Germany's northernmost state Schleswig-Holstein bundles profound knowledge and competence in advanced marine technology in the "Maritimes Cluster Schleswig-Holstein", a pool for companies, research institutions and universities.
Some of these partners developed the project idea of an early warning system for marine hazards in order to support other countries which might be affected.
In coastal areas several meteorological, oceanographic and geophysical processes have to be taken into account for a profound scientific background.
All obtained data have to be combined and analyzed to allow a conclusion for necessary measures and recommendations to avert possible danger - in fact this leads to an Ocean Monitoring System.
The project is partially funded by the Ministry of Science, Economic Affairs and Transport of Schleswig-Holstein. Coordinated by Raytheon Anschütz GmbH the project will last until the end of 2007. The aim is to develop a powerful system which provides data and information for many fields in the marine environment ranging from oceanography to coastal engineering, ship security, fisheries, coastal and environmental protection and tourism. Some examples of what kind of information could be provided:l
- Real-time data to run simulation models for short-term and long-term prediction,
- Measurements of the spatial and temporal changes of important parameters like currents and salinity in coastal areas providing long-term monitoring information,
- Information concerning ship traffic in the German Bight,
- Investigation of sediment transport and the displacement of tidal creeks and sandbanks,
- Recording the development of the wave climate off the coast by means of remote sensing,
- Measuring extreme events like storm surges with high accuracy,
- and provide such information via the Internet.
The main components of the Ocean Monitoring System are described in OMS-Components.
