The JERICO – NEXT project has coalesced a number of marine research infrastructures providing observations on Europe’s coastal seas at a local or national level into a pan-european network of coastal “observatories” that is enabling timely, continuous and sustainable delivery of high-quality environmental data and information products on European waters at the transnational level. Underpinning this integration is the strong effort that is being put into harmonizing technologies, methodologies and procedures across the network, a vital step in ensuring its efficiency, effectiveness and long-term viability as a coherent regional-scale research infrastructure. Specifically, the relative actions are being handled through Work Package 2 of the project.
The first 18 months of JERICO – NEXT were host to two main events relevant to network harmonization:
- the First Workshop on HF-Radar systems and Cabled Observatories;
- the First Workshop on New Sensors.
The First Workshop on HF-Radar systems and Cabled Observatories was split into two separate events, one focussing on HF radar systems and the other on cabled coastal observatories. The HF-radar workshop was organized at San Sebastian in Spain from 09 to 11 March 2016, and the Cabled Observatories workshop was held at Vilanova i la Geltrú, again in Spain, from 19 to 20 April 2016. The outcomes from the two events are gathered and reported in the deliverable D2.1 (“Report on the status of HF-radar systems and cabled coastal observatories”) of the project. From the standpoint of HF-radars, D2.1 provides an overview of the state-of-the-art methodologies utilized during the planning and installation phase of HF-radar sites, and reviews the main relevant operational aspects, applications, and quality assessment and data management issues. In the case of Cabled Observatories, the document provides descriptions of such systems and the way they are run, and critically assesses their current level of development from the specific perspective of operations in coastal waters.
The First Workshop on New Sensors was also split into two separate events, one focussing on nutrient sensors and the other on sensors for marine carbonate system variables, optical sensors for biological parameters and sensor systems for coastal profiling. The first event was organized at Brest in France on 10 October 2016 during the concomitant “Sea Tech Week – 2016” gathering. The second event was held at Paris, in France, from 13 to 14 December 2016. The outcomes from the two events have been compiled and reported in the deliverable D2.2 (“Report on the status of sensors used for measuring nutrients, biology-related optical properties, variables of the marine carbonate system, and for coastal profiling, within the JERICO network and, more generally, in the European context”) of the project. D2.2 provides an overview of the technologies, as employed within the JERICO network, used for making observations relating to the specified variables, reviewing the main relevant operational aspects, applications, and quality assessment and data management issues.
Deliverables D2.1 and D2.2 are both freely available for consultation and download at the JERICO-NEXT website. Additional information concerning the mentioned HF-radar event can be found at: http://www.jerico-ri.eu/download/JericoNext-HFR-workshop-Minutes_vf.pdf, and at: http://www.jerico-ri.eu/project-information/meeting-reports/.
