A database for the industrial trawl fishery of Cote d'Ivoire

Fishery statistics for the industrial trawl fishery of Cote d'Ivoire have been well documented since 1968. However, data processing has changed significantly with time and some of the data files have been lost. In 1997, the Centre de Recherches Oceanologiques d'Abidjan decided to retrieve and process all trawl data available from different sources. This paper gives an overview of the database covering the period 1968 to 1997 and describes its coverage, format, structure and use. The database was developed using MS ACCESS and is a powerful tool for storing information about this fishery, and for analysis of its dynamics over a period of 30 years

Availability of Coastal and Marine Data and Potential Applications for Development Co-operation

This report summarise the availability of coastal and marine data and highlights some of the potential applications such data may have in the context of development co-operation. The focus is on the data and the applications which already exist at the Global Environment Monitoring (GEM) Unit of the Institute of Environment and Sustainability (IES), and is not intended as a global overview of all possible use of data. The report also emphasises some potential new activities targeted to provision of information relevant for thematic policies and actions in EC and beneficiary countries and regions.JRC.H.3-Global environement monitorin

Assessing the Dynamics of Ecological Provinces in the European Seas

The concept of oceanographic provinces has existed for almost a century, providing a useful framework for understanding the mechanisms controlling biological, physical and chemical processes in the ocean and their interactions. This work is an attempt to identify and map marine provinces using satellite observations related to biological processes such as phytoplankton primary production. The approach is based on fuzzy logic as a means of classifying the European Seas into objectively defined areas. The analysis has identified nine domains based on three important variables, surface chlorophyll concentration, sea surface temperature, and available radiation for photosynthesis. These domains were subsequently mapped over the European geographical window using satellite ocean colour and temperature data. The method displays correctly most important productive and unproductive zones, as well as captures the dynamic nature of the marine systems. This study has been conducted in the frame of the institutional project ECOMAR (Monitoring and Assessment of Marine Ecosystems, Action # 2121) within the Inland and Marine Unit of the Institute for Environment & Sustainabilility.JRC.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource

Segmentation capillaire: phénomene d'évitement de l'étranglement

Un ligament, sous l'effet de sa tension de surface se rétracte en une seule goutte ou bien se segmente en plusieurs gouttelettes. Nous nous intéressons dans notre étude à un mécanisme nouveau qui empêche le ligament de se segmenter: l'évitement de l'étranglement. De nombreux chercheurs se sont penchés sur ce phénomène de segmentation, par exemple Schulkes (1996) et Notz et Basaran (2004). Des travaux encore plus récents (Hutchings et al 2012) ont permis de regrouper les données les plus significatives de Schulkes, Notz et Basaran sur un graphe pour prédire le destin d'un ligament liquide soumit à la seule force de sa tension de surface. On laisse tomber en chute libre une colonne liquide préalablement contenue dans une paille et on observe cette chute à l'aide d'une caméra rapide. La colonne liquide pendant sa chute se rétracte sous l'effet de sa tension superficielle, un cou se forme et tend à s'étrangler pour segmenter le cylindre liquide en deux . Brusquement, un phénomène inattendu se produit: le cou du bourrelet se ré-ouvre et l'étranglement est évité. Une inspection détaillée de ce phénomène montre que l'évitement est coïncident avec l’apparition d’un anneau tourbillonnaire à l’intérieur du bourrelet. La rétractation du ligament se caractérise par deux nombres, son rapport d'aspect et le rapport entre viscosité et l’effet moteur de l’inertie-capillarité, c’est le nombre de Ohnesorge. En prenant un ligament assez long nous avons trouvé une valeur critique de ce nombre Ohc au delà de laquelle se produit l'évitement. Nous montrerons ensuite que ce phénomène est en effet le mécanisme expliquant la frontière obtenue sur le graphe de Hutchings et al sur lequel nous avons superposé nos résultats permettant ainsi une bonne compréhension: l’évitement nous permet d'expliquer la structure de cette frontière. Références Castrejon-Pita, Alfonso A., Castrejon-Pita, J. R. & Hutchings, I. M. 2012 Breakup of liquid filaments. Phys. Rev. Lett. 108 (074506). Notz, Patrick K. & Basaran, Osman A. 2004 Dynamics and breakup of a contracting liquid filament. J. Fluid Mech. 512, 223–256. Schulkes, R. M. S. M. 1996 The contraction of liquid filaments. J. Fluid Mech. 309, 277–300

Marine and Coastal Information Systems for Europe and Africa

Marine Information Systems for Europe (EMIS, http://emis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/) and Africa (AMIS, http://amis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/) have been recently developed at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission to provide the Users with an appropriate set of bio-physical information, of importance to conduct water quality assessment, resource monitoring and climate change studies in the coastal and marine waters. These systems are simple and easy-to-use mapping tool applications, created for the publication and dissemination of African and European marine information via the web. Both systems rely mostly on Earth Observation data from optical and thermal sensors, processed according to standard (i.e., space agency-related) and in-house peer-reviewed algorithms, as well modeled data, to generate indicators for global diagnostic of the coastal state and analyses of changes in marine ecosystems. In addition, the systems supply the users with basic navigation and interrogation tools with a range of time-series and statistical analysis generated automatically in a format ready for publication / reporting, and enabling decision makers to make full and lasting use of this information.JRC.H.5-Land Resources Managemen