HIMOM: A system of hierarchical monitoring methods for assessing changes in the biological and physical state of intertidal areas

HIMOM project will establish a prototype of a standard and validated set of hierarchically organized monitoring tools for shallow coastal waters and in particular estuaries, which enables local authorities and European agencies to compare the results of coastal monitoring programs. Depending on the level of methods, to be selected from the hierarchical toolbox, answers on different levels of complexity about the monitored area can be derived and compared. Pigments of the phythobenthos of intertidal flats play a key role in the proposed monitoring system. They are used as an index for biomass and biodiversity, because they are available everywhere during the vegetation period. Their regional and temporal variations will be used as an indicator of the system's response to human and natural interference (eutrophication, fisheries, dredging, flooding). Remote sensing expands the regional and temporal observation network, and algorithm development for interpretation of images from airplanes and satellites depend heavily on pigment information.