Focusing on the East Asian seas, COASTAL-SOS selects 6 model coastal systems including Changjiang Estuary, Pearl River Estuary, Minjiang River Estuary, Xiamen Sea area, Gulf of Thailand, and Johor Strait as its research and demonstration areas. Through comparative and interdisciplinary research, the programme will compile, share and integrate multidimensional spatiotemporal data to examine the physical, biogeochemical and pollution processes in coastal zones and their interaction with socio-economic development, and to identify the major factors that have caused the environmental degradation of typical coastal zones over the past 50 years. Then a coupled dynamic model suitable for the human-ocean complex system will be developed, which can predict the coastal ecosystem changes in the next 30 years by conducting scenario analysis under different socio-economic pathways and the threat of climate change. The ultimate goal is to build a Digital Twin of the Ocean which will serve as a science database and modelling platform for basic research and government decision-making. In addition, the programme is committed to popularizing marine science among industrial sectors, policy makers and the public through multiple approaches. This will facilitate transformation of these knowledge into practical measures for land-sea integrated management, to support the local governments to develop sustainable development strategies and to empower enterprises to adopt best practices in ocean usage. Ultimately, these actions will promote the healthy and sustainable development of the East Asian coasts, and effectively improve human welfare in the East Asian countries.

Six Model Coastal Systems

Research Framework