Exergy as an Integr. Ind. for Transitional and Coastal Waters: Ecological Evaluation Index (EEI)

The objective of this work is to explore the application of specific exergy as an integrated indicator to assess ecosystem health in transitional and coastal waters, and to analyze its possible application in view of the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (European Commission, 2000). Exergy and specific exergy are calculated as a function of the biomass multiplied by a weighting factor, β, which express the quantity of information embedded in the biomass. Until now only few values of β have been published.