The IBI area can be summarized in a feww bullets that are then the drivers to design the observing system we need.
- An area influenced by the deep ocean circulation
- A poleward-flowing slope current
- A northward flow of the Mediterranean water
- High variability ( from tidal frequency to interannual variability : ex navidad)
- Coastal upwelling mainly along the western Iberian coat
- Shelf circulation governed by tides and winds.
- Various stratification patterns over the shelf (from well mixed to strongly stratified)
- Coastal and high seas biological processes
- Influence of river flows and discharges