Marine ecosystems

Our near ocean areas are among the most productive in the world, and safe and reliable knowledge is important to ensure a future clean, rich, resilient, and sustainable ocean.

Through the marine services we offer in the EU’s Earth observation program Copernicus, we contribute to increasing knowledge about the ocean, and we produce forecasts for how the biological and physical conditions in the ocean change over time and affect marine life. The most important tools are our ocean models, which we are constantly developing and improving so that they can provide the most precise information about the state of the ocean. The forecasts that are produced have several applications for users in both the public and private sectors. The data included in the forecasts is obtained from satellites and from instruments deployed in the ocean. Satellite data records surface conditions for large areas, while floating buoys and fixed installations in the sea provide local measurements. We use this data to research biological conditions, such as e.g., how the amount of nutrient salts develops over time, or which areas are exposed to harmful algal blooms. The research results are of great benefit to fisheries and seafood production.

For more information, contact research leader Annette Samuelsen.

News

Products and services

Forecasts for biogeochemical conditionsWe contribute to developing models that can simulate and provide forecasts for biogeochemical variables that are important for marine ecosystems in the North Atlantic and Arctic, such as nutrients and plankton.
Ocean conditions in past timesA reanalysis is a reconstruction of the past. Reanalyses can be made for different purposes, for example to estimate future ocean conditions by looking at what changes have taken place.
Software packages for underwater conditionsProduction of organic material through photosynthesis takes place both on land and in the sea. In the ocean, there are very small phytoplankton species that account for the majority of marine primary production, - that is, the formation of organic material from the photosynthesis of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water with the help of sunlight.

Projects

Client: Research Council of Norway
Project owner: NORCE
Project leader at the Nansen Center: François Counillon
Client: European Commission
Project owner: Mercator Ocean International
Project leader at the Nansen Center: Annette Samuelsen
Client: European Space Agency
Project owner: Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Project leader at the Nansen Center: Antonio Bonaduce
Client: Research Council of Norway
Project owner: Nansen Center
Project leader at the Nansen Center: Edson Silva
Client: Mercator Ocean International
Project owner: Nansen Center
Project leader at the Nansen Center: Laurent Bertino
Client: European Space Agency
Project owner: Nansen Center
Project leader at the Nansen Center: Lasse H. Pettersson
Client: European Commission
Project owner: Mercator Ocean International
Project leader at the Nansen Center: Annette Samuelsen
Client: Norwegian Space Agency
Project owner: Institute for Marine Research
Project leader at the Nansen Center: Edson Silva
Client: Research Council of Norway
Project owner: Institute for Marine Research
Project leader at the Nansen Center: Edson Silva