampling is tightly linked to the LTER Sylt Roads time series thus enabling the coupling of species occurrence to the respective hydrochemical and physical conditions in the water column.

In order to monitor long-term variability in or eventual change of the planktonic community a semi-quantitative analysis of gelatinous zooplankton has been ongoing since 2009 in the Sylt-Rømø Bight, a region of high ecological importance within the Marine Protected Area National Park Schleswig Holsteinisches Wattenmeer. The sampling is tightly linked to the LTER Sylt Roads time series thus enabling the coupling of species occurrence to the respective hydrochemical and physical conditions in the water column.

In order to monitor long-term variability in or eventual change of the planktonic community a quantitative analysis of meroplankton is ongoing since 1996 in the Sylt-Rømø Bight, a region of high ecological importance within the Marine Protect Area National Park Schleswig Holsteinisches Wattenmeer. Since 2014 the sampling is tightly linked to the LTER Sylt Roads time series thus enabling the coupling of species occurrence to the respective hydrochemical and physical conditions in the water column.

We present a test case of river plume spreading to evaluate numerical methods used in ocean modeling. It includes an estuary-shelf system whose dynamics combine nonlinear flow regimes with sharp frontal boundaries and linear regimes with cross-shore geostrophic balance. This system is highly sensitive to physical or numerical dissipation and mixing. The main characteristics of the plume dynamics are predicted analytically, but are difficult to reproduce numerically because of numerical mixing present in the models. Our test case reveals the level of numerical mixing as well as the ability of models to reproduce nonlinear processes and frontal zone dynamics. We propose an analysis of simulated plume spreading which may be useful in more general studies of plume dynamics.

Recent studies on seafloor mapping have presented different modelling methods for the automatic classification of seafloor sediments. However, most of these studies have applied these models to seafloor data with appropriate numbers of ground-truth samples and without consideration of the imbalances in the ground-truth datasets. In this study, we aim to address these issues by conducting class-specific predictions using ensemble modelling to map seafloor sediment distributions with minimal ground-truth data combined with hydroacoustic datasets. The resulting class-specific maps were then assembled into a sediment classification map, in which the most probable class was assigned to the appropriate location. Our approach was able to predict sediment classes without bias to the class with more ground-truth data and produced reliable seafloor sediment distributions maps that can be used for seafloor monitoring. The methods presented can also be used for other underwater exploration studies with minimal ground-truth data. Sediment shifts of a heterogenous seafloor in the Sylt Outer Reef, German North Sea were also assessed to understand the sediment dynamics in the marine conservation area during two different short timescales: 2016–2018 (17 months) and 2018–2019 (4 months). The analyses of the sediment shifts showed that the western area of the Sylt Outer Reef experienced sediment fluctuations but the morphology of the bedform features was relatively stable. The results provided information on the seafloor dynamics, which can assist in the management of the marine conservation area.

Pelagic chlorophyll-a concentrations are key for evaluation of the environmental status and productivity of marine systems, and data can be provided by in situ measurements, remote sensing and modelling. However, modelling chlorophyll-a is not trivial due to its nonlinear dynamics and complexity. In this study, chlorophyll-a concentrations for the Helgoland Roads time series were modeled using a number of measured water and environmental parameters. We chose three common machine learning algorithms from the literature: the support vector machine regressor, neural networks multi-layer perceptron regressor and random forest regressor. Results showed that the support vector machine regressor slightly outperformed other models. The evaluation with a test dataset and verification with an independent validation dataset for chlorophyll-a concentrations showed a good generalization capacity, evaluated by the root mean squared errors of less than 1 µg L−1. Feature selection and engineering are important and improved the models significantly, as measured in performance, improving the adjusted R2 by a minimum of 48%. We tested SARIMA in comparison and found that the univariate nature of SARIMA does not allow for better results than the machine learning models. Additionally, the computer processing time needed was much higher (prohibitive) for SARIMA. Keywords: time series regression; artificial intelligence; Helgoland Roads time series; support vector machine; multi-layer perceptron; random forest; productivity; SARIMA

The ability to access user-friendly, low-cost instrumentation remains a limiting factor in coastal ocean observing. The majority of currently available marine observation equipment is difficult to deploy, costly to operate, and requires specific technical skills. Moreover, a harmonized observation program for the world’s coastal waters has not yet been established despite the efforts of the global ocean organizations. Global observational systems are mainly focused on open ocean waters and do not include coastal and shelf areas, where models and satellites require large data sets for their calibration and validation. Fortunately, recent technological advances have created opportunities to improve sensors, platforms, and communications that will enable a step-change in coastal ocean observing, which will be driven by a decreasing cost of the components, the availability of cheap housing, low-cost controller/data loggers based on embedded systems, and low/no subscription costs for LPWAN communication systems. Considering the above necessities and opportunities, POGO’s OpenMODs project identified a series of general needs/requirements to be met in an Open science development framework. In order to satisfy monitoring and research necessities, the sensors to be implemented must be easily interfaced with the data acquisition and transmission system, as well as compliant with accuracy and stability requirements. Here we propose an approach to co-design a cost-effective observing modular instrument architecture based on available low-cost measurement and data transmission technologies, able to be mounted/operated on various platforms. This instrument can fit the needs of a large community that includes scientific research (including those in developing countries), non-scientific stakeholders, and educator

Due to changing temperature regimes in the North- and the Wadden Sea, a fish survey in the Sylt Rømø bight (SRB) was established in 2007 for at least ten years. The aim is to investigate the Wadden Sea fish fauna with special interest in changes of migration behavior, species composition and feeding habits. Seven stations are sampled monthly inside the SRB. Two additional stations, one outside the bight, one close to the Danish border are sampled as references four times a year. For sampling a mini bottom trawl, total length 17 m, trawl opening 7 m, height 3 m with a mesh size of 36 mm in the wings, 16 mm in the mid part and 6 mm in the cod end is used. At every station one haul in the water column and another at the bottom are sampled, for 15 minutes at a speed of approximately 2 knots. The data will help to give a more detailed picture of food chains and energy flows inside the Wadden Sea.

Due to changing temperature regimes in the North- and the Wadden Sea, a fish survey in the Sylt Rømø bight (SRB) was established in 2007 for at least ten years. The aim is to investigate the Wadden Sea fish fauna with special interest in changes of migration behavior, species composition and feeding habits. Seven stations are sampled monthly inside the SRB. Two additional stations, one outside the bight, one close to the Danish border are sampled as references four times a year. For sampling a mini bottom trawl, total length 17 m, trawl opening 7 m, height 3 m with a mesh size of 36 mm in the wings, 16 mm in the mid part and 6 mm in the cod end is used. At every station one haul in the water column and another at the bottom are sampled, for 15 minutes at a speed of approximately 2 knots. The data will help to give a more detailed picture of food chains and energy flows inside the Wadden Sea.

Due to changing temperature regimes in the North- and the Wadden Sea, a fish survey in the Sylt Rømø bight (SRB) was established in 2007 for at least ten years. The aim is to investigate the Wadden Sea fish fauna with special interest in changes of migration behavior, species composition and feeding habits. Seven stations are sampled monthly inside the SRB. Two additional stations, one outside the bight, one close to the Danish border are sampled as references four times a year. For sampling a mini bottom trawl, total length 17 m, trawl opening 7 m, height 3 m with a mesh size of 36 mm in the wings, 16 mm in the mid part and 6 mm in the cod end is used. At every station one haul in the water column and another at the bottom are sampled, for 15 minutes at a speed of approximately 2 knots. The data will help to give a more detailed picture of food chains and energy flows inside the Wadden Sea.