GMES Marine and Coastal Information Services Extension and Transfer 2009-2012

MARCOAST delivers satellite-based services in the field of marine and coastal applications.

The project is an important component for GMES, complementing the Marine Core Service and the emerging downstream service projects initiated by the Commission. MARCOAST is part of the ESA GMES Service Element projects, which started in the early 2000, and which focussed very strongly, from the beginning, on a sustainable service market, based on real user demands and implemented by fostering commercial activities driven and controlled by end users.

The MARCOAST services are composed of the following 3 service lines:

• Water Quality Monitoring services including 14 individual service chains which are operated by 14 service providers
• Water Quality Indicators services including 5 individual service chains which are operated by 5 service providers
• Ocean Colour data service operated by a unique service provider

Two main criteria will be addressed specifically in the project in order to assess the operational performance and long term sustainability of the service:

• Quality: The quality offered by the service portfolio will have to reach a sufficient high level by meeting most of the users need, by offering a reliable and an affordable information, and by being easily accessed;
• Financial autonomy: proposed services shall be less and less dependent from institutional funding sources, with a real capacity to endorse all costs related to operations through customer payments.

MARCOAST is a three year GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) project funded by the European Space Agency.