Project summary

Development and Application of Validated Geophysical Ocean Wave Products from ENVISAT ASAR and RA-2 Instruments (EnviWave)

Research programme: Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development (EESD)

Thematic priority: Research and Technological Development Activities of a Generic Nature, 7.2.1

Research Area: Development of Generic Earth Observation Technologies, 7.2

Call Identifier:EESD-ESD-3

Proposal No.:EVG2-2001-00017

Problems to be solved

The European coastal and ocean areas are exposed to an increasing pressure from ship traffic, aqua culture, offshore exploration, and tourism. Together with the problem of coastal erosion and climate change, improved knowledge and monitoring capabilities for European coastal and offshore regions are highly required with respect to wind and wave climates. The existing and upcoming EO missions are in that respect a challenge both from a scientific and socio-economic point of view. The problems to be solved relate to different EU policies such as "Global monitoring for environment and security", "Safety rules and standards for passenger ships", Short-distance transport by sea", and "Strategies on coastal-zone management". The proposal also supports the EuroGoos initiative, where remote sensing, assimilation, and numerical models play a key role in marine monitoring and contributes to the better use of existing and new data

Scientific objectives and approach

The main scientific objective of the project is in general terms to improve the usefulness of EO data within applied oceanography, ocean climatology, and meteorology. This will be achieved by developing new validated products from EO missions, and to transform them into higher-order global ocean wave products and operational applications for monitoring ocean and coastal climate and surveillance of offshore, coastal and harbour regions. The corner stone of the scientific development is establishing an updated global database of co-located in-situ (buoy, platform), numerical model, ENVISAT and JASON-1 data products from different ocean areas around the world. The data base will be used to develop new and validated ocean wind and wave products from the ENVISAT ASAR and RA-2 instruments beyond the quality of the corresponding ESA Level 2 products. New coupled assimilation techniques will be developed, and operational and a posteriori use of ENVISAT wind and wave products will be demonstrated in a wide range of ocean climates. Value adding will be developed by integrating the validated satellite products from various EO missions, in-situ data, and numerical model outputs into new and existing applications.

Expected impacts

This proposal will aim towards improving national coastal and offshore forecasting in at least 3 European countries and one country in Asia. However, the potential for improved commercial forecasting services is a global one. Algorithms and assimilation techniques will be made available improving the benefit of using EO products in numerical atmospheric and wave models. Pilot studies will be conducted demonstrating data assimilation and operational use to a variety of ocean and coastal locations. Improved short and long-term specification of wave conditions in both offshore and coastal waters is expected through the development and improvement of existing global and regional ocean wave climate products and services.