Monitoring marine and coastal ecosystems from space: on-going activities at the European Space Agency

Remote sensing has emerged as a powerful tool for mapping and monitoring marine and coastal ecosystems, as it allows for the repeated collection of large-scale and consistent data on their extent and health. In addition to primary measurements (e.g., spatial coverage, species composition, biomass estimation), remote sensing can be used to acquire information of environmental variables influencing those ecosystems (e.g. temperature, salinity, sea-level, currents, waves, wind etc), but much more advanced study and monitoring is now possible. The objective of this presentation is to give an overview of the objectives and main results of the current projects relevant to marine and coastal ecosystem monitoring funded within the EO4Society programme element of the European Space Agency (ESA). This includes projects dedicated to the improved understanding and monitoring of coastal Blue Carbon ecosystems (mangroves, seagrass, tidal marshes), or to the development of global seascapes as a tool for for guiding conservation and management strategies, including for mapping Marine Protected Areas or Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas. Other projects focus on developing improved satellite products of the pressures threatening these precious ecosystems, as marine heatwaves, acidification, deoxygenation, extreme winds events, or even a combination of those occurring simultaneously (compound events e.g., combined heatwave and acidification) and investigate their impact on marine life. These products, which are all freely and openly available to the community, offer a unique dataset for monitoring and quantifying marine and coastal ecosystem health in a changing environment.