EurOCEAN 2000 - Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee

Figure 3b: Measurements of and dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy with the rising
MSS profiler of the Space Applications Institute , JRC, during the MITEC-Cyano 99 cruise in
the Baltic Sea in July 1999.
6. EXPLOITATION PLANS AND OUTLOOK
MITEC provides a unique and fundamental contribution to environment and climate change
research, in the form of an improved understanding of near-surface physical and biological
processes. This is relevant to such problems as gas exchange at the air-sea interface and the
downmixing of greenhouse gases by turbulent mixing.
The development of the MITEC system creates new capabilities for observing and monitoring
the marine environment and makes the European industry more competitive in the world wide
market.
Furthermore MITEC allows the testing and verification of vertical turbulence models with
respect to the conditions near to the sea surface. It will also allow comprehensive studies of
physical-biological interactions concerning the appearance of noxious plankton blooms, and
phytoplankton light adaptation to be made in the near future. In recent years a world-wide
increase in the number of noxious plankton blooms has been observed, which had a particular
impact on recreation, shell fisheries and fish farming. MITEC will contribute to the future
investigation of physical-biological processes that affect such bloom formations. The scientific
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