PLUME : TROPECOS researchers head for the Vietnamese coast !

As part of the PLUME project, funded by the IRD and the Vietnamese Academy of Sciences (VAST), 23 researchers are studying the transport of water flows, biodiversity and the dispersion of suspended particles, pollutants and materials along the estuary-ocean continuum. Their aim is to quantify the impact of climate change and human pollution on coastal ecosystems near Vietnam's major port cities. The Franco-Vietnamese PLUME project is supported by the FairCarboN programme, which is funding the participation of five researchers from the TROPECOS project who are working more specifically on eutrophication* and GHG emissions along estuaries, deltas and coasts.

The population density around the coastal cities of Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi is among the highest in the world! In Vietnam, many environmental and socio-economic issues are linked to the monsoon and river discharges. The Vietnamese economy is based mainly on tourism, fishing and agriculture, sectors that are closely linked to water quality. Water quality is strongly influenced by human activity, with human discharges and global warming disrupting the major biogeochemical cycles.

Currently working on the Saigon River through Ho Chi Minh City, the Antea will complete its mission on 10 July after 12 days of measurements along the Mekong Delta.

*eutrophication: phenomenon of algae proliferation linked to agricultural and urban domestic pollution (nitrogen and phosphorus) leading to oxygen depletion and an imbalance in the ecosystem.