Observing Networks initial Assessment

Report on assessment of the EuroSea observational (and thematic) networks coordination This Deliverable serves to present the initial situation, in terms of coordination, of the observation and thematic networks in EuroSea represented in work package 3 (WP3). The networks include the networks represented in EuroGOOS and additional ones. The study is based on a comprehensive questionnaire that was answered by all EuroSea WP3 tasks. In addition, information from the Global Observing Networks of GOOS was considered. An important basis for the questionnaire was the list of "Network Attributes, Commitment and Benefits -What it means to be an OPA network" which was compiled by the Observation coordination group (OCG) of GOOS. This deliverable is linked to the deliverable D3.10 that will repeat the assessment at the end of the EuroSea project to assess the evolution of the coordination over the period of the EuroSea project. The present study shows that the observation and thematic networks in EuroSea all have highly developed coordination mechanism elements, except for task 3.7 - ASV, which represents a new network to be established. Given the spectrum of coordination themes and envisioned targets significant heterogeneity across the networks is also evident. The coordination of ship-based observations is not fully represented in EuroSea (and thus in EuroGOOS) and ideally this task should have been divided into research vessels and commercial vessels (container ships, ferries) but as it stands currently is dominated by one technology only (Ferrybox). This reflects the situation in EuroGOOS. For the thematic networks it is interesting to note that the observatories that are operated in task 3.8 (Augmented observatories) are not represented in the observational networks (task 3.1-3.7). The assessment presented in this deliverable has its focus on the status quo. It does not question or analyze the necessity for individuals, institutions and countries to be represented in a network - “Why should individuals, institutions or countries feel a need or a motivation to engage with the networks?”. It seems logical that networks are only founded, maintained and developed when individuals see an advantage in their involvement in a network – for themselves, their institution or a country. The "characteristics" of the apparent advantage of contributing to a network is likely of central importance. For example, if the advantage is only that there are no disadvantages (e.g. fines), a further development and improvement of the network is questionable. This important investigation of the motivation of individuals will be part of final assessment prepared in D3.10

Gliders metadata

Report on the progress of the EuroSea project on glider network metadata management in Europe and globall

European High Frequency Radar network governance

This report describes the governance of the European HF radar network including: the landscape of the Ocean observation networks and infrastructures, the role and links between operators of observational systems and stakeholders, the role and activities of the EuroGOOS HF radar Task Team in building a sound community strategy, the roadmap of the community with current achievements and future work lines

Cost and value of multidisciplinary fixed-point ocean observatories

Sustained ocean observations are crucial to understand both natural processes occurring in the ocean and human influence on the marine ecosystems. The information they provide increases our understanding and is therefore beneficial to the society as a whole because it contributes to a more efficient use and protection of the marine environment, upon which human livelihood depends. In addition the oceans, which occupy 73% of the planet surface and host 93% of the biosphere, play a massive role in controlling the climate. Eulerian or fixed-point observatories are an essential component of the global ocean observing system as they provide several unique features that cannot be found in other systems and are therefore complementary to them. In addition they provide a unique opportunity for multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary work, combining physical, chemical and biological observations on several time scales. The fixed-point open ocean observatory network (FixO3) integrates the 23 European open ocean fixed-point observatories in the Atlantic Ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea. The programme also seeks to improve access to key installations and the knowledge they provide for the wider community, from scientists, to businesses, to civil society. This paper summarises the rationale behind open ocean observatories monitoring the essential ocean variables. It also provides an estimate of the costs to operate a typical fixed-point observatory such as those included in the FixO3 network. Finally an assessment of the type of data and services provided by ocean observations and their value to society is also given

DEVELOP EUROGOOS MARINE CLIMATE SERVICE WITH A SEAMLESS EARTH SYSTEM APPROACH

The ocean is an important pathway to a low-carbon and climate resilient society, e.g. in areas of blue carbon, green shipping, offshore renewable energy, aquaculture, fi shery and coastal adaptation. Currently, 26 EU member states have made their National Adaptation Strategy (NAS) and/or National Strategy Plan (NAP) which needs a strong climate information service. European Global Ocean Observing System (EuroGOOS) has a strategy to expand existing operational marine service to climate change in 2020-2030. As focal points of national marine, climate and/or weather services, ROOS (Regional Sea Operational Oceanographic System) members have extensive experiences in working with citizens, stakeholders and decision-makers at national, regional and municipality levels. This paper will review current marine climate service capacity in ROOS members, identify gaps in modelling, products and service, and propose a seamless earth system approach for developing EuroGOOS and ROOS marine climate service capacities.Versión del edito

A Conceptual Framework for Developing the Next Generation of Marine OBservatories (MOBs) for Science and Society

In the field of ocean observing, the term of “observatory” is often used without a unique meaning. A clear and unified definition of observatory is needed in order to facilitate the communication in a multidisciplinary community, to capitalize on future technological innovations and to support the observatory design based on societal needs. In this paper, we present a general framework to define the next generation Marine OBservatory (MOB), its capabilities and functionalities in an operational context. The MOB consists of four interconnected components or “gears” (observation infrastructure, cyberinfrastructure, support capacity, and knowledge generation engine) that are constantly and adaptively interacting with each other. Therefore, a MOB is a complex infrastructure focused on a specific geographic area with the primary scope to generate knowledge via data synthesis and thereby addressing scientific, societal, or economic challenges. Long-term sustainability is a key MOB feature that should be guaranteed through an appropriate governance. MOBs should be open to innovations and good practices to reduce operational costs and to allow their development in quality and quantity. A deeper biological understanding of the marine ecosystem should be reached with the proliferation of MOBs, thus contributing to effective conservation of ecosystems and management of human activities in the oceans. We provide an actionable model for the upgrade and development of sustained marine observatories producing knowledge to support science-based economic and societal decisions

Toward a Comprehensive and Integrated Strategy of the European Marine Research Infrastructures for Ocean Observations

Research Infrastructures (RIs) are large-scale facilities encompassing instruments, resources, data and services used by the scientific community to conduct high-level research in their respective fields. The development and integration of marine environmental RIs as European Research Vessel Operators [ERVO] (2020) is the response of the European Commission (EC) to global marine challenges through research, technological development and innovation. These infrastructures (EMSO ERIC, Euro-Argo ERIC, ICOS-ERIC Marine, LifeWatch ERIC, and EMBRC-ERIC) include specialized vessels, fixed-point monitoring systems, Lagrangian floats, test facilities, genomics observatories, bio-sensing, and Virtual Research Environments (VREs), among others. Marine ecosystems are vital for life on Earth. Global climate change is progressing rapidly, and geo-hazards, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis, cause large losses of human life and have massive worldwide socio-economic impacts. Enhancing our marine environmental monitoring and prediction capabilities will increase our ability to respond adequately to major challenges and efficiently. Collaboration among European marine RIs aligns with and has contributed to the OceanObs’19 Conference statement and the objectives of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030). This collaboration actively participates and supports concrete actions to increase the quality and quantity of more integrated and sustained observations in the ocean worldwide. From an innovation perspective, the next decade will increasingly count on marine RIs to support the development of new technologies and their validation in the field, increasing market uptake and produce a shift in observing capabilities and strategies.Peer reviewe

The EMSO Generic Instrument Module (EGIM): standardized and interoperable instrumentation for ocean observation

The oceans are a fundamental source for climate balance, sustainability of resources and life on Earth, therefore society has a strong and pressing interest in maintaining and, where possible, restoring the health of the marine ecosystems. Effective, integrated ocean observation is key to suggesting actions to reduce anthropogenic impact from coastal to deep-sea environments and address the main challenges of the 21st century, which are summarized in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Blue Growth strategies. The European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water column Observatory (EMSO), is a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), with the aim of providing long-term observations via fixed-point ocean observatories in key environmental locations across European seas from the Arctic to the Black Sea. These may be supported by ship-based observations and autonomous systems such as gliders. In this paper, we present the EMSO Generic Instrument Module (EGIM), a deployment ready multi-sensor instrumentation module, designed to measure physical, biogeochemical, biological and ecosystem variables consistently, in a range of marine environments, over long periods of time. Here, we describe the system, features, configuration, operation and data management. We demonstrate, through a series of coastal and oceanic pilot experiments that the EGIM is a valuable standard ocean observation module, which can significantly improve the capacity of existing ocean observatories and provides the basis for new observatories. The diverse examples of use included the monitoring of fish activity response upon oceanographic variability, hydrothermal vent fluids and particle dispersion, passive acoustic monitoring of marine mammals and time series of environmental variation in the water column. With the EGIM available to all the EMSO Regional Facilities, EMSO will be reaching a milestone in standardization and interoperability, marking a key capability advancement in addressing issues of sustainability in resource and habitat management of the oceans.This work was funded by the project EMSODEV (Grant agreement No 676555) supported by DG Research and Innovation of the European Commission under the Research Infrastructures Programme of the H2020. EMSO-link EC project (Grant agreement No 731036) provided additional funding. Other projects which supported the work include Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017–2020, project BITER-LANDER PID2020- 114732RB-C32, iFADO (Innovation in the Framework of the Atlantic Deep Ocean, 2017–2021) EAPA_165/2016. The Spanish Government contributed through the “Severo Ochoa Centre Excellence” accreditation to ICM-CSIC (CEX2019-000928-S) and the Research Unit Tecnoterra (ICM-CSIC/UPC). UK colleagues were supported by Climate Linked Atlantic Sector Science (CLASS) project supported by NERC National Capability funding (NE/R015953/1).Peer ReviewedArticle signat per 33 autors/es: Nadine Lantéri; Henry A. Ruh; Andrew Gates; Enoc Martínez; Joaquin del Rio Fernandez; Jacopo Aguzzi; Mathilde Cannat; Eric Delory; Davide Embriaco; Robert Huber; Marjolaine Matabos;George Petihakis; Kieran Reilly; Jean-François Rolin; Mike van der Schaar; Michel André; Jérôme Blandin; Andrés Cianca; Marco Francescangeli; Oscar Garcia; Susan Hartman; Jean-Romain Lagadec; Julien Legrand; Paris Pagonis; Jaume Piera; Xabier Remirez; Daniel M. Toma; Giuditta Marinaro; Bertrand Moreau; Raul Santana; Hannah Wright; Juan José Dañobeitia; Paolo FavaliPostprint (published version

EMSO ERIC: A challenging infrastructure to monitor Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) across European Seas

The European Multidisciplinary Seafoor and water Column Observatory (EMSO, www.emso.eu) is a distributed research infrastructure (RI), composed of fxed-point deep-sea observatories and shallow water test sites at strategic environmental locations from the southern entrance of the Arctic Ocean all the way through the North Atlantic through the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. Working as a single powerful system, it is a valuable new tool for researchers and engineers looking for long time series of high-quality and high-resolution data to study and continuously monitor complex processes interactions among the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere, as well as to test, validate and demonstrate new marine technologies.Peer Reviewe