3 A Marine Information System for
Ocean Predictions
GIUSEPPE M.R. MANZELLA *, AND MFS-VOS GROUP 1
*ENEA Marine Environment Research Centre
3.1 Introduction
The quality and management ofthe coastal and marine environments are particularly delicate issues in current European social, economic al and political agendas.
However, genuine environmental concems relating to the sea are often obfuscated
and obscurely formulated because of, among other causes, the absence of a steady
supply of reliable information.
Nowday, there is an increasing demand of oceanographic and environmental data
by many different users, whose primary objectives concentrate on the requirements
of data and information, as well as a simplification of their exchange. As a consequence, different institutions assure a 'demand driven' programming oftheir activities and show their commitment to be 'result oriented'. Toward this aim the
institutions involved in such activities, establish in their work programmes a number of detailed projects, including specific products and services to be delivered.
Particular examples are provided by those programmes aiming to environmental
trends assessment and trends due to human activities or natural changes.
The environmental problems, such as climate change, loss of biodiversity,
coastal zone threats and management, chemi cal risks, are at a different stage of recognition. To tackle these problems there is a need of objective, reliable and comparabie information to be used for the identification of priorities and management
options. This implies that there is a need of qualified long-term monitoring systems
and forecast models which can allow the management of the sea and the prediction
of environmental changes.
The intrinsic interdisciplinary nature of the marine science (UNESCO, 1984)
demands that the management ofthe information and data cannot be made only by
software engineers experts, but need a systematic approach involving experts in the
relevant marine fields. System analysis, optimisation, numerical models, graphical
presentation, multi-disciplinary data bases, remote sens ing, on-line monitoring and
computer technology are facilitating marine and coastal resources management. At
the same time, the necessity to provide data and information to a wide variety of
users (e.g. scientific community, environmental managers) is shifting the activities
1. MFS-VOS Group is formed by: A. Bruschi, A. Cruzado, G. Fusco, M. Gacic, G. P. Gasparini, T. Gervais, V. Kovacevic, C. Millot, M. Tonani, C. Tziavos, Z. Velasquez, A.
Walne, V. Zervakis, G. Zodiatis
Ocean Predictions
GIUSEPPE M.R. MANZELLA *, AND MFS-VOS GROUP 1
*ENEA Marine Environment Research Centre
3.1 Introduction
The quality and management ofthe coastal and marine environments are particularly delicate issues in current European social, economic al and political agendas.
However, genuine environmental concems relating to the sea are often obfuscated
and obscurely formulated because of, among other causes, the absence of a steady
supply of reliable information.
Nowday, there is an increasing demand of oceanographic and environmental data
by many different users, whose primary objectives concentrate on the requirements
of data and information, as well as a simplification of their exchange. As a consequence, different institutions assure a 'demand driven' programming oftheir activities and show their commitment to be 'result oriented'. Toward this aim the
institutions involved in such activities, establish in their work programmes a number of detailed projects, including specific products and services to be delivered.
Particular examples are provided by those programmes aiming to environmental
trends assessment and trends due to human activities or natural changes.
The environmental problems, such as climate change, loss of biodiversity,
coastal zone threats and management, chemi cal risks, are at a different stage of recognition. To tackle these problems there is a need of objective, reliable and comparabie information to be used for the identification of priorities and management
options. This implies that there is a need of qualified long-term monitoring systems
and forecast models which can allow the management of the sea and the prediction
of environmental changes.
The intrinsic interdisciplinary nature of the marine science (UNESCO, 1984)
demands that the management ofthe information and data cannot be made only by
software engineers experts, but need a systematic approach involving experts in the
relevant marine fields. System analysis, optimisation, numerical models, graphical
presentation, multi-disciplinary data bases, remote sens ing, on-line monitoring and
computer technology are facilitating marine and coastal resources management. At
the same time, the necessity to provide data and information to a wide variety of
users (e.g. scientific community, environmental managers) is shifting the activities
1. MFS-VOS Group is formed by: A. Bruschi, A. Cruzado, G. Fusco, M. Gacic, G. P. Gasparini, T. Gervais, V. Kovacevic, C. Millot, M. Tonani, C. Tziavos, Z. Velasquez, A.
Walne, V. Zervakis, G. Zodiatis