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Collaborative European Atlantic Water Quality Fore.. (EASYCO)
Collaborative European Atlantic Water Quality Forecasting System
(EASYCO)
Start date: Jan 1, 2009,
End date: Jan 30, 2012
PROJECT
FINISHED
EASYCO is a transversal project producing results for a wide range of users that deal with navigation safety, fisheries, aquaculture, coastal management and meteorology. Some of these users, particularly those connected to fisheries, meteorology and navigation safety, require results at the regional scale, while the majority require results at the local scale: coastal managers, fish farmers, ports, water companies or water authorities, which access the results of this project through consultancy services provided by SME's.This project aims to build a Polycentric Infrastructure for Operational Ocean Modelling to forecast hydrodynamics and biogeochemistry (BGC) at the regional scale using grid sizes of a few kilometres. It intends to integrate forecasts of currents, waves and meteorology across the whole AA; to set up fisheries management models based on the BGC data and on fishery resources; to set up a filter feeders model capable of relating growth, carrying capacity, primary production and circulation models to each other; and to set up a users-community with special emphasis on SME's that provide modelling services to local users. Achievements: In terms of activities the EASYCO partnership harmonised and improved the currents models in the Iberian Atlantic, the Bay of Biscay, the Irish Sea, the English Channel and the Azores region. The biogeochemical and fishery models have been linked to these hydrodynamic models. A comparison has been made of the biochemicals models and the possibility of designing a common interface between these models and the physical models, with the conclusion that this is impossible due to the models being structured differently, however their flexibility and ability to adapt to different biogeochemical models has been demonstrated. A shellfish growth model has been linked to the biogeochemical models. Employing it together with a fecal bacteria transport model, has the aim of optimising the location of settlements making the analysis of carrying capacity and the evaluation of its microbiological quality.Web-fisheries model has also been linked to the biogeochemical models. The models for the dispersion of fish larvae has been implemented and tested. The results produced were useful for the implementation of Potential Fishing Zones. A manual has been produced on the modelling of fish-larvae-eggs dispersion within the MOHID three-dimensional water modelling system.A bidirectional web tool is available on the project web page, which integrates the various operational models developed by EASYCO, enabling real-time responses and simulation requests, and results to be viewed by users.