Why is it important?
Danish marine environmental monitoring has traditionally relied heavily on ship-based data collection, which is costly and provides limited temporal and spatial coverage. This makes it challenging to map ecological status consistently and efficiently across Denmark’s marine waters, especially in a policy context where reporting obligations require robust, repeatable, and spatially explicit assessments. To address these limitations, on behalf of the Danish Agency for Green Transition and Aquatic Environment, DHI is developing a monitoring approach that combines satellite-derived data and in-situ measurements with mechanistic biogeochemical modelling -establishing a stronger and more scalable foundation for assessing ecological status and supporting European directives.
Project highlights:
The project establishes a new national monitoring approach by combining satellite‑derived observations, in‑situ buoy data, and ship‑based measurements. This hybrid setup addresses the limitations of traditional marine monitoring by significantly improving spatial and temporal coverage while reducing reliance on costly and infrequent ship campaigns.
A core component of the system is the integration of observations with mechanistic biogeochemical models, enabling consistent interpretation of diverse data sources. The modelling framework translates raw measurements into coherent indicators of marine ecological status, ensuring scientifically robust assessments that are aligned with environmental reporting requirements.
By linking continuous observations with dynamic modelling, the project creates the foundation for a digital twin of the Danish marine waters. This enables scalable, repeatable, and cost‑efficient assessment of ecological status over time, supporting national implementation of European directives and providing a future‑proof platform for marine management and decision‑making.
In more detail..
The project establishes a new, cost-effective marine monitoring solution for Denmark by integrating multiple data streams with modelling to provide improved insight into ecological status.
Today, monitoring is primarily ship-based, which limits resolution in time and space and increases costs. To overcome this, the system combines satellite-derived data, buoy data, and ship-based measurements and assimilates/links these observations to mechanistic biogeochemical modelling.
The modelling component is central: it provides physically and biogeochemically consistent interpretation of observations, supporting more accurate mapping of ecological status than any single data source alone.
By connecting observation networks with modelling, the solution creates the basis for a digital twin of the Danish marine waters—a continuously updated representation that can support monitoring, assessment, and reporting needs under European directives and enable more consistent, scalable decision support over time
