CONWEST-DYCO2

Principal Investigator: Luciana Fenoglio (University of Bonn)

Co-Investigator(s): Nicole Delpche-Ellmann, Artur Ellmann, Ramiro Ferrari, J. Indu, Volker. Mohrholz, Zulfikar Nadzir, Joanna Staneva, Johannes Pein, Jürgen Kusche

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The CONWEST-DYCO2 project evaluates the scientific usability of the SWOT satellite altimetry mission in coastal zone. It addresses issues in the coast-river continuum to improve the management of water as a strategic resource to cope with climate change.

The central hypothesis is that hydro-dynamic and mesoscale processes in river-to-ocean boundaries and in coastal zone can be better understood by merging remote sensing data of the altimetric missions. The scientific goal and focus are on coastal water cycle and extreme events, small-scale processes in the transition zone from land to sea, estuaries and coastal zone. For this purpose, maps are built and evaluated against in-situ and modeling results. We have chosen four regions for the differences in the signal. Elbe estuary and Baltic Sea are characterized by small signal, by availability of in-situ networks and regional models. In Indonesia and Bay of Bengal in-situ data are rare and the signals larger.

These regions are investigated for fine scale topography, mesoscale and sub-mesoscale ocean dynamics features. We address new research applications to resolve the hydrodynamics at fine scales and understand the effect of the observed changes. This will in turn allow to address important issues in the coast-river continuum due to climate change and to improve the management of water as a strategic resource.