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Five years of the POL Coastal Observatory

10th September 2007

August 2007 marked five years of continuous running of the POL Coastal Observatory in Liverpool Bay. The Observatory, the first of its kind in the UK, provides a framework for integrating in-situ and remotely sensed measurements of physical and biochemical processes with numerical model simulations to explore the scientific methodology required to underpin the ecosystem based approach to marine management.

From installation of the initial mooring at the Liverpool Bar station (a bottom mounted frame with an array of instruments including an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), temperature and pressure sensors) the suite of instruments providing in-situ real time data has grown to include two moorings, each with a bottom mounted array and a surface SmartBuoy measuring physical and biochemical properties, an instrumented ferry between Birkenhead and Dublin, an HF radar measuring surface currents and waves up to 60km from Liverpool, all supplemented by a monthly multidisciplinary survey of Liverpool Bay. All observed and modelled data are freely available on the Coastal Observatory website.

These five years have demonstrated a national capability to provide a robust research environment and this has attracted collaborations from numerous universities and agencies, resulting in an increased, quantified knowledge of processes in Liverpool Bay. Under Oceans 2025 we will expand the Observatory to the wider Irish Sea, and so better able to act as a focal point for marine research and development in the region.

The Liverpool Bay

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Notes

The Proudman Oceanographic (POL) scientific research focuses on oceanography encompassing global sea-levels and geodesy, numerical modelling of continental shelf seas and coastal sediment processes. This research alongside activities of surveying, monitoring, data management and forecasting provides strategic support for the wider mission of the Natural Environment Research Council.

As a public funded body it is part of our remit to inform the public of the science and research undertaken at the laboratory. Attending events like the 'Ocean Awareness Weekend' at the Blue Planet Aquarium offers the opportunity for our scientists to meet members of the public and present the laboratory's work.

The Natural Environment Research Council is one of the UK's eight Research Councils. It uses a budget of about £ 350m a year to fund and carry out impartial scientific research in the sciences of the environment. NERC trains the next generation of independent environmental scientists. It is addressing some of the key questions facing mankind, such as global warming, renewable energy and sustainable economic development.