The tropical oceans drive climatic phenomena such as the El Niño-southern oscillation (ENSO) and the Asian–Australian monsoon, which have global scale impacts. In order to understand future climatic developments, it is essential to understand how the tropical climate has developed in the past, on both short and longer timescales. However, good instrumental records are limited to the last few decades. The oxygen isotopic (δ18O) composition and strontium/calcium (Sr/Ca) ratio of massive corals have been widely used as proxies for past changes in sea surface temperature (SST) of the tropical and subtropical oceans, because the geochemistry of the skeleton is believed to vary as a function of several environmental parameters (such as seawater temperature, salinity, light, …). However, recent microanalytical studies have revealed large amplitude variations in Sr/Ca and oxygen isotopic composition in coral skeletons; variations that cannot be ascribed to changes in SST or in salinity. Such micro- and nanometer scale studies of geochemical variations in coral skeletons are still few and somewhat scattered in terms of the species studied and the problems addressed. But collectively they show the great potential for determining chemical variations at length scales of direct relevance to the biomineralization process. For example, it is now possible to measure geochemical variations within the two basic, micrometer-sized building blocks of the coral skeleton: Early mineralization zones (EMZ) and aragonite fibres. Such micro- and nanometer scale observations, in combination with controlled laboratory culturing of corals, hold the promise of yielding important new insights into the various biomineralization processes that may affect the chemical and isotopic composition of the skeletons. One aim of these efforts is to better understand the elemental and isotopic fractionation mechanisms in order to improve the conversion of the geochemical variability into environmental changes.

Since both net primary production (NPP) and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) are the time-integrated values of CO2 exchange at the interface of plant, ecosystem, and atmosphere, continuous measurements of CO2 fluxes using methods such as eddy covariance may be the most direct and accurate approach. However, the geospatial assessment of key variables such as plant productivity and CO2 flux is essential because terrestrial ecosystems are quite heterogeneous. Remotely sensed information plays a crucial role for scaling up such ecosystem variables obtained by point measurements. Biophysical and ecophysiological process models have also an important role in the assessment and prediction of plant productivity and carbon flux, since they dynamically change interacting with many environmental variables. Despite the significant potential of these two methods, they both have limitations in ecological and ecophysiological applications; thus, synergistic linkage between the two methods is required. This chapter overviews the recent advancements in remote sensing of ecophysiological variables as a basis for such applications, and conducts methodological investigations on the synergy between remote sensing and process modeling based on some case studies. A case study based on airborne remote sensing data demonstrates the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) among various vegetation indices and may be useful enough for approximate assessment of plant productivity at an ecosystem scale. Another case study also shows that the soil surface CO2 flux (SSFCO2) is most closely related to the remotely sensed soil surface temperature, while air temperature is less well correlated and soil temperature and soil water content are poorly correlated. Remotely sensed surface temperature will provide useful information for investigation of CO2 transfer processes near the soil surface, as well as for quantitative assessment of ecosystem surface CO2 flux (ESFCO2). It is clearly shown that a synergy of remote sensing and a soil–vegetation–atmospheric transfer (SVAT) model; parameterization of the model with remote sensing signatures is promising for estimating important ecosystem variables such as biomass growth and ecosystem CO2 flux. This approach allows the effective use of infrequent and multisource remote sensing data.

Since 900,000 years the 100- and 41-kyr cycles of the ice volume dominate most of the climatic parameters. Exception occurs in the tropics, where some records exhibit stronger precession cycles. Primary productivity is one of these parameters. Late pleistocene quantitative changes in nannoplankton communities preserved in eight deep-sea cores are used to monitor primary productivity along the equator in the Indian and Pacific oceans. The precession-controlled changes, significantly present in these cores, are discussed here in detail. Primary production (PP) is highest during high precession times in most of the records, and during low precession time in the western Pacific warm pool (WPWP). The opposite response of the WPWP corresponds to the rocking of the east–west thermocline slope of the Indo-Pacific that strongly affects PP. These balance movements of the thermocline slope are linked to processes similar to the southern oscillation phenomenon but on a longer time scale and are labelled ENSO-like. The precession-induced ENSO-like variability precedes changes in the oxygen isotopic ratio, which indicates that it is not the result of ice sheet fluctuations. On the reverse, because deglaciations occur during the transition caused by the onset of El Niño-like phases that produce great transport of heat to the high latitudes, ENSO-like variability could be at the origin of late pleistocene deglaciations. The stack of all these PP records shows that the glacial PP was 50% (3.5 Giga ton of carbon) higher than the interglacials in the equatorial Indo-Pacific ocean.

Satellite-derived estimates of weekly latent heat flux for the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean (40°S to 40°N) were calculated for a one-year period from September 30, 1996 to September 28, 1997 (52 weeks). The oceanic variables required to estimate evaporation (sea surface temperature, surface wind speed, and surface air humidity) were obtained from sensors on several polar-orbiting satellites including the European Remote Sensing satellite 2 (ERS-2), the NASA scatterometer (NSCAT), and the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I). During this period, high values of the weekly satellite estimates of wind speed and latent heat flux were found over the northeast and southeast trade wind regions. In these regions, the 52-week average fields showed wind speeds greater than about 7 m s1 and associated evaporation rates greater than 120 W m2. The annual cycle dominates the temporal evolution of sea surface temperature but is hardly noticeable in wind speed and latent heat flux, which are dominated by large 3-4 week fluctuations. The most significant event during our period of study was a strong northeast trade wind burst that originated near the northwest African coast in early February 1997. It persisted for five weeks as it crossed the North Atlantic Ocean and finally dissipated in the Caribbean Sea in early March 1997. In the southeast trade region, a similar but less intense period of higher flux was observed during July 1997. These large-scale wind bursts illustrate the strong role that the Atlantic trade winds play in enhancing evaporation.

Simulated sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface height (SSH) anomalies are used to diagnose the low frequency variability in the tropical Atlantic. Multichannel Singular Spectrum Analysis (M-SSA) is performed to detect oscillations at different time scales during the 1979-1993 study period. Three major oscillations are simultaneously found for both variables: one on semi decadal (5 years) time scale, and the two others on shorter interannual (1.5 to 3 years) time scale. At the lowest frequency, the SSH patterns show strong equatorial structures, while the SST patterns exhibit dipole structures. These spatio-temporal oscillations appear to be controlled by both the thermodynamic air-sea interaction and by the equatorial dynamics, and correspond to a meridional redistribution of the oceanic heat content. The 1.5-to-3-year SST and SSH oscillations are primarily associated with a dynamic response to fluctuations of the equatorial easterlies. The related SSH oscillation shows marked zonal propagation of waves, along and on either side of the equator. The 1.5-to-3-year oscillation pattern of the SST also exhibits dipole structures. These results show that the meridional SST mode and the equatorial dynamic mode, the two main modes of the climate variability in the tropical Atlantic, oscillate at different time scales, and are not confined to specific time scales (the lowest period for the SST meridional mode, the fastest period for the equatorial mode) as previously believed. This result from the M-SSA explains the good relationships recently founded between these modes from observations [Servain et al., 2000].

The NOR-50 is a fast vessel specially suited for operational oceanographic missions such as maintenance of observation networks in the tropical and south Atlantic oceans. The total mission cost of a NOR-50 is expected to be 1/3 of a classical oceanographic vessel of the same size because of a much lower construction cost and a doubling of the cruising speed.

The current capacity in provision of real time marine environmental information to different users occupied with aspects of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) are planned to be examined and classified by MERSEA Strand-1, notably within application sectors such as: maritime transports, naval operation, tourism, exploitation and management of ocean resources, environmental issues, and research and development. The expected outcome will document that integrated systems (in situ data, EO data and models) are cost-effective and greatly needed for hindcast, nowcast and forecast purposes in the context of specific GMES requirements including development, mitigation and assessment of policy agreements. Moreover, it will highlight the need to provide an information exchange platform between industry, research organisations, value adding companies and customers in order to make data, information and services more readily accessible.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the new European developments for operational oceanography. A number of preoperational or operational current-prediction systems have been implemented in Europe, one of them being the MERCATOR project. Their goal is to progressively develop an operational capacity to analyze and predict the global ocean currents. This is achieved by contributing to the development of an ocean and climate prediction system through assimilation of near-real time satellite and in situ data into an ocean model. It is discussed that Europe should build a global component of global ocean observing system (GOOS), which is the main goal of Marine Environment and Security for the European Area- Integrated Project. Global monitoring for environment and security is an opportunity to implement this European operational system for the Ocean, by relying on existing experience. The actual organization still needs detailed definitions concerning European centre for ocean monitoring and forecasting, national centers and out centers and an organizational model must be put together.

The principal objective of the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) is to demonstrate the feasibility and value of routine, real-time, high-resolution forecasts for the global ocean. The forecasts will be generated by the assimilation of data from a coherent network of measurements into physically based ocean models, and the main phase of the experiment will take place between 2003 and 2005. We summarise the rationale and scope of the experiment and highlight some of the main contributions being made by European collaborators.

As the ocean observing system network becomes mature and information flow is enhanced, knowledge of the business and policy applications of the information will guide further design improvements. An analysis has been carried out from the “demand side” of the optimal temporal and spatial resolution and information format necessary for the ingestion of environmental data into business forecast models of EU industries. Data is presented from desktop studies made with partners from the European energy (utilities, oil and gas), leisure, construction, emergency management, and financial services sectors, in which the information “pathway” in decisions is examined. The paper analyses how the environmental information and forecast is transformed into a business and policy product, and how businesses have to re-engineer themselves to maximise the use of the information. The paper discusses how the information impacts the value chain decisions as well as the business plans. Selected bottom line indicators are used as performance metrics of successful incorporation of the information into decisions and policy guidance for regions and nations. Business case studies include the role of improved weather/climate forecasts examined in energy demand/supply forecast business cycle and in the formation of electricity pricing and trading strat- egies the role of seasonal forecasts in regional oil and gas energy management planning the use of ocean and climate forecasts in determining test conditions for performance evaluation of building codes and standards the role of bio-geo-chemical information in financial risk rating for investment business practice improvement and insurance premium setting the use of short term and seasonal temperature and precipitation parameters in the yield-management models for tourist demand forecasting the value of combined meteorological/air quality forecasts in formulation of health alerts/emergency management preparedness.

The seven French agencies (CNES, CNRS, IFRTP, IRD, METEO-FRANCE, SHOM and IFREMER) concerned with ocean research are together developing a strong capability in operational oceanography based on a triad including satellite altimetry (JASON), numerical modelling with assimilation (MERCATOR), and in situ data (CORIOLIS). The CORIOLIS project aims to build a pre-operational structure to collect, validate and distribute ocean data to the scientific community and modellers.

SOAP—Système Opérationnel d'Analyse et de Prévision—is the oceanic forecasting system used by SHOM (Service Hydrographique et Océanographique de la Marine) to elaborate defence-related products for the French Navy. It has been routinely operated, in successive versions, since April 1998. In the near future, oceanic modelling opportu- nities will grow and improve through ongoing initiatives in operational oceanography to prepare GODAE. With the increase in options, the issue of bringing down the “primary production” of the models to products relevant for customers becomes even more important. The first part of this paper is dedicated to briefly presenting current and future modelling capabilities of the SOAP system. The second part sketches how defence-related products are elaborated from the “primary production” with emphasis on the customers' expecta- tions. Preliminary feedback on these products, collected during operational experiments conducted in the North Indian Ocean and Mediterranean are presented in the conclusion.

Sea level has been determined in the Portuguese coastal area by a hydrodynamic model and also from altimetry measurements for two points near Sines in the South-western Coast of Portugal. The comparison between both predictions yielded a very high corre- lation and the root mean square of the differences was small.

Notions of “public goods” are embedded in most discussion of the provision of oceanographic products and their finance, but the issues are unclear. The focus of operational oceanography is becoming increasingly international. At the same time, discussion of international development and its finance is increasingly emphasising public goods issues. This paper reviews some of the emerging issues from these divergent standpoints.

The modelling of coastal morphodynamics as well as the design of sea defences require long-term series of wave data, in order to estimate average and extreme wave conditions in the coastal zone and near the shoreline. Unfortunately, often only limited amounts of observations and measurements are available. The TOMAWAC spectral wave code is used to make a hindcast of wave conditions along the French coasts over the past 20 years, in order to extend our knowledge of wave climate. Preliminary results obtained over a period of two years compare fairly well with available buoy measurements.

The Bay of Biscay is important for French fisheries. It is a complex ecosystem that has been scientifically investigated for many years, and has now been chosen by lfremer for a major integrated project for the next decade. The general objectives are: u • To understand interactions between fishing resources, the environment and the human pressure on a regional scale • To determine how social and economic factors control the behaviour of the various system components • To analyse, understand and forecast the evolution of the system according to various climatic and economic scenarios This multidisciplinary project, involving an important lfremer task team of 80 man/ years, was launched in 2001.

Kinematic evidence for the existence of Tropical Cells (TC) in the Atlantic Ocean is offered. Mean sections of meridional velocity, its horizontal divergence and vertical velocity are estimated from twelve available sections centered at about 35°W. Of the twelve sections, six were occupied in March and April, thus there is a boreal spring bias to the observations. Equatorial upwelling and offequatorial downwelling, between 3°N and 6°N, represent the southern and northern boundaries of a northern hemisphere TC. Uncertainties for the estimates of average quantities are large. However, favorable comparisons with observational representations of Pacific TC's provide support for the existence of a northern hemisphere Atlantic TC.

ESONET proposes a network of sea floor observatories around the European Ocean Margin from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea for strategic long term monitoring as part of a GMES with capability in geophysics, geotechnics, chemistry, biochemistry, oceanography, biology and fisheries. Long-term data collection and alarm capability in the event of hazards (e.g. earthquakes) will be considered. ESONET will be developed from networks in key areas where there is industrial sea floor infrastructure, scientific/ conservation significance (e.g. coral mounds) or sites suitable for technology trials (e.g. deep water close to land).

A survey of existing environmental monitoring networks operated in European waters and a review of their main characteristics has been completed. Individual questionnaires have been filled out by persons in charge of operations enabling gathering of up-to-date, accurate information about equipment used and actual operational practices. A map of the location of these networks is shown and a table gives their main characteristics. These data have been used to conduct the analysis of practices employed to maintain these installations. The various difficulties met by operators as well as the costs of these operations are analysed. Methods and procedures are specific to the geographic situations and to the physical characteristics of the monitored sites. The means and resources used for maintenance operations and the related costs are strongly dependent on the distance between the monitoring site and the closest harbour (logistic bases). In the same way, the frequency of on-site interventions are heavily dependant on the bio-productivity of the surrounding environment, bringing a heavy constraint on the choice of the technique for biofouling prevention. Last but not least, the level of data quality seems to be related to the method- ology used for maintenance (both procedure and frequency). The choice of the archi- tecture of measurement systems is also an important factor in the efficiency of the systems.

Météo-France has national and international responsibilities to agencies fighting marine oil pollution. To answer to these commitments, Météo-France developed MOTHY, a pollutant drift model. MOTHY is an integrated system that includes an oil spill model linked to a hydrodynamic coastal ocean model with real time atmospheric forcing from a global or limited area model. So far, the effects of the general circulation and the associated large scale currents are not represented in the model. This chapter focuses on evaluating the effects of these currents and comparing different methods to represent them in the MOTHY system. It is discussed that monthly current from Mercator Ocean model lead to consistent results with the observations. The use of altimetric data improves the results still further. This is encouraging for a future use of currents from operational ocean models which will assimilate this type of data.

The European Space Agency SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) mission is scheduled for launch in early 2007. SMOS will exploit an innovative instrument designed as a 2D interferometer acquiring globally brightness temperatures at L-band (1.4GHz) to retrieve soil moisture fields over the land surfaces and ocean salinity fields over the oceans. Considering the exploratory nature of the salinity measurement with SMOS, the GODAE open ocean requirement (0.1, practical salinity scale, over 200 km every 10 days) represents a technically challenging objective that has been set as a goal for the mission.

The paper discusses recent variations in sea ice cover in the Caspian and Aral seas. Analysis is done using synergy of data from active (radar altimeter) and passive (radiometer) microwave nadir-looking instruments onboard the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite for 1992–2002. The results show significant spatial and temporal variability of ice conditions. There is a significant decrease of both duration of ice period and ice presence for 1998–2002. The obtained time series of sea ice presence are unique, as the existing data on sea ice in these two seas since mid-1980s is fragmentary and mostly unpublished.

The world's oceans contain over 3000 drifting buoys, moored buoys, floats and other platforms monitored by the Argos satellite-based location and data collection system. Following successful deployments in such programmes as TOGA and WOCE, and now ARGO, Argos is going through fundamental changes to better meet the needs of its main users: oceanographers. New features include two-way communication—operational in April 2003—increased data transmission capacity, and fully customised access to data and results. Designed for and with its scientific users, Argos will remain the only global satellite-based system dedicated to monitoring and protecting the environment. This paper reviews the reliable tools used for in situ observations with Argos, the related global networks, and describes the enhancements to the system designed to enable the ocean community to satisfy increasingly difficult data relay needs with a proven, reliable, and robust data collection link.

This paper describes Oceanpal, an inexpensive, all-weather, passive instrument concept for remote sensing of the ocean and other water surfaces. Oceanpal is based on the use of reflected signals emitted from GNSS, and as such it is well grounded on the growing, long term GNSS infrastructure. As seen from the instrument, several GNSS emitters are simultaneously in view at any given time, providing separated multiple scattering points with different geometries. Reflected signals are affected by surface “roughness” and motion (i.e. sea state, orbital motion, and currents), mean surface height and dielectric properties (i.e. salinity and pollution). Oceanpal is envisaged to act as an accurate, “dry” tide gauge/surface monitoring system as a part of a future distributed ocean remote sensing network concept.