The Provence maritime region is characterised by one of the largest metropolises in the Mediterranean arc, Marseille, with its port and industrial activities, and Toulon, home to France's largest military port. The proximity of the largest river in the Mediterranean, the Rhône, which flows onto a continental shelf, the high level of fishing activity and the presence of numerous nature reserves mean that this region, which is subject to strong pressures from man-made sources, is an ideal location for the implementation of a concerted observation strategy.
The aim of MIO-OBS is to coordinate all observation-related activities, from accredited services to more targeted research programmes, by pooling the material and human resources available. The themes addressed cover all oceanography disciplines and are therefore cross-disciplinary in nature. These themes concern the impact of human activity on the marine environment, and more specifically the coastal zone and interfaces with the open sea, the continent and the atmosphere, a theme recognised as essential by the IGBP's LOICZ programme (LOICZ report, 2012), as well as the initiative Future Earth Coasts who recently succeeded him.
The aim of this programme is to produce sufficient knowledge to anticipate the coupled effect of global change and local drivers, while responding to strong societal demand (WFD, DCSMM, European MedOS programme, etc.). MIO-OBS is therefore intended to be part of this international network, in line with ILICO-type research infrastructures and Earth system observation data and services clusters.
The MIO-OBS structure comprises 5 transversal Observation actions representing 4 geographical entities
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