Service in support of oil spill emergencies in the mediterranean

Oil spills in marine areas have a signifcant impact on the quality of the environment, by affecting all aspects of marine ecosystems, health and economy. Pollution from hydrocarbons is one of the main causes of concern for the health of the marine ecosystem and humans. Te three-year project named Mediterranean Decision Support System for Marine Safety (MEDESS-4MS) has startted to work on the implementation of an integrated operational multimodel oil spill drift prediction service from 2012. The service gathers well-established oil spill modeling systems, data from the EU Copernicus Marine Core Service and the associated national ocean forecasting systems, as well as operational information on response equipment, together with environmental and socioeconomic sensitivity maps.