On the first of june 2009, the General Council on Environmental Quality Assessment of the Ministry of Rural, Marine and Natural Environment of the Spanish Government, on the light of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIS) of the bimep... more
On the first of june 2009, the General Council on Environmental Quality Assessment of the Ministry of Rural, Marine and Natural Environment of the Spanish Government, on the light of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIS) of the bimep project carried out by AZTI-Tecnalia, decided that the bimep project did not require to carry out the whole Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. In any case, the Environmental Impact Statement (EISt) of the Ministry, taking into account the great uncertainties about some predicted environmental impacts, underlined the need to implement the proposed Environmental Monitoring Program (EMP) of the EIS. Funded by the Basque Entity of Energy (or Ente Vasco de la Energía (EVE), www.eve.es) and carried out by the Marine Research Division of AZTI-Tecnalia (www.azti.es), the EMP in is preoperational phase started its activities in August 2011. This work review the expected environmental impacts of the bimep project and the methodology of the EMP for...
Understanding the response of chlorophyll-a (as a proxy for phytoplankton biomass) to both anthropogenic pressures and natural factors is important for water quality assessment purposes and for the management of biological resources. In... more
Understanding the response of chlorophyll-a (as a proxy for phytoplankton biomass) to both anthropogenic pressures and natural factors is important for water quality assessment purposes and for the management of biological resources. In the Basque coastal area, discharges produced by the Adour and Nervion rivers (south-eastern part of the Bay of Biscay) have been proven to reach up to 15-20 km off the coast. The first objective of this study was to describe the spatial and temporal variability of chlorophyll-a in the Basque coast and the Bay of Biscay, in relation to river discharges at a daily, seasonal and inter-annual scale using MODIS images acquired between 2005 and 2010. The second objective was to offer a synoptic description of the spatio-temporal variability of chlorophyll-a in the entire Bay of Biscay, using multivariate statistical methods and satellite imagery. The results indicate that seasonal chlorophyll-a cycle is slightly different in coastal areas affected by the A...
The consistency of satellite and in situ time series of Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), Turbidity and Total Suspended Matters (TSM) was investigated at 17 coastal stations throughout the year 2017. These stations covered different water types,... more
The consistency of satellite and in situ time series of Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), Turbidity and Total Suspended Matters (TSM) was investigated at 17 coastal stations throughout the year 2017. These stations covered different water types, from relatively clear waters in the Mediterranean Sea to moderately turbid regions in the Bay of Biscay and the southern bight of the North-Sea. Satellite retrievals were derived from MODIS/AQUA, VIIRS/NPP and OLCI-A/Sentinel-3 spectral reflectance. In situ data were obtained from the coastal phytoplankton networks SOMLIT (CNRS), REPHY (Ifremer) and associated networks. Satellite and in situ retrievals of the year 2017 were compared to the historical seasonal cycles and percentiles, 10 and 90, observed in situ. Regarding the sampling frequency in the Mediterranean Sea, a weekly in situ sampling allowed all major peaks in Chl-a caught from space to be recorded at sea, and, conversely, all in situ peaks were observed from space in a frequently cloud-free...
The consistency of satellite and in situ time series of Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), Turbidity and Total Suspended Matters (TSM) was investigated at 17 coastal stations throughout the year 2017. These stations covered different water types,... more
The consistency of satellite and in situ time series of Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), Turbidity and Total Suspended Matters (TSM) was investigated at 17 coastal stations throughout the year 2017. These stations covered different water types, from relatively clear waters in the Mediterranean Sea to moderately turbid regions in the Bay of Biscay and the southern bight of the North-Sea. Satellite retrievals were derived from MODIS/AQUA, VIIRS/NPP and OLCI-A/Sentinel-3 spectral reflectance. In situ data were obtained from the coastal phytoplankton networks SOMLIT (CNRS), REPHY (Ifremer) and associated networks. Satellite and in situ retrievals of the year 2017 were compared to the historical seasonal cycles and percentiles, 10 and 90, observed in situ. Regarding the sampling frequency in the Mediterranean Sea, a weekly in situ sampling allowed all major peaks in Chl-a caught from space to be recorded at sea, and, conversely, all in situ peaks were observed from space in a frequently cloud-free...
The consistency of satellite and in situ time series of Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), Turbidity and Total Suspended Matters (TSM) was investigated at 17 coastal stations throughout the year 2017. These stations covered different water types,... more
The consistency of satellite and in situ time series of Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), Turbidity and Total Suspended Matters (TSM) was investigated at 17 coastal stations throughout the year 2017. These stations covered different water types, from relatively clear waters in the Mediterranean Sea to moderately turbid regions in the Bay of Biscay and the southern bight of the North-Sea. Satellite retrievals were derived from MODIS/AQUA, VIIRS/NPP and OLCI-A/Sentinel-3 spectral reflectance. In situ data were obtained from the coastal phytoplankton networks SOMLIT (CNRS), REPHY (Ifremer) and associated networks. Satellite and in situ retrievals of the year 2017 were compared to the historical seasonal cycles and percentiles, 10 and 90, observed in situ. Regarding the sampling frequency in the Mediterranean Sea, a weekly in situ sampling allowed all major peaks in Chl-a caught from space to be recorded at sea, and, conversely, all in situ peaks were observed from space in a frequently cloud-free...
Understanding the response of chlorophyll-a (as a proxy for phytoplankton biomass) to both anthropogenic pressures and natural factors is important for water quality assessment purposes and for the management of biological resources. In... more
Understanding the response of chlorophyll-a (as a proxy for phytoplankton biomass) to both anthropogenic pressures and natural factors is important for water quality assessment purposes and for the management of biological resources. In the Basque coastal area, discharges produced by the Adour and Nervión rivers (south-eastern part of the Bay of Biscay) have been proven to reach up to 15-20 km off the coast. The first objective of this study was to describe the spatial and temporal variability of chlorophyll-a in the Basque coast and the Bay of Biscay, in relation to river discharges at a daily, seasonal and inter-annual scale using MODIS images acquired between 2005 and 2010. The second objective was to offer a synoptic description of the spatio-temporal variability of chlorophyll-a in the entire Bay of Biscay, using multivariate statistical methods and satellite imagery. The results indicate that seasonal chlorophyll-a cycle is slightly different in coastal areas affected by the Adour and the Nervión river waters, compared to offshore waters. The spring chlorophyll-a peak in March in offshore waters shifts to May in the Adour nearby area Nervión. The multivariate statistical analysis highlights the influence of river discharges in the spatial variability of chlorophyll-a in coastal areas of the bay. The Spanish and French Basque coastal waters are differentiated in terms of chlorophyll-a concentrations levels reached, river regimes and morphology of the continental shelf. Statistical and indicator maps have been created to represent the main components of chlorophyll-a variability in the area of study. They confirm that, at present, phytoplankton is at good status and eutrophication risk is low in the Basque coastal waters. These maps may provide water quality indicators in a continuous spatial distribution in the area and may be used for the selection of water quality stations as a function of the dynamics of the water masses characterised.
