Projects

The SMOS satellite, launched in November 2009, is the first ESA Earth observation (EO) mission coled by Spain. With an unprecedented EO scientific, technological, and industrial leading role, Spain’s goal has been to produce, for the first time, global sea surface salinity and soil moisture maps by means of the novel synthetic aperture interferometric radiometer (MIRAS). Thanks to the Spanish National R&D program and ESA funding, and with the support from CDTI, the proposing team has successfully addressed various scientific and technological challenges, such as: i) establish an operational data production and dissemination centre in Spain, the CP34; ii) to bring together scientific and technological know‐how within the CP34 associated expert centre, the SMOS BEC; and iii) to consolidate new teams and facilities dedicated to the development of SMOS products. After two years of intense work, the SMOS nominal products will be soon consolidated. As such, this proposal also focuses, for the first time, on the development of novel SMOS‐based added‐value products and new applications of interest for the industry and public managers. Moreover, to capitalize the know‐how of the team, this proposal addresses new challenges as the SMOS synergy with new EO missions or the development of new products beyond SMOS. However, to maintain the international role of Spain in this leading‐edge scientific area is necessary to consolidate this specialized and talented team together with its synergy with the industry.

The project aims to develop low-cost systems to retrieve and use data on water colour, transparency and fluorescence, specifically using smart-phone cameras and other sensors combined with georeferencing and a community-based Internet platform, inspired by existing experiences with other parameters (e.g., Secchi Dip-In, Coastwatch Europe and Oil Reporter). Simple and fast methods to establish the optical properties of water will be used; e.g., the colour through Forel-Ule observations, and transparency through a variant of the Secchi disc. People will be able to take photographs of the colour of the sea surface during their holidays, on ferries or other vessels, at the open sea or from the beach. Data (e.g., JPG phone-image, geolocation) are automatically uploaded through a specific service or application (such as Google+ or Facebook), archived remotely and processed, and resulting information is accessed through a webpage or a mobile application by end users. These are: policy makers and administrations, which will be able to use the information to improve the management of the coastal zone; and citizens, who will be able to maximize their experience in activities in which water quality has a role.

MEDESS-4MS service is dedicated to the maritime risks prevention and strengthening of maritime safety related to oil spill pollution in the Mediterranean. The main goal of MEDESS-4MS is to deliver an integrated operational multi model oil spill prediction service in the Mediterranean, connected to existing oil spill monitoring platforms (EMSA-CSN, REMPEC and AIS data), using well established oil spill modeling systems, the environmental data from the GMES European Marine Service and the MS national ocean forecasting systems. The overall objectives of the project are: - To implement an integrated real time oil spill multi –model prediction service for the Mediterranean; - To implement an interconnected network of data repositories that will archive and provide in operational way access to all available environmental and oil spill data; - To develop an integrated user interface system with a unique Web point providing an interactive access to the different multi-model service scenarios, to suit the requirements of EMSA-CSN, REMPEC and the generic users. - To test the service functionalities with ‘key end-users’: REMPEC, EMSA and other end-users such as national agencies combating oil spills and private profit commercial companies; MEDESS-4MS does not aim at developing new elementary service chains but will integrate and consolidate the existing ones, based on the experience gained through the interaction with operational response agencies, REMPEC and EMSA during real oil spill incidents in the region and the demonstrations and inter-calibration exercises carried out in the framework of EC projects. The proposal consists from 6 Working Packages (WP): WP1 Project Management WP2 Information and awareness raising WP3 Capitalisation and long lasting effects WP4 To improve the evaluation and the monitoring of risks WP5 To strengthen common analytical and planning tools WP6 To compare and strengthen operational intervention systems All the activities in MEDESS4MS will be carried out in order to establish a sustainable integrated multi model oil spill prediction service; consortium and partners expertise, operational response agencies, international and European organizations and areas of responsibility, are well established to reach the project objectives. Seven of the project partners are operating during the last 10 years forecasting centers, while six partners are providing individually oil spill predictions at local and sub-regional level, in close cooperation with their national operational response agencies.

This COST Action aims at coordinating the European studies concerning the oceanographic data exploitation of the European Space Agency Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite mission. Recently launched in November 2009, SMOS will provide for the first time Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) maps over the oceans. The monitoring of ocean salinity, a variable of renowned importance in the broader scientific context of the climate change analysis, underlines the European relevance of the Action. The overall goal targeted by the network is the synergy of the European efforts in the interpretation of the measurements and their applications, profiting from the imminent availability of SMOS data. This COST Action will coordinate European teams working on two major research areas. The first one will focus on the improvement and development of SMOS-derived data products. The second will assess the added value of such products in operational oceanography, process and climate studies. This Action is the ideal framework to capitalize the often fragmented efforts of the identified experts working in these research areas.

We propose to study the dynamics of three regions in the Atlantic Ocean, all of them key factors controlling the intensity of the Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC), what we name Tipping Corners of the MOC (TIC-MOC). These are: (TC1) the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) west of the Strait of Gibraltar, to a large degree responsible for the salinification of the upper thermocline in the North Atlantic Ocean; (TC2) the North Brazil Current (NBC) system, which is the single path for water and heat return from the South to the North Atlantic, the returning limb of the MOC; and (TC3) the Atlantic Southern Ocean, where deep waters are formed and upwelled at very distinct rates, to a large extent depending on the intensity in the water-column stratification. At first sight the three regions could appear as disconnected but this is not so, not only because of their principal relevance to the MOC but also because they all experience switches between two different states, potentially capable of producing substantial changes in the intensity of the MOC and its transported properties. The dynamics of these switches, what we call corners, between two different states likely bears important similarities in all three regions; therefore, we will have a joint approach to the study of each individual region, sharing conceptual, numerical, and experimental tools and ideas. Our first objective is to investigate the controlling mechanisms and range of variability of the MOW characteristics as it plunges into the eastern Gulf of Cadiz, in particular why and how the MOW may switch from subcritical to supercritical conditions. Secondly, we will study the dynamics controlling the NBC, a very peculiar low-latitude western boundary current, with a bimodal behavior, alternating between straight alongshore flow and separation-retroflection. Finally, we will pursue to improve our understanding of the key mechanisms responsible of changes in Southern Ocean stratification and how it is related to the rate of deep water formation, upwelling and vertical mixing, and consequently, the CO2 physical and biological pumps. To reach each of these objectives we will use specific ideas but will also take advantage of common tools, in particular numerical models and instrumented buoys. We will optimize ship time, using the R/V García del Cid to study TC1 (21 days requested), and two transits of the R/V Hespérides to and from the Antarctic continent to investigate TC2 and TC3 (a total of 28 days requested, additional to transit times). Further, we will tune and use numerical models for the whole Atlantic (and global) ocean to understand each individual region, and the links between them, and will continue our development of instrumented drifters, which will be deployed in the NBC and Southern Ocean during the cruises. The global objective is to make the best out of our previous experience on these regions and to optimize the resources available for their study, in such a way that it leads to an iterative learning process, with the involvement of Spanish teams in international programs and a significant advance in our knowledge of these important regions.

The main goal of the project MESTRAL is to investigate the presence of small-scale transport processes in the Alfacs Bay, and how they affect the spatial patterns of optically active constituents (sediments, phytoplankton and dissolved organic matter) and the underwater light-field variability. It focuses at the Alfacs Bay because such a study would provide a better understanding of the influence of forcing and main circulation patterns in the functioning of a coastal ecosystem that sustains key economic activities in the region. The study stands upon two main sources of information: a set of field data obtained with high resolution (in space and time) observing systems, and a set of numerical models. The proposed observing system includes conventional instrumentation and advanced systems such as autonomous or unmanned vehicles, and very high resolution profilers. The numerical models are state of the art of ocean and estuarine models (ROMS and SID3D), already implemented at the Alfacs Bay, which will be coupled with optical (radiative transfer) water and biogeochemical models. The numerical models will be calibrated with the help of historical databases and with the collected data proposed here.

Given increasing interest in the development of the capabilities for small and large scale characterization of phytoplankton biodiversity, the aim of this project is to evaluate and optimize analytical methods based on advanced observational technologies (i.e., hyperspectral optical sensors and high spatial-temporal resolution platforms). The use of these new technologies to their full potential will allow a better assessment of the variability of phytoplankton in the coastal and open ocean, as well as a better understanding of the marine phytoplankton’s role in the global marine ecosystem and biogeochemical cycles.

The TOSCA project aims to develop a long-lasting network of policy makers & scientists for observation & forecasting of marine accidents (oil pollution, Search And Rescue (SAR) operations …), in the Mediterranean Sea. TOSCA will supply forecast models, risk maps & action plans developed by the scientists in collaboration with the local authorities, which will enable them to improve their immediate response capacity & to ensure a sustainable costal monitoring.
The TOSCA (Tracking Oil Spills & Coastal Awareness network) project, cofinanced by the European Regional Development fund in the framework of the Med Programme, aims to improve the quality, speed and effectiveness of decision-making process in case of marine accidents in the Mediterranean concerning oil spill pollution and search and rescue (SAR) operations.
To answer this objective, the following specific objectives will be met during the project:
1. Develop a sustainable scientific monitoring & forecasting system. Through the construction of an observational network, based on state of the art technology (HF radars and drifters), the project will provide real-time observations and forecasts of the marine environmental conditions in the Western and Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. The system will be installed and assessed in five test sites on the coastal areas of oil spill outlets (Eastern Mediterranean) and on high traffic areas (Western Mediterranean). The use of state of the art technology will provide more accurate oil spill tracking and trajectory forecasts.
2. Create a support tool for decision-making process in case of maritime accidents. Gathered data will be combined in a useful decision support tool for authorities in charge of marine emergency response. Based on the needs of local authorities around the Mediterranean, the system will be implemented on a territorial scale and will provide critical information to support decision-making process in case of maritime accident (objects and oil spill tracking and trajectories, ocean current and dispersion maps, mapping of risk areas, vulnerability maps...)
3.Elaborate a common management strategy on oil spill and SAR operations. The network will be used to implement action plans in collaboration with local authorities as well as a common scientific strategy in cooperation with policy makers to provide immediate response, mitigation and long term management of oil spill pollution and SAR operations in case of marine accidents.

After the successful launch of SMOS in November 2009, the operational phase of the mission will start by mid 2010. Spain has been involved with unprecedented scientific, technological and industrial leading role in this European Earth Observation mission that aims at providing for the first time global measurements of surface ocean salinity and soil moisture, using a L-band aperture synthesis interferometric radiometer (MIRAS).
Through a series of activities funded by CDTI (technology), the National R+D Plan, and ESA, the proposer team has been able to significantly contribute to the mission. This new proposal aims at consolidating the main results achieved in the previous projects, but also introduces new solutions to the problems on the instrument behaviour, which show up now that the first real SMOS measurements are available. At the same time, we have to maintain the activities of the original high-level Spanish contribution to the mission, the CP34 system, both in its operational aspects at ESAC and in the scientific components, validating and improving its products.
Finally, a fundamental scientific objective is to start demonstrating the usefulness of SMOS, through several activities addressing the data exploitation in climatic, oceanographic and hydrologic applications. From now on, Spain should obtain the scientific and societal return of the economic and institutional efforts invested on SMOS, and the present proposal is a clear step forward in this direction.

El objetivo fundamental del proyecto MOC2 (Memoria Oceánica del Clima: mecanismos y rutas de formación de aguas superficiales en el Atlántico ecuatorial, referencia CTM2008-06438-C02) es investigar la magnitud del transporte y las transformaciones que experimentan las aguas intermedias en su viaje desde el océano austral hasta su reincorporación en las aguas superficiales del Atlántico Ecuatorial. Para ello se determinarán los flujos de masa, calor, agua dulce, carbono y nutrientes desde el Atlántico Sur hacia el Atlántico Ecuatorial, y se cuantificará la incorporaciçon de las aguas intermedias hacia el océanoo superficial del Atlántico Ecuatorial. Para lograrlo se desarrollarán modelos, y se realizarán y analizarán mediciones de campo, desde una perspectiva interdisciplinar. Esta incluye el análisis de diversos tipos de datos pblicos, esfuerzos de calibración de nuevos sensores satelitales, campañas con mediciones de parámetros físicos, químicos y biológios, modelos oceánicos idealizados y de circulación general del Atlántico, y el mayor desarrollo de boyas de autónomas de mediciónes. El acrónimo MOC2 surge justamente de estas ideas: Meridional Overturning Circulation * Memoria Oceánica del Clima.

Su objetivo fue favorecer la organización del I Encuentro de la Oceanografía Física Española. Este Encuentro, el primero en España de su tipo, se realizó del miércoles 13 al viernes 15 de octubre de 2010, en Barcelona, con la organización local del Departamento de Oceanografía Física del Institut de Ciències del Mar (DOF-ICM) y el Laboratorio de Ingeniería Marítima de la Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (LIM-UPC). El objetivo es crear un punto de encuentro e interacción entre oceanógrafos físicos españoles, que promueva sinergias y colaboraciones en Oceanografía Física y que, de modo natural, conduzca a que el evento se repita con una cierta periodicidad. Con este fin se hizo un serio esfuerzo para que la convocatoria fuese lo más amplia y atractiva posible, con el fin de asegurar una alta participación por parte de la comunidad de oceanógrafos físicos españoles. El resultado fue muy positivo con unos 150 participantes y mas de 140 ponencias, además de una exposición de instrumentación oceanográfica de 6 empresas del sector, y la realización de un acto homenaje a la figura de Gregorio Parrilla.

Organización de un congreso európeo sobre procesado de la señal aplicado a datos marinos y sísmicos