ABOUT ESEAS AND ESEAS-RI

In the 1990s the European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research - COST Action 40 "European Sea Level Observing System" has successfully initiated the establishment of the European Sea Level Service (ESEAS), which started its pilot period in mid 2001. ESEAS brought together a major fraction of sea level observing and research institutions in Europe into a coordinated research organization, with access to more than 50 individual sea-level databases in European countries. The next step was to improve sea level monitoring and research in Europe, and ESEAS formulated a project which is trying to improve the coordination and technology transfer in all aspects of sea level and related studies. Therefore, ESEAS - Research Infrastructure project (ESEAS-RI) has been launched in late 2002, financed within 5th EU Framework Programme, and comprising 21 partners all over the Europe. Project consortium includes national authorities responsible for tide gauge operation and/or the geodetic control of tide gauges as well as research institutes involved in research and operational activities related to sea level.

The primary technological objective of the ESEAS-RI project is to support the research infrastructure and to facilitate the transnational coordination, to upgrade the network of observing sites and to develop and standardize operational routines and quality control procedures, as a prerequisite for a full scientific exploitation of the present and future sea level observations. The primary scientific objective of the project is to study sea level variations at inter-annual to century time scales and to quantify potential future changes in mean sea level. Both technological and scientific objectives are planned to be fulfilled through five work packages, namely WP1: Quality control of sea level observations, WP2: Absolute sea level variations, WP3: Decadal to inter-decadal sea level variations, WP4: Improving the sea level observing system, and WP5: Project management.

More about ESEAS and ESEAS-RI can be found on http://www.eseas.org.