The roadmap for a GMES operational oceanography mission

The development of global operational oceanography is a major challenge for the 21st century. The objective is to provide an integrated service to intermediate and end users and policy makers in support of safe and efficient off-shore activities, pollution monitoring, environmental management, security and sustainable use of marine resources. An integrated description of the ocean state will be, in addition, extremely beneficial to ocean, ecosystem and climate research. Several major efforts have been initiated over the last five years to develop Europe’s capacity in global operational oceanography. These efforts are now being integrated and pursued through GMES (the European program for Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) with the EC MERSEA integrated project. In parallel, ESA’s GMES Services Element is developing downstream services to end-users. These joint EC/ESA initiatives, coordinated through the GMES Program Office, should allow the development of the ocean component of GMES by 2008. To develop a truly operational oceanography infrastructure that answers GMES requirements, a long-term commitment for ocean satellite systems must, however, be guaranteed. Without the required satellites, the integrated systems will not be constrained enough by observations to provide reliable products. These thoughts are behind the development of the ESA Sentinel program. Preparatory activities for the five "sentinels" have now just started. These activities will pave the way to the decision for a full implementation of the space component of GMES. The Study described here aimed at providing a preliminary definition of the ocean mission—the so-called Blue Sentinel or Sentinel 3 mission.