The nature of the coastal zone as being of crucial importance for mankind is stressed by a number of conflicting processes. Coastal zones with their industry, traffic and tourism are in permanent interaction with nature. It is the task of the coastal management to balance these interactions in a way to allow optimal use of the coastal zone and to mitigate the human impact to nature. To assess long-term changes as well as to estimate the risks of sudden disaster, the coastal management has to be engaged in a broad variety of processes. Especially morphodynamic processes, being of high natural variability, is changed by man with the aim to preserve the present status. Thus permanent human intervention, such as dyking, beach nourishment or jetty constructions, are managed by the coastal authorities to protect the nature of the coast, as well as to save its economic value. Additionally, the monitoring of the near coastal bathymetry is necessary for the security in shipping, to minimise the risk of accidents and of oil pollution, which affect the natural and recreational value in a negative way and endanger the use of coastal waters as food supply area.

Consequently, monitoring programs are of vital importance in maintaining the coastal zone, and coastal managers can therefore be considered as end users of the research on monitoring. Being a public task, coastal monitoring in Europe is almost entirely done by governmental institutions. But there is a clear trend to delegate specific tasks to specialised commercial companies.

The OROMA project will not be restricted to the measurement of environmental parameter to describe the coastal zone, but will bring together responsible experts in coastal management and experts of monitoring instruments, to integrate their methods, data assimilation techniques, and interpretation and presentation of thematic information. For a viable and effective management of the coastal nature the interdisciplinary co-operation between these experts is indispensable to ensure the loss-free transfer of environmental information obtained by monitoring.

The following processes within the coastal ecosystem are interrelated with anthropogenic activities and must be monitored and mapped:

In order to improve the monitoring of these processes, the OROMA project will deliver validated tools and algorithms for an operational mapping of:

By observing these processes over a specified period, risk and trend assessments will be provided for the coastal management.

Surface relevant processes play a dominant role for this assessment, and therefore a combined mapping using optical and radar sensors will provide input parameters for inverse modelling, and will increase the reliability of the thematic interpretation (morphodynamic processes).

In addition the radar delivers mainly hydrodynamic parameter (wave and currents), whereas the optical sensors provide information on chlorophyll, suspended matter (SPM), surface slicks, and yellow substances. In-situ measurements are used for validation of the parameter detected by remote sensing tools.

The cost effectiveness is achieved by a structure within the flow of information, which opens the possibility to make observations on different temporal and spatial scales, and which are well adapted to the process. This may include episodic observations, which may be triggered by the management or released by natural events, such as storms or accidents due to human activities. The monitoring of areas, which need continuous observation, should be conducted by the most cost effective way.

 

OBJECTIVES • WORKPROGRAM • SCHEDULE • RESULTS • PARTNER • END USER

Objectives
OROMA project has the main objective to monitor and map the near coastal bathymetry and related environmental parameter values as base for the coastal management for a most actual assessment of the coastal status and the dynamical behaviour of the involved processes.