SOCIB contributes to the 7th edition of the Ocean State report jointly with Puertos del Estado

The Balearic Islands Coastal Observing and Forecasting System (SOCIB) has contributed, jointly with Puertos del Estado, to the 7th edition of the Copernicus Ocean State Report (OSR7), which was published on the 27th of September 2023 in collaboration with the journal ‘State of the Planet’, Copernicus Publications.

  • One contribution co-led by Puertos del Estado and SOCIB in Chapter 2: Updated and new pathways in ocean science, presents a new methodology to monitor upwelling in the north-western Iberian Peninsula and in the Bay of Biscay, using surface current estimations provided by high-frequency radars, a land-based remote sensing technology. Coastal upwelling is an important process that impacts on water quality and aquaculture production in coastal areas  (section 2.6).

  • One contribution co-led by SOCIB and Puertos del Estado in Chapter 4: Specific events in the ocean in 2021, characterises the signature of an intense storm-induced coastal upwelling along the north-western coast of the Balearic Islands during storm Blas in November 2021, using a high-resolution operational prediction model. The upwelling, with a duration of 3 days and a spatial offshore extension of 20 km, led to cross-shore surface temperature differences of up to 6 °C. It was the most intense event of the past 9 years in terms of the impact on temperature and the second-most intense event in terms of cross-shore transports (section 4.3).

The annual Ocean State Report provides information on the state, variability and ongoing changes in the marine environment of the global ocean and the European regional seas over the past decades up to close to real time. It is considered as a reference EU report  both for the ocean scientific community, and for policy and decision-makers, also essential for increasing general public ocean awareness. Particularly, the OSR7 provides this year new insights into critical components of global ocean circulation, a closer look at extremes and unusual events in both open oceans and national waters as well as innovative tools and technologies for ocean research and the identification of long-term trends in oceanic variables. An accompanying interactive summary for policymakers has been published on October 26, which pulls out the highlights of the report and puts them into the wider context of sustainability, including the environmental, social and economic pillars.

 

Reference articles

  • Lorente, P., Rubio, A., Reyes, E., Solabarrieta, L., Piedracoba, S., Tintoré, J., & Mader, J. (2023). High-frequency radar-derived coastal upwelling index. State of the Planet, 1-osr7, 8. https://doi.org/10.5194/sp-1-osr7-8-2023
  • Mourre, B., Reyes, E., Lorente, P., Santana, A., Hernández-Lasheras, J., Hernández-Carrasco, I., García-Jove, M., & Zarokanellos, N. D. (2023). Intense wind-driven coastal upwelling in the Balearic Islands in response to Storm Blas (November 2021). State of the Planet, 1-osr7, 15. https://doi.org/10.5194/sp-1-osr7-15-2023

More information

  • Full Ocean State Report, Issue 7: von Schuckmann, K., Moreira, L., Le Traon, P.-Y., Grégoire, M., Marcos, M., Staneva, J., Brasseur, P., Garric, G., Lionello, P., Karstensen, J., and Neukermans, G. (Eds.) (2023): 7th edition of the Copernicus Ocean State Report (OSR7), Copernicus Publications, State Planet, 1-osr7, https://doi.org/10.5194/sp-1-osr7.

  • Interactive summary for policymakers and video