[1] Regular remote sensing data from various sensors are used here for the study of the wind driven upwelling phenomenon along the African coast of the Strait of Gibraltar. It is shown for an extended summer period (May 15 till September 15, 2003) that sea surface temperature (SST) data in the strait are correlated with NCEP winds, each westward wind increase being followed by a clear surface temperature decrease. Local surface temperature of about 22°C at that time drops down to 15°C, value corresponding to the 80-120 m depth conditions. The analysis of subsequent images indicates that the cold upwelling plume typically moves first to the Atlantic during wind forcing, and then to the Mediterranean after the wind event. The presence of the northern coast of the strait is taken as responsible for a rise of a cross-strait sea level gradient and the enhancement of the associated westward geostrophic current that explains the first stage of the plume deployment. Sea level difference measured between Tarifa (European coast) and Ceuta (African coast), well described by a linear equation in term of the westward wind component, supports this idea as well as the subsequent remotely sensed SST distributions. Citation: Stanichny, S., V. Tigny, R. Stanichnaya, and S. Djenidi (2005), Wind driven upwelling along the African coast of the Strait of Gibraltar, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L04604,

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ABSTRACT:This paper discusses the application of Information Management Systems (IMS) for documenting and monitoring World Heritage (WH) properties. The application of IMS in WH can support all stakeholders involved in conservation, and management of cultural heritage by more easily inventorying, mining and exchanging information from multiple sources based on international standards. Moreover, IMS could assist in detecting damages and preparing management strategies to mitigate risks, and slowing down the deterioration of the integrity of WH properties. The case study of the Silk Roads Cultural Heritage Resource Information System (CHRIS), a Belgian Federal Science Policy Office funded project, illustrates the capabilities of IMS in the context of the nomination of the Central Asian Silk Roads on the WH List. This multi-lingual, web-based IMS will act as a collaborative platform allowing for the completion of improved transnational nomination dossiers and subsequent monitoring activities with all necessary baseline information to easily verify consistency and quality of the proposal. The Silk Roads CHRIS Geospatial Content Management System uses open source technologies and allows to georeference data from different scales and sources including data from field recording methods and combine it with historical and heritage features documented through various means such as textual descriptions, documents, photographs, 3D models or videos. Moreover, tailored maps can also be generated by overlaying a selection of available layers and then be exported to support the nomination dossier. Finally, by using this innovative information and decision support system, the State Parties and other interested stakeholders will have access to a complete nomination dossier and could therefore respond more effectively to hazards and disaster phenomena.

It provides a holistic approach for the recording, documenta tion, protection and monitoring tasks as part of the management of these potential World Heritage Properties. The Silk Roads CHRIS is easily accessible to the general user, presented in a bilingual English and Russian frame and interoperable, i.e. open for other applications to connect to. In this way, all information for the nomination dossiers is easily verified regarding consistency and quality and ready for managing, periodic reporting and monitoring processes in the respect to the property listed. Fina lly, this study provides a general framework to establish the effectiveness and limits of the use of information systems for serial transnational nominations of World Heritage Properties and to demonstrate the potentials of an improved heritage documentation system.

Serial transnational World Heritage nominations are challenging the way cultural heritage has been managed and evaluated in the past. This type of nomination requires different methodologies and tools to improve the monitoring cycle from the beginning of the nomination towards the periodic reporting. The case study of the Silk Roads Cultural Heritage Resource Information System (CHRIS) illustrates the use of a Geospatial Content Management System (Geo-CMS) supporting the serial transnational World Heritage nominations and the future monitoring of the Silk Roads in Central Asia. The Silk Roads CHRIS is an initiative supported by UNESCO WHC and the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO), and developed by a consortium headed by the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation, KULeuven. The Silk Roads CHRIS has been successfully assisting in the preparation of the nomination dossiers of the Republics of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and will be used as a monitoring tool in the Central Asian countries. This paper discusses the use of the system in serial transnational nomination, and describes the architecture of the system, its main features, its effectiveness in the preparation of the nomination dossier and its use during monitoring and reporting.