Eastern half of the Southern Bight of the North Sea, from the Straits of Dover to Den Helder (Netherlands) and Western Scheldt estuary

Unspecified

The Belgian Department of Scientific Policy is coordinating and stimulating research in the various fields of science and sectors of interest - academic and applied. Impulsion programs and concerted actions are regularly launched in selected fields. The project 'Sea', launched in 1970, was one of such projects. In view of the increasing pressure exerted on the marine environment and also the increasing complexity and interaction of these activities, it was perceived that a new type of instrument would be needed to manage the marine resources. This would be a Mathematical Model of the North Sea and Scheldt estuary. As a prerequisite, a complete inventory of components and description of ecosystem functions would be carried out, whereas the hydrodynamic model would be worked out by Prof. J.C.J. Nihoul (State University of Liege), functioning as Project leader and coordinator. Thus 200 scientists and technical assistants from several universities and scientific institutes have devoted themselves to that project. For 5 years, a grid of 25 sampling stations at sea has been surveyed at a frequency of 4-6 cruises a year. In addition to this, special cruises have also been organized for specific topics e.g. the Western Scheldt, the '1000 points' grid for a better description of the bottom sediments at sea, the ICES/JONSDAP IN-OUT program (September 1973), a denser grid on the coastal area (special topic of 1975), etc. Thus, the total number of cruises wherefore hydrographical information exists amounts to 48.

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Operational Directorate Natural Environment, Belgian Marine Data Centre
Vautierstraat 29
Brussels

1000
Belgium