SatBałtyk – A Baltic environmental satellite remote sensing system – an ongoing project in Poland. Part 2: Practical applicability and preliminary results*

This paper is the second part of the description of the first stage of the SatBałtyk project’s implementation. Part 1 (Woźniak et al. 2011, in this issue) presents the assumptions and objectives of SatBałtyk and describes the most important stages in the history of our research, which is the foundation of this project. It also discusses the operation and general structure of the SatBałtyk system. Part 2 addresses various aspects of the practical applicability of the SatBałtyk Operational System to Baltic ecosystem monitoring. Examples are given of the Baltic’s characteristics estimated using the preliminary versions of the algorithms in this Operational System. At the current stage of research, these algorithms apply mainly to the characteristics of the solar energy influx and the distribution of this energy among the various processes taking place in the atmosphere-sea system, and also to the radiation balance of the sea surface, the irradiance conditions for photosynthesis and the condition of plant communities in the water, sea surface temperature distributions and some other marine phenomena correlated with this temperature. Monitoring results obtained with these preliminary algorithms are exemplified in the form of distribution maps of selected abiotic parameters of the Baltic, as well as structural and functional characteristics of this ecosystem governed by these parameters in the Baltic’s many basins. The maps cover practically the whole area of the Baltic Sea. Also given are results of preliminary inspections of the accuracy of the magnitudes shown on the maps. In actual fact, the errors of these estimates are relatively small. The further practical application of this set of algorithms (to be gradually made more specific) is therefore entirely justified as the basis of the SatBałtyk system for the effective operational monitoring of the state and functioning of Baltic ecosystems. This article also outlines the plans for extending SatBałtyk to include the recording of the effects and hazards caused by current and expected storm events in the Polish coastal zone.