MAss Transfer and Ecosystem Response
A project of the European
MArine Sciences & Technology (MAST) programme
Established by the European Commission in 1993 through the Marine Science and Technology Programme (MAST), the Mediterranean Targeted Project (MTP I, 1993-1996) and the MTP II (1196-1999) represents a major effort in the understanding of the overall functioning of the Mediterranean Sea.
The objective of the MTP II MATER is to study and to quantify the triggering and controlling mechanisms of mass and energy transfer between the different compartments (land - sea, sea - atmosphere, water - sediment, living - non living, pelagos - benthos), in contrasting trophic environments (from eutrophic to oligotrophic) of the Mediterranean Sea and to investigate the ecosystem response to such a transfer.
This programme is designed to assess the physical, biological and geochemical processes at various time and space scales, from the entire basin down to the local scale and from interrannual variations to daily processes with the aim to forecast the global evolution. MTP II - MATER couples both experimental work and modelling.
The project gathers 55 research groups from 13 EU Member States and 3 non-EU States.
According to the Code on Data Management in MAST III Projects, the MATER Data Management structure has to insure the safeguarding of quality controlled data sets properly documented (meta-data), to facilitate their circulation during the project for the benefit of the MATER scientists and make them available for public use after the project completion. It consists of:
Data Expert Commitee
A. Monaco (Project
LSGM, Universitè de Perpignan (FRANCE)
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (SPAIN)
University of Tromso (NORWAY)
Universita' di Ancona (ITALY)
Regional Data Managers
C. Maillard (Data Management
IFREMER/SISMER (Insititut Français pour l'Exploitation de la Mer), FRANCE
OGS (Osservatorio Geofisico Sperimentale), ITALY
HNODC (Hellenic National Oceanographic Data Centre), GRECE
Last update: 25/11/1997
For any question or remark mail to Alessandra Giorgetti ( firstname.lastname@example.org)