Copernicus Marine Environnement and Monitoring Service
The Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) is a service that endeavours to provide free and open access to routine and scientifically authenticated data on the physical and biogeochemical state of the oceans across the globe, at the surface and in the depths: temperature, salinity, sea level, currents, sea ice, oxygen, chlorophyll, etc.
Missions
The catalogue of the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service encompasses products derived from satellite and in situ observation, real-time forecasts and analyses and data time series covering the past several decades.
This service is intended for varied populations: agencies in charge of monitoring the state of the ocean, agencies in charge of maritime security, meteorological and climate services, design offices and industrial engineering consultancy, marine professionals, scientists and even the general public.
Data available on Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service contribute to for example:
- formulation of European Union policies and regulations, such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD),
- the fight against marine pollution,
- the protection of biodiversity
- maritime security and routing,
- sustainable use of the coastal environment and marine resources,
- the search for marine renewable energy sites,
- climate monitoring,
- meteorology.
Operation
The Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) is an operational service of the Copernicus European programme. Mercator Océan has been mandated by the European Union to organise and operate the service.
The Copernicus programme
Copernicus is the European Earth observation and monitoring programme. It endeavours to provide the European Union with independent access to and operational capacity for space-based and in situ observation and to run six services specialising in marine, atmosphere and land monitoring, emergency management, security and climate change. The programme relies on space-based observation as well as in situ observation.
Mercator Océan
Mercator Océan is the French operator of ocean information services in real time and in delayed mode: it is the French ocean analysis and forecasting centre. The digital systems and the models developed by Mercator Océan can describe the physical and biogeographic state of the ocean at any given time, on the surface and at great depths, across the globe or in a specific region. Mercator Océan was founded by five major French institutions involved in operational oceanography: IFREMER, CNRS, SHOM, Météo-France and IRD. In late 2014, Mercator Océan was mandated by the European Union to implement and operate the Copernicus marine environmental monitoring service (CMEMS).