Covering only 8% of the world’s ocean, coastal areas present major challenges, concentrating half of its biological production and hosting more than half of the world’s population. As an essential link between the continent and the ocean, they are transitional areas, exposed to multiple influences, both natural and anthropogenic, and whose strong reactivity needs to be identified in order to better manage their sustainability. Monitoring and understanding the evolution of these environments, in all their dimensions, whether hydrological, biological or geomorphological, is the purpose of the coastal and littoral observation that we carry out.

IUEM, as the Observatory of the Science of the Universe of the CNRS, is one of the founding members of the National Coastal Research Infrastructure (IR-ILICO). It coordinates the regional version of the national observation services (SNO) of public interest (SOMLIT, PHYTOBS, DYNALIT, Benthobs) and proposes, in addition, more specific monitoring for research or understanding of the territory.