Calewaert, Jan-Bart

Gorringe, Patrick

Novellino, Antonio

UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC

18 instrumentation viewpOint- 20 - MARTECH 18ID6- EMODNET: YOUR GATEWAY TO MARINE DATA IN EUROPEPatrick Gorringe54, Jan-Bart Calewaert58, Antonio Novellino55Keywords: data management, data portals, mapping, geology, physics, chemistry, biology, seabed habitats, human activitiesI. INTRODUCTIONMarine data are needed for many purposes: for acquiring a better scientific un-derstanding of the marine environment, but also, increasingly, for decision mak-ing as well as supporting economic growth. Data must be of sufficient quality to meet the specific users’ needs. It must also be accessible in a timely manner.And yet, despite being critical, this timely access to high-quality data proves challenging. Europe’s marine data have traditionally been collected by a myriad of entities with the result that much of our data are scattered in unconnected databases and repositories. Even when data are available, often they are not compatible, making the sharing of the information and data-aggregation im-possible. To tackle those problems in 2007 the European Commission through its Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) initiated the development of the European Marine Observation and Data network, EM-ODnet[1], in the framework of the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy and Marine Knowledge 2020 Strategy and in support of Blue Growth. Today EMODnet is comprised of more than 150 organisations which gather marine data, metadata and data products and make them more accessible for a wider range of users.EMODnet Physics[2] is one of the specific EMODnet portals providing easy ac-cess to metadata, data and products of: wave height and period; temperature and salinity of the water column; wind speed and direction; horizontal veloc-ity of the water column; light attenuation; river runoff; underwater noise; sea ice coverage and sea level trends (relative and absolute). A combined array of services and functionalities are offered to users, such as facility for viewing and downloading, dashboard reporting and machine-to-machine communication services, to obtain free-ofcharge data, metadata and data products on the phys-ical conditions of the ocean from many different distributed data sets.We will present how EMODnet has developed, currently consisting of seven sub-portals providing access to marine data from the following themes: bathymetry, geology, physics, chemistry, biology, seabed habitats and human activities. We give a closer look at one of the portals, EMODnet Physics.II. EMODNET – THE CHALLENGEOcean and marine data collection in Europe is carried out by many hundreds of organisations, focusing on many disciplines, and using various heteroge-neous observing methods and sensors installed on board of research vessels, submarines, fixed and drifting platforms, satellites etc.. Most data collection has focused on meeting the needs of a single purpose by private and public organisations, often in isolation from each other. Marine data can be gener-ated as a result of marine environmental monitoring obligations, through the activities of maritime and offshore industries and by the research community. These data may have numerous applications beyond the purpose for which they were taken. Over the year’s great progress has been made with develop-ing standards, services, and infrastructures for providing long term storage and means for discovery and access to these valuble data resources. However, for a variety of reasons, a big part of these data still remained out of reach and thus inaccessible for other users, while the cooperation on European scales between these data management initiatives was limited. This changed considerably with the EMODnet initiative in 2009 which strived for an overarching European data and observation network.III. EMODNET – The SolutionThe European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet), is the key implementing mechanism of the European Commission’s Marine Knowledge 2020 strategy to unlock the potential of Europe’s wealth of marine data. Based on the principle of collecting data once and using it many times for many pur-poses, EMODnet is a network of organisations (currently more than 150) sup-ported by the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy who work together to aggregate and process marine data, according to international standards, and make these marine data, metadata and data products, derived from diverse sources, easily accessible via an integrated network of thematic data portals together with a central entry portal. EMODnet’s objectives are:• Increase productivity in all tasks involving marine data by avoiding re-collec-tion of data and saving costs involved in putting together marine data;• Increase competition and innovation in established and emerging maritime sectors;• Reduce uncertainty in our knowledge of the oceans and the seas and improve our ability to forecast the behaviour of the seas.EMODnet currently provides access to marine data, metadata and data products spanning seven broad disciplinary themes: bathymetry, geology, seabed habi-tats, physics, chemistry, biology and human activities, the so-called thematic groups, with corresponding thematic portals. IV. EMODNET DEVELOPMENTEMODnet development is based on the following core principles that continue to guide and underpin the strategic expansion of its services:• Collect data once and use them many times;• Develop data standards across disciplines as well as within them;• Process and validate data at different scales: regional, basin and pan-European;• Build on existing efforts where data communities have already organised themselves;• Put the user first when developing priorities and taking decisions;• Provide statements on data ownership, accuracy and precision;• Provide sustainable funding at a European level to maximise benefit from the efforts of individual Member States.Established in 2009, EMODnet is a long-term initiative that has been built through a phased approach. During the first phase (2009-2013), six prototype data portals were developed, largely building on existing data repositories, in-frastructures, initiatives and projects by specific and distinct communities of experts, these covered a limited selection of sea basins and parameters, and of-fered data-products at low resolution. The second phase saw the data portals expanded to provide full coverage of all European sea basins. A wider selec-tion of parameters and medium resolution data products were also made avail-able. The second phase also included the addition of a new portal on Human Activities and the creation of the cross-cutting EMODnet Central Portal, as well as the establishment of the six regional Seabasin Checkpoints and the Data In-gestion facility. To oversee and coordinate these growing and diverse activities, an EMODnet Secretariat was also established in this second phase. Currently in its third development phase, EMODnet has reached a mature and operational stage where efforts are now focused on maximising its use and achieving the goal of providing access to a multi-resolution digital map of the entire European seabed by 2020. Throughout the different phases, the number of institutions working together within EMODnet has grown from 59 in the first phase to cur-rently more than 150.V. EMODNET THEMATIC GROUPSThe EMODnet thematic groups provide the operational infrastructure of EMOD-net and are each underpinned by a series of data systems, networks, projects, thematic and regional assembly groups. Each EMODnet thematic group has a portal, where users gain access to standardised observations, data quality in-dicators and processed data products, such as basin-scale maps for each of the themes (bathymetry, geology, physics, chemistry, biology, seafloor habitats and 19instrumentation viewpOint- 20 - MARTECH 18 instrumentation viewpOint - 20 - MARTECH 18human activities). These data products are free to access and use..VI. EMODNET PHYSICSEMODnet Physics is a domain specific portal of portals aggregating data and metadata from several data portals. EMODnet Physics is developing a combined array of services and functionalities such as facility for viewing and download-ing, dashboard reporting and machine-to-machine communication services, to obtain, free of charge data, meta-data and data products on the physical condi-tions of the ocean from many different distributed data sets.The acquisition of physical parameters is largely an automated process that allows the dissemination of near real time information. In particular EMODnet Physics is a stock-share portal strongly federated to the Copernicus Marine En-vironment Monitoring Service In Situ Thematic Assembly Center. Historical vali-dated datasets are organized in collaboration with SeaDataNet and its network of National Oceanographic Data Centers, NODCs.The EMODnet Physics portal is currently providing easy access to data and prod-ucts of: wave height and period; temperature and salinity of the water column; wind speed and direction; horizontal velocity of the water column; light attenu-ation; sea ice coverage and sea level trends (relative and absolute).EMODnet Physics is continuously increasing the number and type of platforms in the system by unlocking and providing high quality data from a growing network. Recently EMODnet Physics started working on river runoff data, total suspended matter and underwater noise (acoustic pollution).VII. CONCLUSIONSData from the marine environment are a valuable asset. Rapid access to reliable and accurate information is vital in addressing threats to the marine environ-ment, in the development of policies and legislation to protect vulnerable ar-eas of our coasts and oceans, in understanding trends and in forecasting future changes. Likewise, better quality and more easily accessible marine data is a pre-requisite for further sustainable economic development, so-called ‘blue growth’. The European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) is a network of organisations supported by the EU’s integrated maritime policy. These organ-isations work together to observe the sea, process the data according to inter-national standards and make that information freely available as interoperable data layers and data products. This “collect once and use many times” philoso-phy benefits all marine data users, including policy makers, scientists, private industry and the public.REFERENCES[1] EMODnet Homepage, http://www.emodnet.eu.[2] EMODnet EMODnet Physics homepage, http://www.emodnet-physics.euFig 1. Thematic coverage provided by the data and products available through EM-ODnet thematic portals.Fig 2. Example of data during the past seven days accessible in EMODnet Physics

EMODnet: your gateway to marine data in Europe

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EMODnet: your gateway to marine data in Europe

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