Monitoring

Monitoring here refers to the repeated measuring of:

• the quality of the marine environment and of each of its components: water, sediments and biota
• natural and anthropogenic activities and inputs which may adversely affect the quality of the marine environment
• the affects of these activities and inputs

This monitoring is undertaken:

• to comply with the commitments made pursuant to international conventions and in particular Appendix IV of the OSPAR Convention, in order to define profiles and trends
• for the purposes of research, mainly to validate and improve models and more generally to reduce the level of uncertainty about the operating mechanisms of the marine ecosystem

The monitoring results are gathered at national level in the MUMM database and then at international level in the database of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). They are subjected to joint international evaluations resulting in synopses such as the OSPAR Quality Status Reports 2000 in particular. In addition, forms of cooperation are being developed with the European Environment Agency.

Numerous measurements are taken at sea from the oceanographic vessel Belgica and numerous observations of the sea are made using airborne instruments or equipment carried on satellites.

MUMM is part of the Coast Guard strucure laid out by the cooperation agreement of July 8, 2005 which goal is to coordinate operational aspects of actions taken by the Belgian State with respect to the sea.