Search

Already sensitive because of its geology (seismic-tsunamic risk) and its interface between arid and temperate ecosystems, the Mediterranean Basin is being transformed by climate change and major urban pressure on resources and spaces. Lebanon concentrates on a small territory the environmental, climatic, health, social and political crises of the Middle East: shortages and degradation of surface and groundwater quality, air pollution, landscape fragmentation, destruction of ecosystems, erosion of biodiversity, telluric risks and very few mechanisms of information, prevention and protection against these vulnerabilities. Further, Lebanon is sorely lacking in environmental data at sufficient temporal and spatial scales to cover the range of key phenomena and to allow the integration of environmental issues for the country's development. This absence was sadly illustrated during the August 4th, 2020, explosion at the port of Beirut, which hindered the effective management of induced threats to protect the inhabitants. In this degraded context combined with a systemic crisis situation in Lebanon, frugal innovation is more than an option, it is a necessity. Initiated in 2021 within the framework of the O-LIFE lebanese-french research consortium (www.o-life.org), the « Seismic and air monitoring observatory for greater Beirut » (SMOAG) project aims at setting up a citizen observatory of the urban health of Beirut by deploying innovative, connected, low-cost, energy-efficient and robust environmental and seismological instruments. Through co-constructed web services and mobile applications with various stakeholders (citizens, NGOs, decision makers and scientists), the SMOAG citizen observatory will contribute to the information and mobilization of Lebanese citizens and managers by sharing the monitoring of key indicators associated with air quality, heat islands and building stability, essential issues for a sustainable Beirut.The first phase of the project was dedicated to the development of a low-cost environmental sensor enabling pollution and urban weather measurements (particle matters, SO2, CO, O3, N02, solar radiation, wind speed, temperature, humidity, rainfall) and to the development of all the software infrastructure, from data acquisition to the synoptic indicators accessible via web and mobile application, while following the standards of the Sensor Web Enablement and Sensor Observation System of the OGC and to the FAIR principles (Easy to find, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). A website and Android/IOS applications for the restitution of data and indicators and a dashboard allowing real time access to data have been developed. Environmental and low-cost seismological stations (Raspberry Shake) have been already deployed in Beirut, most of them hosted by Lebanese citizens. These instrumental and open data access efforts were completed by participatory workshops with various stakeholders to improve the ergonomy of the web and application interfaces and to define roadmap for the implantation of future stations, consistently with most vulnerable populations identified by NGOs and the current knowledge on the air pollution and heat islands in Beirut.

We present a comprehensive snow dataset for Mont-Lebanon. The dataset includes continuous meteorological observations from three high elevation automatic weather stations (AWS), snowpack field measurements collected at 30 different snow courses (elevation range 1300-2900 m a.s.l.), and post-processed MODIS snow products. Meteorological and snow observations are presented for the snow seasons (November-June) between 2011 and 2016 for Mzar (MZA, 2294 m a.s.l.), 2014-2016 for the Cedars (CED, 2834 m a.s.l.), and 2015-2016 for Laqlouq (LAQ, 1830 m a.s.l.). Meteorological and snow data includes snow depth, temperature, relative humidity, incoming and reflected solar radiation, wind speed and direction, and atmospheric pressure measured at 30-min interval. Snow depth, snow density, and snow water equivalent were measured at the 30 different snow courses during snow season 2015 and 2016 with an average revisit time of 11.4 days. Post-processed daily MODIS snow cover area (SCA) and snow cover duration (SCD) products are presented for the three snow dominated basins (Abou Ali, Ibrahim, and El Kelb) and cover the time period from 01 November 2011 to 31 June 2016.

Based on published distribution maps of 15 key fish species, foraging areas of three top predators during their breeding season, and fishing grounds of the main commercial fleets in the southern Benguela ecosystem, seven spatialized ecosystem indicators are derived: biodiversity, connectivity, mean ratio of fished area and area of distribution by species, exploited fraction of the ecosystem surface area, total catch per fished area by fishery, mean bottom depth of catches, and mean distance of catches from the coast. These indicators are compared and their suitability for an ecosystem approach to fisheries is discussed. The first two indicators characterize the ecosystem; the others are pressure indicators that are also compared with conventional (catch rate) indices of abundance. (c) 2005 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.