The European Sea Level Service Information System for Coastal Activities

In coastal areas, nearly all kinds of engineering and other activities are dependent on information about the sea level. Furthermore, the sea level is one of the most important parameters for studying climate processes. There are many tide gauges along the European coasts which have been operated for long time. These tide gauges are usually part of a national tide gauge network and designed for national purpose. In Europe and many other regions of the world, a considerable proportion of the population lives and work at the coast or near the coast. Therefore the need for information on sea-level data has developed during the last decades both for scientific and non-scientific application. To overcome the problem of dealing with different national networks, the European Sea Level Service (ESEAS) was established in 2001. This paper describes the objectives, tasks and products of the ESEAS and the organisational structure of the European Sea Level Service. Moreover, the current activities and the relation to other organisation are discussed.