The need for better monitoring and modeling of the marine environment has increased dramatically in recent years, in particular, along coastal boundaries and shelf regions where human activities are extensive and pollution has a significant impact. This has been documented in a number of unpredicted events along the coast of Norway, such as storm surges, harmful algal blooms, and oil spills. Systematic integration of remote sensing observations, field observations, and numerical model results is critical for such improvement. We will demonstrate this by presenting examples of (1) model validation by spaceborne infrared (IR) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) remote sensing observations; and (2) water quality monitoring and simulation using airborne spectrometry and models.