07 June 2011 | General, ESSEM
World Oceans Day
8 June 2011 is World Oceans Day (WOD), which has been organised by the World Ocean Network and The Ocean Project since 2003. This day celebrates and honours the body of water which links us all, for what it provides humans and what it represents.
COST Action ES1001 'SMOS Mission Oceanographic Data Exploitation' coordinates European studies concerning the oceanographic data exploitation of the European Space Agency Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite mission. This mission was launched in November 2009, and SMOS provides, for the first time, Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) maps over the oceans.
The monitoring of ocean salinity, a variable of renowned importance in the broader scientific context of the climate change analysis, underlines the European relevance of this COST Action. The overall goal targeted by the network is the synergy of the European efforts in the interpretation of the measurements and their applications, profiting from the imminent availability of SMOS data.
On World Oceans Day we would like to highlight the important work that this COST Action is undertaking in order to provide a framework to capitalise the often fragmented efforts of the identified experts working in these research areas.
