Seven years of marine environmental changes monitoring at coastal OOCS stations (Catalan Sea, NW Mediterranean)

Since March 2009 up to the present (more than 7 years now), the
Operational Observatory of the Catalan Sea (OOCS; http://www2.ceab.csic.es/
oceans/) remains a witness of persistent marine environmental changes. The OOCS
has two fixed observation stations at the head of the Blanes Canyon (200 m depth,
41.66°N; 2.91°E) and at the Blanes bay (20 m depth, 41.67°N; 2.80°E) in the Catalan
Sea, NW Mediterranean. At the canyon station, a multi-parametric buoy presently
installed delivers high frequency (by 30 min) and multi-parametric oceanographic
(i.e. salinity, temperature, chlorophyll, turbidity, as well as light intensity in the
PAR range for the upper 50 m depth) and atmospheric (air temperature, relative
humidity, wind speed and direction and PAR) data. Subsurface photos and videos
by an IP high resolution fisheye camera attached to the buoy are also delivered
at 4-hour basis. Data and multimedia are transmitted in near real time for public
access, via combined GSM/GPRS and 3G connections. At both stations, CTD profiles
and water samples (collected for nutrients and picoplankton analyses) are carried
out on board a research vessel at fortnightly basis. Numerical simulations along
with the time series of in-situ observations show inter-annual seasonality anomalies
possibly linked to global environmental changes. The lower-atmosphere and
upper-sea environmental time series data collected prove the occurrence of shifting
patterns of heat and matter fluxes impacting pelagic and benthic organisms.