Unprecedented massive landings of sargassum have been observed since 2011 along the shorelines of a huge area encompassing the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. The phenomenon is highly reported in West Indies (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Barbados ...), Dominican Republic, Mexico, Costa Rica, Texas, etc. Algae arrive from the open sea as large rafts (tenths of km) after having drifted over long distances, probably from Brazil or the Gulf of Guinea.
This issue has tremendous negative impacts over local communities, marine environment and industry. In particular, the tourism and fishing sectors and drastically affected.
CLS
Local authorities, and private companies willing to anticipate the "sargassum" season several months in advance (Insurance companies, tourism, algae valorisation). Key users would be represented by regional entities in the Caribbean (CERMES)
2 types of input data are used in this pilot. Satellite data from the Sentinel Ground Segment and NASA, and environmental data coming from CMEMS, NOAA and CLS Datastore. Satellite data: (W) MODIS Aqua, targeted resolution 250m, covering the Central Atlantic Ocean & Caribbean; (W) Sentinel-1, resolution 80m, covering from Amazon river mouth to the Caribbean; (W) Sentinel-2, resolution 20m, covering Amazon river mouth and Caribbean Islands coasts; (W) Sentinel-3, resolution 300m, covering from Amazon river mouth to the Caribbean. Environmental data for long-term drift simulation of sargassum: (W) Multi obs surface current from satellite averaged over 30 years of data(CMEMS & CLS); (S) Bathymetry and coastlines
The pilot will be a service for the end-user support decision making on sargassum seasonal planning and spread awareness on the sargassum influxes in the Atlantic by providing:
The e-shape project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 820852