| Abstract |
The general objective is to develop the necessary tools for exploiting the new potential of the ocean colour technique brought by the launching of improved sensors, over European coasts.
The specific objectives are:
Objective 1 : To produce a large data set of the inherent optical properties of the main classes of optically active substances in European coastal waters. Relatively to already existing data sets, the one developed in this study will provide the following improvements: homogeneous data collection for the whole covered area in terms of the techniques used, operators performing measurements and sampling strategy; uses the state-of-the-art instruments and techniques; the most extensive sampling grid; measurements of inherent optical properties individually for the 3 main classes of seawater optically active substances. The target is a data set covering the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean (French and English coasts), the North Sea, The Baltic Sea (including Danish waters), and the Adriatic Sea, and including ca. 150 sampling points per site (total 750 sampling points).
Objective 2 : To determine quantitatively the effect of red tides on ocean colour. The improvements brought by this study are the following: quantitative determination of liposoluble and hydrosoluble phytoplankton pigments using newly developed HPLC protocols; simultaneous measurements of all seawater inherent optical properties; use of an in situ profiler that emulates measurements by ocean colour sensors; assessment of the possibility to discriminate the major phytoplankton groups from optical signals, in the frame of an exhaustive chemical and optical analysis. The target is algorithms allowing to discriminate toxic from non-toxic algal blooms.
Objective 3 : To produce new and optimised algorithms using the newly acquired optical data set, which will allow to produce maps of the main optically active seawater components (includi ...
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