Oceans of Tomorrow sensor interoperability for in-situ ocean monitoring

The Oceans of Tomorrow (OoT) projects, funded by the European Commission’s FP7 program, are developing a new generation of sensors supporting physical, biogeochemical and biological oceanographic monitoring. The sensors range from acoustic to optical fluorometers to labs on a chip. The result is that the outputs are diverse in a variety of formats and communication methodologies. The interfaces with platforms such as floats, gliders and cable observatories are each different. Thus, sensorPeer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

The Hierarchic treatment of marine ecological information from spatial networks of benthic platforms

Measuring biodiversity simultaneously in different locations, at different temporal scales, and over wide spatial scales is of strategic importance for the improvement of our understanding of the functioning of marine ecosystems and for the conservation of their biodiversity. Monitoring networks of cabled observatories, along with other docked autonomous systems (e.g., Remotely Operated Vehicles [ROVs], Autonomous Underwater Vehicles [AUVs], and crawlers), are being conceived and established at a spatial scale capable of tracking energy fluxes across benthic and pelagic compartments, as well as across geographic ecotones. At the same time, optoacoustic imaging is sustaining an unprecedented expansion in marine ecological monitoring, enabling the acquisition of new biological and environmental data at an appropriate spatiotemporal scale. At this stage, one of the main problems for an effective application of these technologies is the processing, storage, and treatment of the acquired complex ecological information. Here, we provide a conceptual overview on the technological developments in the multiparametric generation, storage, and automated hierarchic treatment of biological and environmental information required to capture the spatiotemporal complexity of a marine ecosystem. In doing so, we present a pipeline of ecological data acquisition and processing in different steps and prone to automation. We also give an example of population biomass, community richness and biodiversity data computation (as indicators for ecosystem functionality) with an Internet Operated Vehicle (a mobile crawler). Finally, we discuss the software requirements for that automated data processing at the level of cyber-infrastructures with sensor calibration and control, data banking, and ingestion into large data portals.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Next generation of web enabled ocean sensor systems

Peer Reviewe

Sensory semantic user interfaces (SenSUI)

Rapid evolution of the World Wide Web with its underlying sources of data, knowledge, services and applications continually attempts to support a variety of users, with different backgrounds, requirements and capabilities. In such an environment, it is highly unlikely that a single user interface will prevail and be able to fulfill the requirements of each user adequately. Adaptive user interfaces are able to adapt information and application functionalities to the user context. In contrast, pervasive computing and sensor networks open new opportunities for context aware platforms, one that is able to improve user interface adaptation reacting to environmental and user sensors. Semantic web technologies and ontologies are able to capture sensor data and provide contextual information about the user, their actions, required applications and environment. This paper investigates the viability of an approach where semantic web technologies are used to maximize the efficacy of interface adaptation through the use of available ontology

Automatic marine sensors services discovery on IP networks

Nowadays, the studies of episodic processes in the ocean is manly done through the innovative facilities called ocean observatories which provide unprecedented amounts of power and two-way bandwidth to access and control sensor networks in the oceans. The most capable ocean observatories are designed around a submarine fiber optic/power cable connecting one or more seafloor science nodes to the terrestrial power grid and communications backhaul. In a network consisting of tens, hundreds or thousands of marine sensors, manual configuration and integration becomes very challenging. Methods are required which support this task to minimize the administration efforts. This paper addresses this issue and presents an approach for the automatic discovery of marine sensors in ocean observatories. The work provides a needed reference implementation of PUCK over TCP/IP, and suggests the potential of a set of protocols and standards that could realize true end to end “Plug and Work” capability for sensor networks.Postprint (author’s final draft

OGC® Ocean Science Interoperability Experiment : Phase II Report

This OGC Engineering Report documents the work performed by the participants of the Ocean Science Interoperability Experiment Phase II.This OGC Engineering Report documents the work performed by the participants of the Ocean Science Interoperability Experiment Phase II. This work is a follow-on to the OGC Oceans IE Phase 1 activity. Specifically, this IE addressed the following tasks: • Automated metadata/software installation via PUCK protocol. • Offering of complex systems (e.g. observations systems containing other systems) such as collection of stations. • Linking data from SOS to out-of-band offerings. • Semantic Registry and Services. • Catalogue Service-Web Registry. • IEEE-1451/OGC-SWE harmonization As a result of this experiment, a number of recommendations and conclusions were identified.Postprint (published version

Environmental Information Systems on the Internet: A Need for Change

The cost effective delivery of scientific and policy requirements is a key driver for the realization of global sustainability research, integrated assessment and supporting innovative systems. The next generation of geospatial information infrastructures is proposed as a possible solution. Still, questions such as ‘what does all this mean to environmental information systems’ and ‘what is expected to change’, have only partially been answered. In this paper, we describe the recent challenges for eEnvironment services in Europe, specify desired capabilities and derive according requirements. We identify affected stakeholder communities and depict their involvement in the overall value chain of environmental knowledge generation. Specific examples illustrate individual needs, while a derived description of the value chain indicates more general outcomes. Developmental requirements of future information systems are discussed. The presented work answers the questions above by bridging the gab between stakeholder needs, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development and higher level concepts, such as Digital Earth and Future Internet.JRC.DDG.H.6-Spatial data infrastructure