A Web-Based Observatory for Biogeochemical Assessment in Coastal Regions

Abstract

The concept of water observatories is extended to create a highly versatile tool for both the daily and the long-term management of estuarine ecosystems. Coastal observatories are evolving from simple data repositories to include forecasts, scenarios' analyses and indicators, integrated in web platforms that provide multiple products and services. In a context of climate change (CC) and growing anthropogenic pressures, the assessment of the ecological health implies that the biogeochemical status is adequately quantified and incorporated in the coastal management decision-making procedure. This quantification requires accurate models for hydrodynamics and ecology that account for all relevant processes at the right scales. These models must be applied in forecast mode for emergency purposes and in hindcast mode to explore multiple scenarios as part of the CC adaptation strategy, creating a complex, vast amount of information to be shared with the coastal managers. A web-based portal supported by a comprehensive modeling and forecasting framework and materialized along the main water quality/biogeochemistry themes, from data to indicators, is developed and demonstrated in two distinct yet complex coastal systems: the Tagus estuary and the Ria Formosa lagoon. The paper starts with the requirements analysis from both ecological and computer science perspectives and then presents the overall multi-layered architecture of the framework and its key software components. The observatory portal implementation and demonstration explore its usefulness for coastal management.

Multi-Hazard WebGIS Platform for Coastal Regions

“…The framework is anchored in the concept of observatories, adapted here to integrate both monitoring data, from in-situ and remote sources, and numerical models that address all relevant physical processes at stake. Unlike previous applications of the concept of observatories in the coastal analysis [15], the MOSAIC framework integrates both hydrodynamics and morphodynamic monitoring and predictions as the evolution of the topo-bathymetry during energetic events is fundamental for an accurate evaluation of flooding and overtopping in coastal regions.…”

“…Computational frameworks and their associated interfaces have been developed over the last two decades to address flooding issues (e.g., [9][10][11]) or multi-hazard predictions. The Water Information Forecast framework-based platforms [12], dedicated to multiple hazards, are an example of the latter, addressing floods [12], oil spills [13], fecal contamination [14] and biogeochemical evolution due to anthropogenic and climate changes [15]. These types of instruments are at the core of nowadays support flood tools for coastal managers and civil protection agencies, gathering the relevant data and forecasts, and making them available in a user-friendly way (e.g., [16,17]).…”

Modeling LoRa Communications in Estuaries for IoT Environmental Monitoring Systems

“…The calibration and validation of the model were performed by comparison with several datasets, including water levels, salinity, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, inorganic nutrients and chlorophyll-a data. Prior results showed the model's ability to represent the main spatial and temporal patterns of circulation and water quality in the test site [18] [19]. Water level information is obtained in several (76) sampling points along a cross-section of the simulation mesh using a time step of 60 s. Bathymetry data for the Tagus Estuary is depicted in Fig.…”

“…6 alongside a given interpolation of the bathymetry mesh along the communication link path between the transmitter and receiver. Further details about the model implementation can be found in [18] and [19].…”

“…the point which determines both the relative height of the antennas to the surface medium and its relative permittivity (e.g., water or soil with varying water content). To accomplish this with high-precision, we resort to state-of-the-art hydrodynamic modelling of an estuary [18], [19], which provides water level estimations at any point along the link path (spatial) and the tidal cycle (temporal), but also the corresponding water content of the soil (physical) of the reflection point. This latter aspect is crucial for the path loss estimation in the estuarine intertidal zone, since if the reflection point falls within this area, it will vary from dry to wet regions (or vice-versa) following the tide dynamics, also possibly changing the relative altitude w.r.t.…”