The webinar on FAIR data on biochemistry in European marine waters (3rd July 2024), presented by Anouk Blauw (Deltares), and Peter Thijsse and Tjerk Krijger (MARIS), highlighted the importance of ocean observation data in understanding the impact of changes in marine waters. The changes, driven by factors such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and increased use of marine waters, affect the natural ecosystem, biodiversity, conditions for ecosystem services like aquaculture and fisheries, and safety through flood risks and coastal erosion.

The webinar aimed to share lessons from the JERICO-S3 project on data collection, management, and use, provide an overview of the European FAIR data management landscape, evaluate the adequacy of current data flow to European information services, and identify bottlenecks and potential solutions. Policy assessments, hampered by limited observation data due to insufficient observations and the inability to use existing observations (due to factors like unknown quality, inaccessibility, or being hidden), require representative and reliable data with quality control, transparency, and consistency. The absence of a European portal for land-based inputs of nutrients and pollutants further complicates assessments, necessitating observations at river mouths of discharges and pollutant concentrations.

View the video here:

FAIR Data on Biochemistry in European Marine Waters

Download the presentation here:

JERICO FAIR biochemistry data webinar (2.0 MiB)

To address these concerns, Europe has established initiatives like the COPERNICUS programme, which utilises satellite, model, and in-situ data for research, policy development, and supporting actors at sea. In-situ data, collected through long-term monitoring programmes, operational oceanography with sensors, research projects, citizen observations, and project-based monitoring for industry or infrastructures, plays a crucial role in this effort. The JERICO-RI project, focusing on long-term sensor observations, collects interdisciplinary data (physics, chemistry, biology, and meteorology) from various platforms like buoys, ferryboxes, fixed platforms, HR radar, and gliders.

FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) are increasingly essential for research and observation data, driven by factors like the Marine Strategy Framework Directive Reporting, the need for reliable data, data gaps, Digital Twin developments, internet and cloud processing possibilities, research requirements, and growing data availability. Achieving FAIRness involves making data findable and accessible through persistent identifiers in well-accessible catalogues, creating extensive metadata following EU community standards, using community-supported data exchange formats, and adding a usage license. The FAIRness process steps can be guided by the FIP wizard.

The European landscape of marine data management involves a flow of data from observation platforms to national/thematic data centres, aggregators at the EU level, intermediate users, and end-users like policymakers, students, and researchers. Thematic organisation in aggregators focuses on areas like biodiversity, carbon, near-real-time data, and biogeochemical data. To achieve FAIRness for biogeochemical data, providing data to SeaDataNet, publishing metadata following community standards, using community-endorsed vocabularies, publishing datasets in standardised formats, and adding a usage license are crucial steps. For those not connected to National Oceanographic Data centres, submitting datasets to EMODnet Data ingestion offers a potential solution, creating a DOI, allowing submission of various data types, and publishing datasets with metadata in a central catalogue. The end goal is data uptake, with all data in products being FAIR and traceable back to original files and platforms.

Ensuring FAIRness of data is critical for effective policy assessments and research in the field of biochemistry in European marine waters. The webinar emphasized the need for collaboration and adherence to established standards to enhance data management and utilisation in this domain.

The JERICO-S3 community gathered in Brest, France, from June 18th to 21st, 2024, for the project’s Final General Assembly. Hosted by Ifremer, the coordinating institution of the H2020-funded JERICO-S3 project, this event brought together 80 participants for four days filled with presentations on the achievements of the JERICO-S3 project and discussions about the future of the JERICO-RI European Infrastructure.

Day 1: Opening and Stakeholder Sessions

The General Assembly commenced with opening talks from representatives of the European Commission, Ifremer, CNRS, ILICO, and ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures). These opening remarks set the stage for the dedicated stakeholder sessions that followed. Project Coordinator, Laurent Delauney (IFREMER) presented “JERICO-RI in a Nutshell,” providing a comprehensive overview of the project’s achievements and future directions of the infrastructure.

The stakeholder sessions explored JERICO’s place in the Research Infrastructure (RI) landscape with interactions from ERIC Euro-Argo, DANUBIUS-RI, ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observation System), and EMSO ERIC. Discussions also included JERICO’s collaboration with industry partners such as nke Instrumentation, RBR, ALSEAMAR, OCEANO VOX, FairScope, and SEABER, leading to fruitful exchanges on mutual interests and potential synergies.

Day 2: Science Strategy and Integrated Coastal Observations

The second day began with presentations on the integrated coastal observations, focusing on Integrated Regional Sites (IRS) and Pilot Supersites (PSS). JERICO-S3 partners shared their studies on carbonate systems and phytoplankton, highlighting significant scientific results. The afternoon featured discussions on the integration of observations and event detection, followed by a networking session with flash presentations and interactive discussions.

Day 3: Technological Advancements and Key Exploitation Results

The third day centred on technological advancements within the JERICO-S3 project. Presentations introduced JERICO-CORE and other observation technology advancements, including the coastal EMSO Generic Instrument Module (cEGIM), the WAter-Sample filtering and Preservation device (WASP), and the Autonomous Coastal Observing Benthic Station (ACOBS). Discussions also covered low-cost technology opportunities to support coastal research, emphasising citizen science initiatives.

Key Exploitation Results (KERs) related to JERICO’s technological innovations, best practices, access protocols, and international cooperation were presented by various partners, showcasing the project’s impact and future potential.

Day 4: Governance and Future Action Plans

The final day focused on governance, the action plan for the JERICO-RI community, and the ESFRI landscape. Discussions aimed at ensuring the sustainability and continued collaboration within the JERICO-RI framework, setting a clear roadmap for the future.

The Marine Data Archive (MDA) stands as a vital online repository that offers a secure platform for users to store their data files along with comprehensive metadata in a well-documented manner. This archive caters to a diverse array of data types, including raw, processed, structured, data products, documents, and images. The data stored in the MDA is made accessible to the public through integration with the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) and other relevant catalogues.

The services provided by the Marine Data Archive are tailored to cater to a broad spectrum of users, including researchers, students, and project partners. By doing so, the MDA ensures that a wide range of stakeholders can benefit from the valuable resources it offers.

MDA plays a pivotal role in supporting the objectives of JERICO-RI (Joint European Research Infrastructure Network for Coastal Observatories) by enhancing the types and scope of coastal data available. Through the Virtual Access provided by JERICO-RI, users gain direct and seamless access to a wealth of data. This allows them to not only explore but also seamlessly integrate different data types from a centralised access point, thereby enriching their research endeavours.

Thanks to funding received from the JERICO-RI programme, the Marine Data Archive has undergone notable improvements. Among these enhancements, the MDA now provides monthly statistical insights. These metrics include the number of users, active users engaged in uploading and downloading files, unique downloads, total files uploaded, and the cumulative size of files uploaded, measured in gigabytes. This development provides a valuable gauge of the archive’s usage and impact within the community.

Looking ahead, the Marine Data Archive is committed to further augmenting its capabilities. One of the key initiatives involves integrating the MDA with the recently launched linked open data catalogue, accessible at https://marineinfo.org/. This integration promises to expand accessibility and streamline the search and retrieval process for users. Additionally, efforts will be directed towards refining the data upload process, ensuring a seamless and user-friendly experience for all stakeholders.

The Marine Data Archive plays a crucial role in advancing coastal observation research by providing a secure and well-organized platform for data storage and retrieval. With a diverse user base comprising researchers, students, and project partners, the MDA caters to a wide array of stakeholders. Through ongoing improvements and future prospects, including integration with the linked open data catalogue, the MDA is poised to further elevate the accessibility and utility of coastal data for the global research community.

The OceanTeacher Global Academy (OTGA) is 1 of more than 20 Virtual Access (VA) Services offered through the JERICO-S3 project.

OTGA is a global network of Regional and Specialised Training Centres delivering training on ocean sciences, services and marine and information data management (including marine biodiversity data and ocean best practices) relevant to IOC Programmes using the OceanTeacher e-Learning Platform. OTGA aims at building equitable capacity related to ocean research, observations and services by leveraging expertise exchange between developed and developing regions and offers tailored courses conducted by local experts. 

OTGA is an approved action for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and contributes primarily to priority area seven through the implementation of capacity development through, inter alia, transfer of marine technology, ocean literacy, education and training. OTGA works with Decade partners to further develop, host and deliver Decade-related capacity development products and activities to meet capacity development priorities. OTGA also aims at assisting all countries to acquire the necessary capacity to participate in, and benefit from, the Decade actions and related products and services.

OTGA also contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals to conserve and sustainably manage ocean and marine resources and to build the scientific and institutional capacity needed to achieve the SDGs.

The success of the comprehensive OTGA Learning Management System, combined with classroom and distance learning, has trained nearly 4000 students from 120 countries since 2020. This initiative showcases the potential for expanding access to the system, promoting global cooperation in ocean research and management and delivering increased national and regional capacity to effectively address the priority areas of the Ocean Decade and 2030 Agenda and its SDGs.

The direct benefits expected from the implementation of OTGA include:

• Increased learning opportunities to broaden the knowledgebase, skills and job competencies
• Increased access to scientific facilities and equipment especially in the regional and specialised training centres to provide access to existing learning services for developing competencies
• Increased quality of learning services offered by regional and specialized training centres
• Increased interaction with IOC Programmes and other relevant global and regional initiatives

Since 2020 OTGA has transitioned to fully online learning and has taken full advantage of the open and flexible nature of its e-learning platform. More self-paced courses are planned which will result in increased enrolments and allow learners to progress at their own pace. OTGA is developing collaborations beyond UNESCO/IOC to position itself as the ‘training hub’ for ocean sciences, including topics related to the management of the impact and interactions with human activities.

JERICO-S3 offers Virtual Access to AquaDocs: a joint open-access thematic repository covering science, technology, management and conservation, and socio-economic and legal aspects.

AquaDocs is the open-access joint repository of the UNESCO/IOC InternationaI Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) and the International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Centers (IAMSLIC) with support from the FAO Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts. It is a thematic repository covering the natural marine, coastal, estuarine /brackish and freshwater environments and includes all aspects of the science, technology, management and conservation of these environments, their organisms and resources, and the economic, sociological and legal aspects.

AquaDocs digital repository supports document search for JERICO CORE through the JERICO Virtual Access (VA) scalable framework that allows the visibility and access of the JERICO-S3 resources which aligns with the VA objective to provide and facilitate centralised access to JERICO-S3 RI resources (data, products, services, best practices, VRE tools, platforms, e-libraries and e-training modules).

AquaDocs makes aquatic and marine science information Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR).  It serves more than 130 organisations and projects and invites other ocean data projects and organisations to use its services.  Examples include the Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO) and Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and recently, the UN Ocean Decade for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 has agreed to use AquaDocs as the repository for Decade publications.   It has some 37,000 records and to now, total downloads number 3,287,296.  It is indexed by all the major internet services such as Google Scholar, Scopus, OpenAIRE, ASFA etc. which extends its content discoverability. In addition to JERICO-CORE, the AquaDocs repository has also extended its content discoverability through other modern data systems, in particular by the IODE’s Ocean Data and Information System (ODIS) (https://oceaninfohub.org/odis/) – a global federation of partners sharing ocean (meta)data and information.

Envisioned developments include the provision of the interface in multiple languages, translation of all User Guides,  and training course videos to be available on the interface, and content harvesting/import to be introduced.

AquaDocs stakeholders include among many, science research, education and policymakers; it is the primary digital open-access repository covering global aquatic and marine science documents.

TalTech has provided access to the cabled profiling station data, which allows monitoring of water column properties in near real-time in the Gulf of Finland near Keri Island. The profiler performs a profile every 3 hours in the full depth range at 110 m sea depth. 

Keri data has been useful to the scientific community, as well as for operational oceanographic purposes and underwater operations. Likewise, Keri data provides necessary high-resolution supporting data for conventional monitoring to assess the status of eutrophication in the variable Gulf of Finland. 

As the Gulf of Finland is very variable (compared to the Central Baltic Sea), high-resolution data delivered by Keri station has been valuable in studies addressing water column structure (temperature, salinity, oxygen, etc.).

Keri data is every day delivered to BOOS (Baltic Sea Operational Oceanographic System), to improve the marine service products by validation and assimilation. Turbidity data has been provided to companies conducting underwater works, e.g. shipwreck investigations. 

The central location in the gulf the data provided by Keri station allows estimation of benthic oxygen conditions in most of the gulf. Our trial in the frame of JERICO-S3 supersite action demonstrated that the production of daily benthic oxygen maps for the Gulf of Finland is possible and reliable based on Keri data. Benthic oxygen maps obtained solely from the Keri profiler data and based on the research vessel mappings well agreed. The main reason for the good reliability of this simple approach is the nature of the Gulf of Finland. Temporal variability in the deep layers of the gulf is high while in the weekly timescale, the spatial variability in the deep layer is small. It means if the water in the deep layer is hypoxic at the central part of the gulf, it is very likely the same at the entrance of the gulf. Thus, Keri profiler data improves the reliability of indicators in status assessments of eutrophication in HELCOM.

Keri profiling station is the indispensable observing spot between the Northern Baltic Proper and the Eastern Gulf of Finland. The station is an integral and key part of the JERICO-RI in the NE Baltic Sea. Moreover, its offshore, deep location (in the Baltic Sea context) makes it a unique observatory for the region. The reliability of the observatory has improved during the JERICO-S3 project. 

The closeness of Keri Island allows the use of the observatory in meteorological observations and air-sea fluxes studies. Observations of carbon dioxide in the water column and atmosphere is planned to start in the coming years. Likewise, permanent current profiling will be started.   

Overview of Services

The SOCIB Data Repository is the main outcome of the Data Management Program implemented by SOCIB. The repository contains data, from the nearshore to the open ocean, and at a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, from different Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) covering from physics and climate (sea water temperature, seawater salinity, currents, sea surface height, etc.) to biogeochemistry (nutrients, oxygen, turbidity, etc.) and cross-disciplinary (ocean colour, etc.). In addition, surface atmosphere variables (atmospheric pressure, wind velocity, and direction, air temperature, and humidity, etc.) included among the Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) can also be found. The repository also plays a key role in the implementation of the FAIR principles by offering 3 different user interfaces depending on the purpose of the access:

1. The SOCIB Data Catalog is a web application built on top of the SOCIB Data API services, that enables a friendly discovery, visualisation and download of the data available at the repository. It is also the recommended point of entry for non-operational users that are interested in the oceanographic data produced by the SOCIB’s observing facilities. In addition, SOCIB is minting its own DOIs to data products included in the repository. Worth mentioning, the Data Catalog is powering the related DOI landing pages.
2. The SOCIB Data API is composed of a collection of REST end-points that enable M2M (Machine to machine) data and metadata harvesting regarding multiplatform observations and data products. It is also recommended for third-party aggregators, enabling them to obtain Real-Time data and up-to-date reprocessed datasets.
3. The SOCIB Thredds Data Server provides standard data services (e.g. OPenDAP, WMS) and allows data download. It also includes a web catalogue for browsing the data and links to data viewers developed by SOCIB. It is recommended for data scientists or software developers aiming to rely on the standard services provided.

Who is it for?

SOCIB promotes knowledge transfer by establishing bidirectional links and continuous cooperation between science, public administration, and the business sector, fully aligned with the open science EU strategy. To this end, it designs and implements tools and services to respond to the needs and requirements of 10 strategic sectors, science and innovation; coastal communities, beaches and tourism; governance and public management of the ocean and coast; marine conservation and sustainable ecosystems; maritime trade and navigation; extreme risks and safety; climate and adaptation; ocean health; ocean forecasting; education, social commitment and ocean literacy).

Why is it important to JERICO-RI and Ocean Data?

By means of its data repository, SOCIB is providing coastal ocean data to the JERICO-RI community and users. In addition to this, data is distributed through the main European marine data portals as indicated in the JERICO-S3 Data Management Plan (D6.1). In particular, the SOCIB Data API is a key tool to distribute RT data towards the Copernicus Marine Service.

Since the beginning of JERICO-S3, efforts have been made to improve the SOCIB Data Repository including both the data assets within, and related services to ensure the provision of quality data. To name a few: transition to the HTTPS protocol, dockerisation of the services, services monitoring improvement, extension of the Data API with new end-points and filter criteria, etc. A significant achievement has also been the obtention of the CoreTrustSeal certification, a recognition of the trustworthiness of the repository to users.

What’s next?

In the last year of the project, the SOCIB Data Repository web pages and Data Catalog will be fully improved with a new web design and functionalities, aligned with the SOCIB brand identity update. In addition, user registration will be included to provide better and custom user experience. Specifically, the latter will allow us to better measure the Virtual Access (VA) and, consequently, to improve the reporting of related metrics when requested. Finally, it is expected that new data types will be included in the Data Catalog (currently only observational data is exposed), such as the model outputs produced by SOCIB.

Technicians from the Instituto Hidrográfico da Marinha (IH) and PLOCAN deployed a glider from the hydrographic vessel NRP Andrómeda, embarking on a four-week scientific mission under the European project JERICO-S3. The glider was launched southwest of Sesimbra, Portugal. 

The activity, known as CBONDEX-TNA, represents a transnational access (TNA) requested by IH utilising a SeaExplorer glider from PLOCAN’s VIMAS fleet, navigating the waters surrounding the coastal region of Lisbon to address specific scientific and operational challenges posed by the JERICO-S3 project. To accomplish this, the glider unit has been equipped with specialised oceanographic sensors aimed at measuring biogeochemical parameters (temperature, salinity, pressure, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, and turbidity) of seawater, from the surface to a maximum depth of 1000 meters.

The JERICO-S3 project, funded by the European Horizon 2020 program, aims for a more integrated approach to science for better observation of the coastal ecosystem, enhancing scientific excellence while considering regional and local ecosystems. It involves the preliminary development of an electronic infrastructure supporting scientists and users by providing access to dedicated services, advancing the design of the European Research Infrastructure (RI) dedicated to coastal observatories, and its strategy for sustainability. To achieve this, JERICO-S3 encompasses significant user-driven improvements in terms of systematic monitoring of the physical and biogeochemical complexity of coastal seas, access to facilities, data, and services, best practices and performance indicators, innovative monitoring strategies, cooperation with other European RIs (EuroARGO, EMSO, AQUACOSM, DANUBIUS, ICOS, EMBRC, LIFEWATCH), and international scientific communities, industry, and other stakeholders, ultimately aligning its strategy with COPERNICUS/CMEMS, EMODNET, and GEO/GEOSS.

Follow the mission in real-time through the glider data portal.

Scientists from around Europe gathered from the 26-28 of March 2024 in Delft for the official Kick-Off Meeting of the new Horizon-Europe-funded LandSeaLot project. Coordinated by the Dutch research institute, Deltares, the project aims to bolster observation capabilities within European river mouths and estuaries. The four year project comprises 20 partners spanning 12 European nations and will bring together communities involved in river to coastal sea as well as carbon observing Research Infrastructures, with citizen science networks and the consortium’s leading scientific expertise. The project will bring novel approaches to help achieve the goals of the Water and Marine Strategy Framework Directive as well as the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030” and the wider objectives of the EU Green Deal.

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The Cretan Sea is a subpart of the ultra-oligotrophic eastern Mediterranean Sea. In this area, major research challenges include gaining a better understanding of the trends and drivers of pH and the air-sea CO₂ flux as well as improving our estimates of net primary productivity (a large part of the primary production being at depths out of satellite reach for most of the year).

The JERICO-S3 Cretan Sea Pilot Super Site (PSS) aims to demonstrate the contribution of a PSS approach to study such challenges via six actions: #1 Solubility and biological pumps; #2 Improved approximations of primary production; #3 Extreme events affecting phytoplankton – AQUACOSM-plus collaboration; #4 Upscale of regional data to a wider area; #5 New sampling strategies, new technologies, best practices; #6 Partnership building.

The rate of oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO₂ has declined over the past decade, so a critical question for science and policy is whether the ocean will continue to act as a sink, mitigating the global climate crisis. In recent years, in situ oceanic carbonate system observations have decreased, and large areas of the ocean remain without observations of CO₂, pH, dissolved inorganic carbon and alkalinity. The Mediterranean Sea is one such area, especially its eastern part, where there is a paucity of marine CO₂ and pH data. A recent publication in a special issue of the journal Frontiers in Marine Science (by Frangoulis et al. 2024) provides the first marine CO₂ time series obtained in the Eastern Mediterranean and increases pH data coverage and availability contributing to ocean acidification studies. This multi-year time-series study of high-frequency marine CO₂ and pH measurements was conducted using a sensor-equipped fixed observatory (buoy) of the POSEIDON system (Institute of Oceanography, HCMR) located near Crete Island, alongside low-frequency measurements of dissolved inorganic carbon and alkalinity. The study was carried out by HCMR in collaboration with other research institutions from Greece, Belgium, Finland, France and Norway.

The study showed that temperature was the dominant factor controlling the variability of CO₂ and pH, while evaporation, water mixing and biological processes appeared to have less influence on the variability. On the other hand, wind was the dominant factor controlling the magnitude of air-sea CO₂ exchange. On an annual basis, the air-sea CO₂ exchange was too low and variable to conclusively characterize the area as a net source or sink of CO₂, highlighting the need for additional high-frequency observation sites.  The authors of this study also developed algorithms to estimate marine CO₂ and alkalinity using satellite data of temperature, chlorophyll and salinity to provide tools for estimation in poorly observed areas or time periods. These tools and the guidance provided for future observing activities using a cost-benefit approach are of particular value for countries with less available funds, such as those in the Eastern Mediterranean and the North African countries. The study contributes to international CO₂ and pH oceanographic databases as well as to the implementation of the UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals for “Climate Action” and “Life Below Water”. The clear need to sustain time series in this area of scarce CO₂ data affected by rapid warming is underlined by the authors. The study was set up jointly with the Cretan Sea PSS partners (HCMR, NIVA, SYKE, CNRS-MIO). Unfortunately, due to recent funding cuts in the POSEIDON system, the CO₂ observations have been suspended since March 2023 and this marine CO₂ observation station has not joined the Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) of Europe, although Greece became its member in 2022.

🌊 Oceanography Society’s “Frontiers in Ocean Observing” Supplement

The Oceanography Society invites contributions to its third supplement on “Frontiers in Ocean Observing,” scheduled for publication in December 2024. This unique opportunity aims to share diverse perspectives on ocean observation, enhancing understanding and sustainable management.

Themes for Contributions:

1. Model-Based Design and Evaluation of Observing Networks

   • Evaluate the impact of observations on ocean models.
   • Explore array design, observation priorities, and sampling strategies.

2. Autonomous Tools for Ecosystem Management and Marine Protected Areas

   • Showcase autonomous vehicles’ role in obtaining biological data.
   • Highlight their contribution to ecosystem-level management in MPAs.

3. Western Boundary Currents and Their Impacts on Shelf Seas

   • Examine the influence of WBCs on shelf seas and coastal areas.
   • Showcase long-term observations, user engagement, and regional impacts.

4. Robot-Enabled Access to the Deep Sea

   • Discuss advancements in sensor technologies and AI-driven robotics.
   • Share examples of deep-sea exploration and discoveries.

5. Low-Cost Technology for an Accessible Deep Ocean

   • Explore innovations in low-cost deep-ocean instrumentation.
   • Highlight successful demonstrations and deployment alternatives.

Submission Details:

• Submit letters of interest by March 15, 2024, to Ellen Kappel (ekappel@geo-prose.com).
• Include a brief summary (200 words), author details, chosen theme, and contact information.

Important Dates:

• Confirmation of contribution: April 15, 2024
• First draft submission: July 31, 2024
• Expected publication date: December 2024

Benefits:

• Open-access publication.
• No cost to authors (covered by sponsors).
• Contributions enhance understanding for diverse audiences.

Submit to contribute to advancing ocean observation! For inquiries, contact Ellen Kappel (ekappel@geo-prose.com). Explore and contribute to the evolving frontiers of oceanography.

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#OceanObserving #MarineResearch #CallForPapers 🚢🔍

SMHI, with over a century’s experience in marine environmental monitoring, offers an array of Virtual Access (VA) Services rooted in deep knowledge of data collection, management, and presentation.

Their services include: 

• SHARKweb & SHARK API: These platforms provide delayed mode data, predominantly covering national environmental monitoring data. These are reliable reservoirs of historical and past short-term data.
• Open data website, OpendataView, and Opendata API: These services offer real-time or near real-time oceanographic and marine biological data, providing immediate insights into the current state of our oceans.

SMHI’s marine environmental monitoring encompasses everything from sampling to knowledge dissemination. It undertakes national marine environmental monitoring tasks, processing and analysing data to communicate the ocean status to a diverse audience, ensuring this data is quality-controlled, processed, summarised, archived, and available to an international audience.

Their main stakeholders include other governmental agencies, county administrative boards, municipalities, researchers, and the general public with an interest in marine environmental status.

In alignment with the broader objectives of JERICO-RI and coastal observation, their services play a pivotal role in fostering cohesive European marine observations. By offering both delayed mode and real-time data, they ensure comprehensive temporal coverage of the marine environment. This dual approach provides stakeholders with historical context and immediate insights, aiding in robust decision-making processes, research undertakings, and policy formulations that champion sustainable coastal and marine ecosystems.

With the funding and support received from JERICO-RI, their services have undergone significant enhancements. The integration capacities of SHARK platforms have been improved, and the real-time data provision through their opendata services has been streamlined and expanded. These modifications have not only increased the breadth and depth of data available but also enhanced the user experience, ensuring that stakeholders have immediate and seamless access to vital marine data.

Looking ahead, they are focused on continuous refinement and expansion, in particular making their data FAIR. In the coming year, they plan to roll out updates enhancing the user interface of their platforms. In the subsequent two-year period, the integration of more diverse marine data sources and continuing their work with implementing an ERDDAP server with the incorporation of more advanced visualisations and analytics will take precedence. Long-term, their vision is to establish their services as the gold standard for marine environmental data, with wider coverage, faster processing, and even more intuitive user experiences, cementing their role in the JERICO-RI project and marine observation at large.

In conclusion, SMHI’s commitment to marine environmental monitoring, supported by JERICO-RI, ensures that their oceans’ health and status remain transparent, accessible, and comprehensible to all stakeholders.

Unlocking the secrets of the ocean and steering towards sustainable ocean management is a collective endeavour, and the JERICO-S3 project is one of the EU-funded projects that take centre stage in the latest Cordis Results Pack. Published in January 2024 under the theme “Diving Deeper: Propelling Ocean Knowledge and Its Sustainable Management,” this results pack highlights breakthroughs enabled by EU funding and showcases the crucial role of ocean observation in the sustainable management of the ocean.

The Ocean’s Vital Role:

The ocean, covering more than 70% of the Earth’s surface, is a powerhouse of life, providing oxygen, food, and employment for billions. Its importance extends to climate action, biodiversity conservation, food security, renewable energy, and human health. However, the majority of the global ocean remains poorly observed or unexplored, emphasising the need for accurate and reliable data to understand the complex relationships between climate change, biodiversity, and ecosystem services.

The European Digital Twin of the Ocean (European DTO):

Under the EU Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters, the EU is developing The European Digital Twin of the Ocean (European DTO), which will serve as a powerful tool to comprehend and predict the impact of human activities and climate change. By collating data from initiatives like the Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) and the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS), the European DTO will build a digital replica of the ocean. This digital twin will enable researchers to study the ocean’s past, present, and future, fostering connections between science, business, and society. The European DTO will revolutionise work practices by connecting the physical, biological, and socioeconomic dimensions of the ocean.

JERICO-S3: Advancing Coastal Observatories:

Within the Cordis Results Pack, the article entitled “Expanding infrastructure for coastal observatories” focuses on the JERICO-S3 project, which stands out for its contribution to advancing observations of European coastal waters. Coastal environments, essential for various human activities, face pressure from climate change and human actions. JERICO-S3, building on the achievements of JERICO-NEXT, focuses on harmonising coastal observation systems and developing infrastructure and services to support scientists.

Key Components of JERICO-S3:

1. Physical Infrastructure and Supersite Observatories:

   • Access to 600 multi-disciplinary platforms across 19 countries.
   • Creation of supersites in strategic locations for multi-platform access.

2. Transnational Access (TA):

   • Coordinating TA calls for free access to the JERICO Research Infrastructure (JERICO-RI).
   • Facilitating 36 funded projects and access to 42 facilities.

3. JERICO-CORE:

   • Consolidating virtual resources through a central hub.
   • Offering datasets, software, manuals, publications, and e-libraries.
   • Emphasising collaboration and co-designing solutions.

Towards Sustainable Ocean Observation:

The JERICO-RI is at the forefront of European coastal ocean research infrastructure. With 36 partners across 19 countries, the RI promotes collaboration and best practices sharing. The diversity in approaches reflects a commitment to ongoing ocean observation, driving collective efforts toward a sustainable future.

Explore the Cordis Results Pack for further information on the role of JERICO-S3 and other EU-funded projects in advancing towards a sustainable future.

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#JERICOS3 #OceanObservation #SustainableManagement #CordisResultsPack #EuropeanDTO #OceanResearch

Overview of the Services:

EcoTaxa is a web application designed to facilitate the upload, classification, and export of images of individual organisms, accompanied by metadata. The platform employs machine learning algorithms for taxonomy classification and allows users to export resulting data in formats conducive to scientific analysis or upload to international databases. Primarily serving a global community of users, EcoTaxa specialises in managing plankton images obtained through quantitative imaging instruments such as ZooScan, UVP, FlowCam, and IFCB. With a focus on efficiency, the application streamlines the process of uploading, classifying, reviewing, and exporting large batches of images, often organized into projects such as cruises or time series. The database contains a substantial 360 million records, with an average of 4 million new images uploaded monthly, and 150 million records confirmed by human taxonomists.

Users and Stakeholders the Service is Aimed At:

EcoTaxa targets an international community of users, particularly those involved in plankton image analysis using quantitative imaging instruments. The platform’s user base is diverse, including scientists, researchers, and practitioners interested in marine ecology and plankton biodiversity. Stakeholders encompass contributors of data, owners of quantitative imaging instruments (e.g., ZooScan, UVP, FlowCam), and organisations involved in coastal observation initiatives, such as JERICO-RI and European countries deploying plankton imaging instruments along their coasts.

Supporting the Objectives of JERICO-RI and Coastal Observation:

EcoTaxa contributes to the objectives of JERICO-RI (Joint European Research Infrastructure Consortium for Ocean Observing Systems) and coastal observation initiatives by enhancing the processing and upload of quantitative plankton imaging data to EU databases. As part of the JERICO project, EcoTaxa has undergone improvements, including the development of processing pipelines for instruments like UVP, CytoSense, and CPICS. Additionally, efforts have been made to identify and export key metadata elements required by hosting databases, ensuring alignment with EMODnet Biology / EurOBIS standards. These enhancements streamline the flow of data from instruments to databases, supporting comprehensive coastal observation and marine research.

Changes Made During the JERICO-RI Programme:

During the JERICO-RI programme, EcoTaxa underwent significant changes to optimise data flow. Prototyped processing pipelines were implemented for various instruments, with full implementation for UVP and prototype versions for CytoSense and CPICS. Metadata elements essential for hosting databases were identified, their availability in EcoTaxa datasets was assessed, and a best practices guide was created. These changes ensure the efficient export of key metadata alongside data, aligning with the standards of EU databases.

Future Improvements and Changes:

Ongoing developments within EcoTaxa align with future objectives. Finalizing input pipelines for target instruments and making them available to the community is a priority. Additionally, modifications to the user interface are planned to facilitate the identification of key metadata within the existing 360 million records. This will enable both new and existing data to be uploaded seamlessly to a stable, referenceable database, further enhancing the platform’s utility and efficiency.

JERICO-RI provides Virtual Access to the Puertos del Estado Thredds/OpenDAP service.

Puertos del Estado Thredds/OpenDAP service provides access to the oceanographical and meteorological data catalogue produced by Puertos del Estado. This tool is oriented to the access to large volumes of data, including:

• Forecast Data. Access to the output fields provided by numerical models used in the operational forecasting services: waves, sea level, and circulation (currents, salinity, and sea temperature). 3-day predictions are daily generated and updated in the catalogue.
• Observations Data. Access to the historical data from Puertos del Estado in-situ measuring stations: buoys, tide- gauges, meteorological stations, and HF radars.

This catalogue provides a simple hierarchical structure for organising the collection of datasets that Puertos del Estado has, allowing users to view and download data in NetCDF format through OpenDAP, OGC WMS, HTTP, and other remote data access protocols. The inventory has nowadays more than 13Tb of data organised in 130 datasets which are continuously evolving as new information is generated or new datasets are aggregated to the catalogue.

In addition, on the premise that navigating through such complex and changing inventories can be challenging for some users, a layer has been developed on top of the Thredds service to facilitate data searching and improve data downloading. This layer is called Portuscopia.

In Portuscopia navigation through data catalogues is visual. Users can apply filters in the search panel to select the search criteria and quickly identify the dataset of interest. The list of results will be displayed on the results panel.  The search can be further narrowed down by selecting date ranges, parameters, and the geographical area to download/visualise data.

By means of an integrated web map service, Portuscopia also allows direct and interactive visualisation of data. Users can also select areas as well as zoom in and zoom out on the mentioned data maps to define the geographical region of interest as part of the data search.

Portuscopia allows 2 types of downloads:

• 1-click, for one-time downloads. In this case, the downloading process ends when the data files are instantly downloaded and saved on the user’s PC/server.
• Recurrent, which is designed for those users who need to download the latest available data on a regular basis. When users register for this type of download, Portuscopia will provide them with a script to automate downloads from their own servers.

Portuscopia is a more user-friendly layer of the Thredds service and incorporates links to other data download services of Puertos del Estado. In fact, it is intended to become the focal point for oceano-meteorological data downloading in Puertos del Estado.

The final JERICO-DS General Assembly took place from Tuesday 21 to Thursday 23 November 2023 at the Tallink Spa & Conference Hotel in Tallinn, Estonia. 

The meeting kick-started with the welcome of Taavi Liblik, from TalTech – Tallinn University of Technology, the host organisation of this event. A presentation from the project coordinator, Laurent Delauney (Ifremer) followed.

The first day was dedicated to updates and outcomes of Workpackages 1-5. The main results of WP1, dedicated to the Science Strategy, were presented by Marcello G. Magaldi (CNR ISMAR). Jukka Seppälä (SYKE) and WP2 partners presented the Technical Design for an Operational JERICO-RI European Infrastructure, showing their work progress and the most important outcomes, which were discussed with the partners. Sebastien Legrand (RBINS) represented WP3 and spoke about the work done so far. Afterwards, Paul Gaughan (Marine Institute) described the work progress of the WP4, dedicated to the Sustainability, presenting the main results and outcomes for the design of the JERICO-RI European Infrastructure, as well as suggestions regarding the next steps. Laurent Delauney presented the outcomes from the WP5 on the governance and organisation, concluding the first day of the Final JERICO-DS General Assembly with the partner’s enthusiastic discussion on WP4 and WP5 presentations.

The 2nd day began with the Communication Strategy, presented by João Vitorino (Instituto Hidrográfico – Marinha Portuguesa), continued with the partners’ discussion about several important topics for the JERICO-RI European Infrastructure, such as the design study, questions to be solved, and services list to be defined, generating a prolific debate conducted by the project coordinator, Laurent Delauney.

The grand challenges of JERICO-DS were presented by Dominique Durand (COVARTEC AS), followed by sessions on the Socio-Economic Impacts by Constança Ramis Ferrer (SOCIB), the Users Needs by Alexandre Epinoux (IFREMER) and the project’s Bussiness Case by Paul Gaughan.

The 3rd and final day saw more engaging presentations and enthusiastic discussions. The first presentation by Holger Brix (Hereon) was dedicated to the complementarity of the JERICO-RI European Infrastructure with other already existing Research Infrastructures (RIs).

Laurent Delauney presented the plan for the Governance and Services, with contributions from several partners, and Jukka Seppälä described the road towards the preparation phase and planning of the next steps. The pathway to step-up from being an observational network to becoming a RI was introduced by Laurent Coppola (LOV).

The JERICO-DS General Assembly was concluded in the afternoon of the 23rd November 2022, with a final wrap up by Dominique Durand, and extensive discussions considering the project’s future plans.

The JERICO-RI offers virtual access (VA) to marine and atmospheric data and services from the Utö Atmospheric and Marine Research Station. 

The Utö Atmospheric and Marine Research Station, situated on Utö Island in the Baltic Sea, stands as a collaborative effort between JERICO partners, the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) and the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE). This station serves as a crucial hub for gathering vital atmospheric and marine data, offering valuable insights into various environmental parameters. Here, we delve into the comprehensive services provided by the Utö station and its impact on coastal observation and research.

The Utö station conducts a wide array of measurements, encompassing atmospheric and marine domains. Atmospheric data includes meteorological parameters, aerosols, and greenhouse gases. Marine measurements span temperature, salinity, CO2, O2 levels, phytoplankton, currents, waves, and more. Real-time access to this data is readily available through the station’s dedicated portal, ensuring swift and accessible information for various stakeholders.

The services provided by the Utö station cater to a diverse set of users and stakeholders. These include scientists engaged in cutting-edge research, as well as professionals involved in forecasting and modelling marine environments. Additionally, the information serves a critical role in ensuring the safety of marine traffic, guiding piloting activities, and supporting other sea-related endeavours. Boaters and enthusiasts engaging in leisure activities also benefit from this valuable resource.

In the Baltic Sea, Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs) are an annual occurrence, impacting coastal activities, fisheries, and property values. To inform the public about the development of these blooms, SYKE provides weekly reviews. The near-real-time data from the Utö station and FerryBox lines play a pivotal role in shaping these reports, providing essential insights into HABs.

Satellite remote sensing plays a critical role in detecting anomalies in the Baltic Sea, such as algae blooms, physical phenomena, and river loads. To validate satellite data, ground truthing measures are essential. SYKE offers a public service where users can access and overlay SYKE’s open satellite data with other datasets, such as the FerryBox data, providing a comprehensive view of the Baltic Sea.

The services offered by the Utö Atmospheric and Marine Research Station align seamlessly with the objectives of JERICO-RI. By providing open access to coastal observation data, the Utö station and FerryBox lines contribute significantly to advancing coastal research and monitoring.

Since its inception during JERICO-Next in 2017, the Utö website has seen continued development, further enhanced during JERICO-S3. Additionally, the cyanobacteria information website emerged as a thematic service pilot demonstration. Looking ahead, ongoing improvements in website functionality, data flows, and quality control are expected, solidifying the Utö station’s position as a cornerstone of coastal research and observation.

From 3 to 5 October 2023, EuroGOOS held its 10th International Conference, hosted in Galway by the Marine Institute, Ireland. The Conference, titled European Operational Oceanography for the Ocean we want – Addressing the UN Ocean Decade Challenges, was an endorsed Ocean Decade event.

The event brought together over 160 participants for an in-person Conference covering all aspects of operational oceanography and its societal relevance. The Conference was opened by the Interim CEO of the Marine Institute Michael Gillooly, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO Vladimir Ryabinin, Director for Maritime Policy & Blue Economy at the European Commission DG MARE Delilah Al Khudairy, and Head of Unit Healthy Seas and Ocean at the European Commission DG Research and Innovation Elisabetta Balzi.

Members representing the Joint European Research Infrastructure for Coastal Observation (JERICO-RI) participated actively in several sessions and presentations.

The Conference Statement provides a number key messages and recommendations for EuroGOOS and its community as outputs from the meeting. These include:

• Operational oceanography in Europe must develop with a holistic Earth system approach. 
• Without observations, ocean services and products are not possible. 
• Europe-wide coordinated system to observe the ocean is a collective ambition of the highest priority. 
• Genuine co-design of operational oceanography with users and stakeholders is needed to ensure their needs are met. 
• There is no operational oceanography without people – the skilled individuals without whom there would be no ocean observations, infrastructure and data management, or forecasts and services. 
• Boost and demonstrate the value of operational oceanography to all stakeholders across the marine knowledge value chain. 

Read the full statement

Empowering Coastal Observations: The EU HFR NODE / CNR

The EU HFR NODE / CNR – ID 7.2 initiative spearheads CNR’s commitment to the European High-Frequency Radar (HFR) Node Competence Center, focusing on HF radar data management. This infrastructure not only offers a suite of services and tools but also adheres to the European Common QC, Data, and Metadata Model for Near Real-Time (NRT) and Delayed Mode (DM) HFR current data. The primary goal is to facilitate the seamless distribution of HFR data across prominent European marine data portals. In this article, we delve into the essential features of this initiative and its significant impact on coastal observation within the JERICO-RI framework.

CNR’s contribution to the European High-Frequency Radar Node Competence Center is marked by a robust set of services and tools. These resources play a pivotal role in standardising, making interoperable, and ensuring the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) status of HFR data. Additionally, the infrastructure enables the smooth distribution of this data to vital platforms like CMEMS-INS TAC, EMODNet Physics, and SeaDataNet portals, thereby enhancing accessibility and usability.

The EU HFR NODE / CNR – ID 7.2 initiative primarily caters to HFR system operators and managers. These services are instrumental in providing them with standardised, interoperable, and FAIR data, which are essential for efficient distribution across key European marine data portals. Furthermore, stakeholders including modellers, scientists, maritime space planners, and policy makers stand to benefit immensely from the high-quality data made available, enriching their operational applications.

This service embodies the essence of the JERICO-RI initiative by providing not just data, but knowledge, tools, and operational services. The emphasis on producing high-quality, standardised, interoperable, and FAIR data aligns seamlessly with the broader objectives of JERICO-RI and coastal observation, furthering scientific research and societal applications.

Over the course of the JERICO-RI programme, substantial advancements have been made in fortifying the EU HFR NODE / CNR – ID 7.2 initiative. New Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) have been developed, bolstering machine-to-machine access to HFR network metadata and enhancing the functionality of the HFR Online Outage Reporting Tool (HOORT) – an invaluable instrument that has significantly elevated the performance of the European HFR network. Furthermore, a complete overhaul of the hardware and software architectures for data collection, processing, and distribution has been executed, adopting hyperconvergent clusters and virtualisation of the services.

Looking ahead, the EU HFR NODE / CNR – ID 7.2 initiative is poised for even greater transformation. By the end of 2023, the implementation of new processing scripts is expected to be operational, ushering in a new era of enhanced processing chain performance. These developments promise to further solidify the initiative’s role in providing top-tier HFR data for the betterment of coastal observations and research.

The Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) has released the new Ocean Observing System Report Card 2023.

In 2023, the GOOS Report Card showcases achievements and challenges in continuing to integrate physical, biogeochemical and biological observations to provide a global view of the status of the observing system and the ocean we observe.

The 2023 Report Card focuses on several key areas, including:

• Delivering a global overview of the status of the ocean observing networks;
• Tracking marine heatwaves to better understand their impacts on society and ecosystems;
• Streamlining the connection between observations and services to improve extreme event forecasts;
• Monitoring the health of our seagrass habitats, vital for fisheries, blue carbon and coastal resilience;
• Collaborating with industry and training the new generation of ocean observers.

The report advocates the value of integrated ocean observing networks and a truly global ocean observing system.

Ocean Observing System Report Card 2023

Operated by Institute of Marine Sciences of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR-ISMAR), the TirLig – ID 7.1 service stands at the forefront of coastal observation efforts. It offer a a comprehensive range of resources centered around High-Frequency Radar (HFR) data of the Ligurian coast near La Spezia and Cinque Terre. The service, housed within the THREDDS data server, is an invaluable asset for modellers, scientists, maritime space planners, and policymakers alike. In this article, we explore the key features of this service and its contributions to advancing coastal observation within the JERICO-RI framework.

At its core, the TirLig revolves around a THREDDS data server. This server serves as a centralised hub for sea surface current data derived from the HFR-TirLig network. It provides robust capabilities for data discovery, visualisation, and seamless access.

The primary beneficiaries of this service are modellers and scientists with a vested interest in the Tyrrhenian and Ligurian Seas. Additionally, maritime space planners and policymakers stand to gain immense value from the standardised, interoperable, and FAIR data offered by this service. These data sets are readily deployable in operational applications, enhancing decision-making processes.

TirLig plays a pivotal role in supporting the overarching objectives of JERICO-RI. By providing high-quality, standardised, interoperable, and FAIR data, this service equips the scientific and societal communities with a valuable resource for research and operational applications in the coastal domain.

During the course of the JERICO-RI program, significant strides have been made to bolster the functionality and reliability of the TirLig service. The THREDDS Data Server has undergone a complete overhaul, adopting a state-of-the-art hardware and software architecture. Additionally, integration with the HFR Online Outage Reporting Tool (HOORT) has been established, ensuring swift responses to operational downtimes and safeguarding the integrity of data time series.

Looking ahead, the CNR TirLig – ID 7.1 service is poised for further refinement and enhancement. By the end of 2023, new processing scripts are expected to be operational, ushering in substantial improvements to the processing chain responsible for generating the data. These developments will fortify the service’s capacity to deliver timely, accurate, and actionable information to the coastal observation community.

CNR-ISMAR TirLig – ID 7.1 stands as a cornerstone of coastal observation, exemplifying the power of High-Frequency Radar data in advancing scientific research and operational applications. With a steadfast commitment to continuous improvement, this service is poised to make even greater strides in the coming years, further solidifying its pivotal role within the JERICO-RI initiative.

In a significant leap forward for marine research, the Joint European Research Infrastructure of Coastal Observatories (JERICO) is spearheading the creation of an integrated central hub e-infrastructure to facilitate the discovery, access, management, and interaction with a broad spectrum of coastal ocean resources. These encompass a graph of interconnected assets, including services, datasets, software, best practices, manuals, publications, organisations, projects, observatories, equipment, support, training, and similar entities. Moreover, this e-infrastructure includes a Virtual Research Environment (VRE) that fosters collaboration.

To materialise this vision, the JERICO Coastal Ocean Resource Environment (CORE) pilot was developed under JERICO-S3 and is operational in Datarmor. This pilot is designed to aid JERICO partners in their exploration of technologies and capabilities that will underpin future endeavours, driving towards the realisation of a European Coastal Observatories Research Infrastructure . The aim is to compile JERICO’s assets by sourcing information from primary data and information providers, which encompass EMODnet, SeaDataNet, Copernicus Marine In Situ Thematic Assembly Center, the Ocean Best Practice System (OBPS) and other marine RI. Navigating JERICO-CORE’s catalog becomes seamless via the user interface that follows the European Plate Observing System (EPOS) e-infrastructure design. Additionally, a dedicated API allows machine-to-machine access, enabling smooth integration with international infrastructures.

The JERICO-CORE pilot VRE results from the partnership between JERICO and Blue-Cloud. This synergy empowers the development of assessment tools that delve deeply into JERICO’s capabilities. These tools serve as essential refinements to knowledge derived from diverse ocean resource providers. They provide insights into various facets of the resource catalog,
ranging from duplicate identification to resource type and source quantification. Beyond mere enumeration, these tools will extend to measuring the presence of Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) within the community’s datasets or platforms and effectively ensuring the adherence to JERICO’s Data Management Plan. The impact of JERICO-CORE assessment services extends through diverse dimensions of research, spanning key aspects of the EU Open Science policy. For example, by quantifying the contributions of organisations and individuals, JERICO-CORE aligns with the European Commission’s vision through the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) efforts to change research and FAIR assessment paradigms.

As the months unfold, JERICO-CORE is set to undergo a deeper integration into the Blue-Cloud ecosystem and a comprehensive upgrade of resources, especially software and services, channeled through JERICO-S3 collaborative synergy. JERICO-CORE’s impact extends beyond the culmination of the JERICO-S3 and JERICO-DS projects. A commitment to enhanced interoperability with EOSC is evident as JERICO-CORE expands its service horizons in the context of ongoing and upcoming projects like Blue-Cloud 2026 and OSTrails respectively.

Furthermore, the Coastal Ocean Resource Infrastructure System (CORIS) project emerged as a key initiative of JERICO-CORE, and was endorsed as a UN Ocean Decade Action hosted by the CoastPredict Programme in 2022. With a collaborative approach, CORIS is actively pursuing funding to facilitate global expansion of JERICO-CORE internationally by engaging with repositories such as NCEI, SAEON, and AODN. Thus, JERICO and EU impact can be far-reaching, reshaping the landscape of coastal global ocean research and strengthening Europe’s scientific footprint on a global scale, in particular in the context of the digital twin of the ocean initiatives.

The 10th EuroGOOS International Conference, with its theme of “European operational oceanography for the ocean we want – addressing the UN Ocean Decade Challenges,” recently took place at the picturesque Galway Bay Hotel in Galway City, Ireland. This event, held every three years, provided a unique platform for an array of ocean observing and forecasting stakeholders, including marine scientists, technologists, research managers, policymakers, and representatives from the private sector. At the heart of these discussions was the mission to create a healthier, more sustainable ocean environment.

Members representing the Joint European Research Infrastructure for Coastal Observation (JERICO-RI) participated actively in several sessions and presentations, including:

Boosting In-Situ Observing Capacity with EOOS

In the session titled “EOOS – boosting in-situ observing capacity,” Felipe Artigas represented the JERICO-RI in a discussion panel. The conversation revolved around the importance of enhancing Europe’s in-situ observational capabilities, which are crucial for understanding ocean dynamics, climate change, and marine ecosystem health.

Operational Oceanography in the Coastal Zone

A dedicated session on “Operational oceanography in the coastal zone” saw Jukka Seppälä from the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) sharing insights into the synthesis of JERICO-RI coastal Pilot Supersite implementation. The discussion revolved around integrated pan-European multi-platform coastal observations, emphasising the need for comprehensive and consistent data from Europe’s coastal areas.

Oceanographic Services for Ocean Health

The “Oceanographic services for ocean health” session featured a presentation by Luis Felipe Artigas, focusing on “Multiscale harmonised automated observations of phytoplankton biomass, diversity, and productivity dynamics in the English Channel and North Sea as part of the coastal Pilot Super Site approach (JERICO-RI).” 

Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, the Helmholtz association, universities and monitoring authorities provide virtual access (VA) to COSYNA data and services as part of the JERICO-RI.

COSYNA, short for the Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas, is leading the way in deepening our comprehension of coastal environments, especially in the North Sea and Arctic coastal waters.

This ambitious undertaking is a collaborative effort, partnering with various entities within the Helmholtz association, universities, and monitoring authorities. This created synergy promotes cutting-edge scientific tools, and products, while opening up to the entire scientific community.

Furthermore, COSYNA is a crucial resource for authorities, industries, and the general public. This comprehensive support enables effective planning, management of routine tasks, and rapid responses to emergencies. Annually, between 100 and 700 GB of data are accessed from the data portal, reaching users in over seventy countries.

COSYNA is aligned with the Joint European Research Infrastructure Consortium for Coastal Observatories (JERICO-RI) objectives. This German initiative plays a vital role in delivering high-quality environmental data. COSYNA ensures open access to solutions and facilities, it empowers researchers and users within the coastal marine domain. The progress in technology, exemplified by the JERICO-S3 North Sea Pilot Super Site (PSS), enhances the seamless integration of high-quality data into a network of user-friendly tools and resources for stakeholders.

Through the support of JERICO-RI, COSYNA has undergone significant enhancements. The infrastructure has been significantly improved to meet industry standards, such as incorporating cutting-edge tools for data analysis. 

Other improvement examples are a user-friendly WebApp developed to involve both researchers and the general public in coastal research content; advanced visualisation tools in place for the Tesperhude monitoring station in the Elbe; and HELMI, a new workflow, that integrates collected information into COSYNA’s data repositories.

COSYNA’s trajectory is distinguished by refinement and innovation. The transition from the original architecture to the new structures provided by the Helmholtz Coastal Data Center (HCDC) is on track for completion in 2024. Moreover, this coastal endeavour is set to enhance the data type accessibility.

Lastly, as COSYNA paves the way for a deeper understanding of coastal dynamics, its collaborative ethos and technology remain a pillar of advancement in coastal observation.

The POSEIDON system stands as a progress indicator in oceanographic data collection, offering comprehensive services tailored to meet the diverse needs of its users and stakeholders. Operated by the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) – Institute of Oceanography in the Aegean and Ionian Seas, POSEIDON puts data to use from a range of oceanographic platforms, including fixed stations, the Ferry Box System, gliders, and Argo Floats. All this information is made accessible through the POSEIDON portal.

The system offers a thorough grasp of the ever-changing conditions in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, drawing on physical and biochemical attributes of the marine environment, coupled with atmospheric data obtained from stationary sites. Its vital forecasting component incorporates four numerical models. These models provide daily projections encompassing atmospheric patterns, sea conditions, hydrodynamics, and ecological factors, greatly enhancing the predictive capacities of both researchers and stakeholders.

Central to POSEIDON’s value proposition is its online database, a repository of data recorded by the In situ platforms. This resource also offers functionalities for seamless data retrieval. Additionally, a user-friendly tool is at hand to access the results derived from all forecast models over the past decade, streamlining the process of gathering crucial insights.

The beneficiaries of the POSEIDON include, but are not limited to: Researchers and academics; Government organisations; Environmental agencies; and Private enterprises.

Notably, POSEIDON’s impact extends far beyond professional spheres. With an average of 1.6 million monthly users, this system plays a pivotal role in the lives of the general public. This figure surges to a staggering 3 million during periods of extreme weather events, underscoring its critical role in disseminating timely and pertinent information to the wider community.

POSEIDON is committed to providing continuous, high-quality data on marine conditions along the Greek coast. This includes updated assessments of the marine environment, and high-resolution forecasts encompassing atmospheric, oceanographic, and ecosystem conditions.

The journey of the POSEIDON system has been marked by dynamic evolution during the JERICO-RI program. The website has been meticulously redesigned into a more user-friendly interface. Moreover, new services have been integrated, while the mobile applications for Android and iOS platforms have received significant upgrades. These enhancements have elevated visualisations and functionality. The revamped website stands as a testament to the success of these improvements in dissemination and outreach.

Finally, Anticipated funding for HIMIOFoT’s national RI is poised to catalyse the creation of an integrated infrastructure for managing Greece’s national water resources. Through strategic coordination and synergies among institutes and laboratories dedicated to marine and inland water research, POSEIDON envisions providing integrated services that will benefit both the scientific community and society at large. In this forward-looking pursuit, the POSEIDON system exemplifies a steadfast commitment to advancing marine research and environmental stewardship.

Niva offers passengers access to near real-time ocean data through user-friendly touchscreen consoles. The service is partly funded by the JERICO-S3 project and contributes to the JERICO-RI suite of Virtual Access (VA) Services.

The Norferry observing network comprises 5 Ferrybox installations on regular ferry passenger services, which operate in the Southern Baltic, North Atlantic, and Arctic waters, spanning from 54° to 78° North. These installations provide near real-time surface oceanographic data. The Norferry installations use advanced sensors that collect data from approximately four meters beneath the ocean’s surface.

This data includes essential ocean parameters:

• Temperature: Uncovering the ocean’s temperature variations.
• Salinity: Measuring the saltiness of the water.
• Chl-a Fluorescence: Indicating the presence of chlorophyll and phytoplankton, key components of marine ecosystems.
• Oxygen: Providing insights into the ocean’s health and the availability of oxygen for marine life.
• Turbidity: Measuring water clarity, a factor that influences various ecological processes.

Some Norferry ships provide data on additional parameters like ocean colour and true wind. This wealth of information is a valuable resource for scientists and ocean enthusiasts alike.

Data Access for Passengers

User-friendly touchscreen consoles on the Norferry network provide passengers with access to near real-time ocean data as part of the JERICO-RI Virtual Access (VA) Services.

Passengers can access a range of services, including:

• Variable vs. Time Plots: Passengers can explore graphical representations of ocean data over time, witnessing how ocean conditions change during their voyage.
• Location on a Map: A real-time map feature displays the ship’s current location, helping passengers connect their surroundings to the data they’re viewing.
• Ocean Literacy Modules: These modules offer passengers valuable insights into topics such as climate change and human impacts on the ocean. Some modules are tailored for school-aged children, making them an excellent educational resource.
• Global Ocean Data Viewer: This feature enables passengers to explore ocean data on a global scale, deepening their understanding of the interconnectedness of our world’s oceans.

The information is available in several languages for accessibility. Passengers can access translated content in English, Norwegian, German, French, Polish, and Russian, ensuring that a diverse range of travellers can engage with the data and information provided.

The virtual access service isn’t just about data; it’s about connecting the public, including school-aged children, to the importance of our coastal regions. By bringing coastal observing efforts and data directly to the public, it raises awareness of the significance of these initiatives in meeting societal needs and understanding societal impacts.

Progress and Future Innovations

During its participation in the JERICO-RI program, Norferry has seen significant advancements. The touchscreen consoles have been upgraded to include additional coastal observing FerryBoxes, enriching the data available to passengers. Additional ocean literacy content has been added to engage travellers of all ages. A new console has been acquired to further improve the passenger experience. Plus, a remote sensing data browsing module has been partially supported by JERICO-S3, expanding the project’s capabilities.

In the future, Niva is working on developing a web-based console that will allow citizens to access JERICO-RI data via smartphones. While this endeavor is not funded as part of JERICO-S3, it underscores Niva’s commitment to making oceanographic data accessible to all.

JERICO-RI hosted Booth 29 and participated in a number of sessions at the European Maritime Day, 24th – 25th May 2023, Brest, France. The focus of the event was on issues related to the blue economy, the marine environment, and discussions on future advancements. This was addressed by a wide range of speakers through thematic sessions, stakeholder workshops, and project pitch sessions.

The need for long-term coastal observations and the JERICO-RI featured in several sessions. Key speakers highlighted the importance of coastal observations in meeting the EU blue economy and future advancement objectives. François Houllier (Président-directeur général, IFREMER) discussed the blue economy and the role of ocean observations during his speech in the high-level panel session on “Innovation in the Blue Economy“.

Lucie Cocquempot (Coordination de l’observation océanographique, IFREMER) explained the role of the JERICO-RI in the creation and coordination of a global coastal ocean network with transatlantic countries. Lucie was an invited speaker for session #23: “Sustainable ocean observation- from open sea to coast: shared responsibilities“.

The JERICO-RI booth, manned by Laurent Delauney (JERICO-RI Scientific Coordinator, IFREMER) and Léa Godiveau (JERICO-S3 Project Manager, IFREMER), provided an interactive forum for business professionals, governments, NGOs, public institutions, and researches and students to discover more about the JERICO-RI and the importance of long-term coastal observing systems in Europe.

The JERICO-RI team engaged with a variety of end-users and stakeholders during the 2-day event. These included sensor companies, pitch event organisers and technology businesses (e.g. Seaber, Ocean Race and Euromaritime) and other related EU projects and initiatives (e.g. DOORS, EuroARGO, Coastal EGIM, EuroGOOS). In addition, there was much of interest and engagement from students and early career scientists.

JERICO-RI Website JERICO-RI Brochure

Job title: Scientific European coordinator of the infrastructure project dedicated to coastal ocean observation JERICO-RI European Infrastructure (M/F)

Reference: PV-2023-022

Department/Office: Département Oceanographie et Dynamique des Ecosystemes

Unité de recherche: Laboratoire d’océanographie physique et spatiale

Équipe de recherche: «Océan côtier»

Duty station: Ifremer – Brest, Bretagne, FR , France

Deadline for applications : 19/05/2023

Full Details

The Coastal EGIM (cEGIM) was deployed by Ifremer on Friday 24th of April on the SMILE site in the JERICO-S3 English Channel Pilot Supersite, off Luc sur Mer and the estuary of the Seine river.

The system will measure synchronously physical, chemical and biological data at high resolution for the upcoming two months in standalone mode, and allow for the collection of training data for the embedded algal bloom detector. This demonstration is part of a deliverable of the JERICO-S3 project, coordinated by Ifremer (France), WP7 Technological Innovation, co-led by PLOCAN (Spain) and CNR (Italy). The demonstration will be supported by scientists from CNRS and Université de Caen.

Before this demonstration, in winter 2023-2023 the cEGIM had been pre-tested off Sainte Anne du Portzic for functional validation. This was an essential step for the success of the demonstration phase currently taking place. The cEGIM configuration in this demonstration responds to the need to monitor plankton dynamics, set as a key scientific challenge by the JERICO-RI community.

Stay tuned!

Preparing to deploy eGIM at the SMILE site:

eGIM deployed at the SMILE site:

First visitor to the eGIM deployed at the SMILE site:

 

The JERICO Week 2023 took place in Rovinj, Croatia, from the 17th to the 20th April 2023, gathering 65 participants. This event was hosted by the JERICO-RI partner, Ruder Boskovic Institute (IRB), located in Rovinj.

The JERICO-S3 project, funded by the European Commission’s H2020 Framework Programme under grant agreement No. 871153, targets a more science integrative approach to better observe the coastal ecosystem supporting the Joint European Research Infrastructure for Coastal Observatories (JERICO-RI). It aims to provide a state-of-the-art, fit-for-purpose and visionary observational RI, expertise and high-quality data on European coastal and shelf seas, supporting world-class research, high-impact innovation and a window of European excellence worldwide.

The JERICO-S3 General Assembly kicked-off with the introduction of the STAC members, followed by JERICO-RI ‘s current status update presentation by project coordinator, Laurent Delauney (IFREMER). During the first days, several presentations and discussions about the status of the JERICO-S3 project were provided. JERICO-RI partners networking was facilitated through several engaging group dynamics.

The last day of the JERICO-S3 General Assembly started with an overview of the STAC’s summary and comments, with special focus dedicated to the JERICO-RI business plan and future governance. The day ended with the General Assembly wrap-up.

JERICO-S3 provides Virtual Access (VA) to 20 European coastal ocean services.  

Services include data portals, processing scripts, document repositories, websites, apps and visualisation tools. They provide access to data, software, products and other resources that form part of the Joint European Research Infrastructure for Coastal Observatories (JERICO-RI).

Access to services is free of charge and open to all stakeholders and users. 

What is Virtual Access?

Virtual Access (VA) means free access to users provided through communication networks; the available services or resources can be simultaneously used by an unlimited number of users and the users are not selected. VA can have very different formats e.g. a website, an API, a repository on GitHub etc. It can expose very different types of resources e.g. datasets, added-value products, software, documents, training modules, and data-processing capabilities.

The European Commission (LEA), in its effort to support open access, finances Virtual Access that is ‘free of charge at the point of use’.

How does JERICO-S3 support VA?

JERICO-S3 is driven by the major European institutions that work in coastal oceanography. Some of these institutions provide VA to their resources under an open access policy.

Joining forces under JERICO-S3, VA providers benefit from a well-established EU framework specifically designed for accessing Research Infrastructures, as well as a centralised access metrics system (VAMS), the feedback from a VA Expert Panel that reviews each VA, outreach activities carried out for the VA under JERICO-S3, data management expertise, work to identify new users and user categories, and JERICO-CORE.

JERICO-CORE is under development as part of JERICO-S3. JERICO-CORE aims to provide a single access point to all JERICO-RI resources. It will be a unified central hub of the JERICO-RI and will facilitate the discovery, access, management and interoperability of all JERICO-RI resources, including VA. 

Through JERICO-S3, institutions providing VA also receive financial support from the EU H2020 program to cover part of the incurred costs to maintain their service(s).

What VAs are included in JERICO?

There are currently 20 VA services under JERICO-S3.

JERICO-S3 VA Services

JERICO-RI would like to celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science tomorrow, 11 February 2022, by recognizing our women users from the JERICO-S3 Transnational Access (TA) programme. As part of the TA, JERICO-RI supports a diverse user group of currently 20 nationalities all with varied backgrounds using the JERICO-RI marine ocean observation infrastructures. Of these international users, we are delighted to feature the work of the all-women user groups and woman Principal Investigators that are contributing to marine research and innovation. Their stories highlight the possibilities and opportunities available for girls and early-stage researchers who are embarking on their careers.

In 2016, the United Nations and UNESCO declared 11th February the International Day of Women and Girls in Science in order to promote equal access for women in science. This event is designed to empower more women and girls to be involved with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The STEM disciplines see an underrepresentation of women at only 33.3% women researchers from the UNESCO’s data. It is important for women and girls in science to share their research, experiences, and to be leaders in their field for encouraging others to contribute to science.

Throughout the day tomorrow, we will be introducing three women Principal Investigators for projects supported by JERICO-S3 TA. These women leaders share their experiences in what led them on their career paths and a brief description of the projects they are leading. We are proud to facilitate these outstanding role models for women in STEM who are utilising JERICO-RI infrastructures and are looking forward to following the results of their projects.

We welcome and invite more women users to apply for the third JERICO-S3 TA call opening this March, more details for applying to follow soon.

AQUACOSM-plus opens funding opportunities for mesocosm experiments in 2022 under its second call for transnational access (TA).

As part of this call, applications are invited for experiments on the CNRS-MEDIMER infrastructure, France. 

More information and how to apply

Topic: Effects of consecutive heatwaves on the resistance, resilience and recovery of marine plankton communities (heatwaves)

Project Leads: Francesca Vidussi and Behzad Mostajir

Project Duration: Planned for one month from April 25 to May 25, 2022

Deadline: Deadline to submit the online application to this experiment: 4th February 2022

Who can Apply: 20 scientists, students and trainees are strongly invited to participate.

Marine systems are facing an increase in the frequency of extreme events and in particular climate change scenarios preconize the increase of heatwaves in the future. An increase in Heat-waves can change planktonic diversity, interactions between different groups and key processes. According to the modelling previsions for the future increase in the frequency of heatwaves, an in situ mesocosm experiment will be carried out in the CNRS-MEDIMER infrastructure (Sète city in the south of France) situated at the PSS Med-Sea of the JERICO-S3 project.

In this experiment, triplicate in situ mesocosms will be heated at +3-5°C compared to natural surrounding waters for 5 days and triplicate other in situ mesocosms will act as the control following the natural surrounding water temperature. After this first period of the heatwave (HW1), all mesocosms in the experiment will undergo a period of  5 days without heating (Post HW1) following the natural water temperature. This experimental protocol will be repeated one more time with the corresponding periods denoted HW2 and Post HW2. In this way, the planktonic communities will be submitted to 2 consecutive periods of heatwaves and Post heatwaves and the results will be compared with those of Control mesocosms based on the daily sampling of chemical (nutrients, etc.), physical (light, temperature, etc.) and biological (plankton diversity, etc.) parameters, continuous high-frequency sensor measurements (temperature, conductivity, underwater light, dissolved oxygen and fluorescence of chlorophyll a), as well as the key ecological processes like Gross Primary Production, Respiration, Net Community Production, Growth and Loss of phytoplankton. Finally, based on the results the resistance, resilience and recovery of the planktonic communities will be estimated.

We invite all colleagues with an interest in investigating the plankton communities or processes in particularly those topics that the local team does not study like zooplankton, plankton parasites, virioplankton or preferential nutrient assimilation by different groups of phytoplankton or bacteria, biogeochemical cycles, detrital particles including Transparent Exopolymer Particles (TEP) and several other topics. It is also an occasion to test new methods to study the plankton food web components or functioning like deployment of underwater camera or cytometry to study large and small plankton, or other underwater instruments like in situ Fast repetition fluorometer to study photosynthesis, etc. Graduate students at different levels (Master, Ph.D., etc.) are very welcome for training and participating in this experiment, all trainees will be supervised by the local team. International scientists and students are invited to contact the local scientists (francesca.vidussi@cnrs.fr and behzad.mostajir@umontpellier.fr) for propositions to participate in this experiment.

The English Channel and the North Sea are diverse ecosystems, influenced by adjacent sea areas. Strong physical forcing – swells, winds, waves, fronts, gyres, tidal currents and high riverine inputs – control advection and dispersion of nutrients, pollutants, particulate matter and plankton. The areas are characterized by intense seasonal primary production, local eutrophication and harmful algal blooms. The region also represents a significant economic zone where several human activities, fisheries, waste disposal, oil drilling, transportation, coastal defence, offshore wind farms, and recreation, take place.

Understanding the fluxes and balances of energy, materials and ecosystem dynamics is still patchy at best and is important in understanding primary production, eutrophication events and algal blooms. These in turn are important for economic and recreational activities.

The JERICO-S3 project has established 4 innovative Pilot Supersites for coastal monitoring that aim to fill gaps in understanding coastal marine environments. One of the key focuses of the North Sea and English Channel Pilot Supersite is to improve understanding of the interconnected forces that govern energy budget, material fluxes, balances, and the factors directly controlling ecosystem dynamics.   

To achieve this, 9 specific regional scientific topics and actions have been defined, including harmonized observations of regional carbon fluxes, plankton biomass, diversity, and productivity dynamics, riverine input to the North Sea, data integration, identification of gaps in observations, products and support to the EU directives and ecosystem management and Eutrophication Status Assessments, as well as interaction with other JERICO Pilot Supersites and European RIs.

To begin to address these specific topics and actions, the team has:

• Started to Integrate the data from various sources. The collections are used to ground-truth Integrated Observation Systems with conventional situ data (CTD casts, sampling with Nishkin bottles and nets) to harmonize observations, cross-validate the data, find technological observation gaps, and facilitate effective scientific data use.
• Started to collect a continuous time series of plankton diversity, biomass, and behaviour in the North Sea near Helgoland using a CPICS plankton and particle imager. The CPICS plankton and particle imager, which is equipped with CTD and oxygen sensors and ADCP has been operational since July 2021. The imager is maintained jointly by Hereon and AWI.
• Co-organised the 10th Ferrybox workshop for validating and harmonising the methods used. The virtual event was hosted by SMHI and Fjordexport Heinke Expedition in March 2021, in collaboration with Hereon and GEOMAR.
• Started to establish a measurement station in Tesperhude at the Elbe river. This is a joint collaborative activity by JERICO-S3 and the DANUBIUS-RI, which is expected to be operational in early spring 2022.

What’s next?

Workshop on data mining for integrated observation systems; on the 18th of October 2021, Webinar “Theoretical approach” (Session 1)

Shared actions between partners within a Pilot Supersite and between the Supersites, including the study of pCO₂ variabilities development (Ship of Opportunity SOP approach), optimisation of nutrient fluxes assessment along the land to sea continuum, development of Plankton Imaging and Machine Learning techniques, including specific research cruises in spring 2022, and develop the Ecosystem and Eutrophication modelling capacity.

Collaborations with other projects or initiatives 

The English Channel / North Sea PSS activities are strongly linked with other projects such as:

• S3-EUROHAB France England Interreg project. The project develops a web-based Harmful Algal Bloom and Water Quality alert system that uses satellite data to improve monitoring of these parameters/phenomena.
• French CPER MARCO project and mainly its first scientific axis devoted to the Observation and Environmental status assessment.
• The German MOSES project the Modular Observation Solutions for Earth Systems is run in the Elbe River and the coastal North Sea.
• DANUBIUS: the connection with this RI builds a major link to riverine and terrestrial data and processes.
• COSYNA: data availability for the NSea PSS, provided via the Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas Data portal.
• Ecotaxa: project at Hereon (Germany) is developing a data pipeline with IFREMER and LOV for including their plankton images in the Ecotaxa database.

About the JERICO-S3 Pilot Supersites

JERICO-S3 will provide regionalised innovative monitoring and science strategies at 4 Pilot Supersites in The Gulf of Finland, the North-western Mediterranean, The North Sea and the English Channel and the Cretan Sea.

The Pilot Supersites (PSSs) will be established and tested during a short implementation period (January 2021 to August 2022) to demonstrate how transnationally and trans-institutionally integrated multidisciplinary and multiplatform observations add value to our ability to answer the multiple key scientific and social challenges that the coastal ocean is facing.

Find out more

Following successful deployment and testing in December 2020, the Helgoland Underwater Observatory (HUWO) equipped with a CPICS plankton and particle imager as well as CTD, oxygen sensor and ADCP, is now fully operational. This structure is one key element of the JERICO-RI North Sea Pilot Supersite (PSS) and is maintained jointly by Hereon (formerly HZG, K.O. Möller) and AWI (P. Fischer).

The HUWO’s main element is a lander structure, which can be programmed to move vertically through the water column with remotely controlled winches, utilising the buoyancy of floats attached to its outer edges for the upward movement and straps connected to the winch and anchored to a base on the seafloor to move down. Cameras and sensors are mounted on this vertical profiler. Utilising this set-up, a continuous time-series of plankton diversity, biomass, and behaviour in the North Sea near Helgoland is currently being collected.

All Images are sent in real-time to shore and are classified automatically using AI and different machine learning approaches. These observations allow conclusions regarding the biodiversity, impact of climate change, ecosystem productivity and the occurrence of invasive species at the PSS.

The HUWO is located in the Margate experimental field at a water depth of up to 10 m (tidal range around 2.5 m). Additional physical, meteorological and chemical data collected in the same area can be closely associated with data collected at the HUWO.

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In the frame of JERICO-S3, the Balearic Islands Coastal Observing and Forecasting System (SOCIB) facilitates continuous and open virtual access to coastal ocean data through the SOCIB Thredds data server.

This free-of-charge data server allows users to explore and access SOCIB Data Repository through a variety of standard services such as OPeNDAP protocol, Web Map Service, Web Coverage Service & NetCDF Subset Services. It is intended for scientists and R&D developers, among others, to download and visualize SOCIB’s ocean observation and forecast data.

See more

Massive blooms of cyanobacteria occur practically every summer in the Baltic Sea. They cover large areas of the sea during July-August and have a substantial influence on marine services, e.g., tourism and recreation, as well as on the ecosystem.

The Gulf of Finland Pilot Supersite promotes transnational observations of these blooms using multiple platforms and technologies. The observations aim at better real-time monitoring, forecasting and modelling of toxic cyanobacterial blooms.

The unmanned Utö atmospheric and marine research station maintained by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) and the Marine Research Centre of Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), at the edge of the open Baltic Sea is the cornerstone of the Gulf of Finland Pilot Supersite.

During our recent visit to Utö in June, we prepared our sensors to observe the forthcoming bloom and checked sediment traps, which were deployed close to the Utö field station.

Optical and imaging sensors provide real-time information on the onset and development of the bloom. Automated imaging data is relayed to cloud services, where species identification with AI algorithms is done in near-real-time. The data is used also in the national algae reviews by SYKE.

The sediment traps estimate carbon flux to the seafloor and pCO₂ measurements provide data on fluxes between the air and the sea. The data combination allows us to evaluate the effects of cyanobacterial blooms on the carbon balance in the Baltic Sea.

During our visit, dedicated experiments were carried out to better understand the trophic interactions in plankton communities, as well as to determine the pathways of dissolved organic carbon in the system.

Our next visit to Utö is in July. Hopefully, it hits the development of the main cyanobacterial bloom, as our plan is to perform hands-on experiments to support the unattended observations in resolving the mysterious life of these blooms.       

About the JERICO-S3 Pilot Supersites

JERICO-S3 will provide regionalised innovative monitoring and science strategies at 4 Pilot Supersites in The Gulf of Finland, the North-western Mediterranean, The North Sea and the English Channel and the Cretan Sea.

The Pilot Supersites (PSSs) will be established and tested during a short implementation period (January 2021 to August 2022) to demonstrate how transnationally and trans-institutionally integrated multidisciplinary and multiplatform observations add value to our ability to answer the multiple key scientific and social challenges that the coastal ocean is facing.

Find out more

The successful JERICO-RI S3 Transnational Access (TA) fist call in 2020 resulted in 19 accepted projects with 10 marine observation hosting facilities. This TA call connected marine researchers of 14 nationalities to facilities in 7 JERICO-RI partner countries.

The accepted projects will use 10 of the extensive range of multi-disciplinary facilities offered by the JERICO-RI, including cabled observatories, gliders and AUV, multi-platform facilities, fixed platforms, and calibration labs.

A short summary of the projects as they finalise contracts and begin research in the coming months is given below.

Note: Due to COVID-19 related delays, some projects are in the last steps of finalising and will be added shortly. 

The Second JERICO-S3 TA Call closed in 2021 and project proposals are currently being reviewed. A third call will be announced in 2022.

JERICO-S3 TA Programme JERICO-RI Facilities

EC Ocean Observation event (18 June 2021, 13:30-17:00 CEST): OCEAN OBSERVING TECHNOLOGY: OPTIMISING EUROPEAN CAPABILITY & OCEAN OBSERVING GAPS AND REQUIREMENTS

Event organised by the EC Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Maritime Innovation, Marine Knowledge and Investment, and co-organised by the EMODnet Secretariat, European Marine Board, EuroGOOS and Copernicus Marine Service.

The event was composed of two sessions:

1. OCEAN OBSERVING TECHNOLOGY: OPTIMISING EUROPEAN CAPABILITY
2. OCEAN OBSERVING GAPS AND REQUIREMENTS

With 131 people registered we had 97 people connected at any one time, the event brought together Ocean Observing experts, Marine Technology experts, Marine Research Infrastructures, wider Marine/maritime industry, wider policy (e.g. Regional Sea Conventions), European policymakers, European Investment Bank, International (e.g. Ocean Enterprise), and more.

You can find all the speakers’ presentations (in PDF) on the EC Maritime Forum article.

The graphic recordings from Session 1 and Session 2 are now available on the EMODnet Open Conference virtual exhibition which you can access through the event website, or through the public link.

EMODnet Open Conference virtual exhibition

On 16th June 2021, the European Marine Board (EMB) launched its policy briefing for Sustaining in situ Ocean Observations in the Age of the Digital Ocean.

The new European Marine Board (EMB) Policy Brief focuses on in situ Ocean observations and highlights their benefits, funding and governance challenges, and the investment needed for their transformation and sustainability.

As attention is now being given at the highest political levels to actions and solutions that reverse the cycle of degradation of the Ocean’s health and productive capacity, long-term sustained monitoring infrastructures, such as the JERICO-RI, become increasingly important to the design and evaluation of the impact of these actions and solutions. In addition, as the ocean is digitised, into so-called Digital Twins, there will be a need for a continuous feed of data from in situ monitoring infrastructures.

The Policy Brief proposes the recognition of in situ Ocean observations as enabling infrastructures generating public-good data, which would deliver fit-for-purpose data and information supporting sustainable development, the ‘Green Deal’ and sustainable blue economy. It also recommends that a process should be established to review the costs and performance of the system and map its economic and environmental benefits. It should build on European and global coordination efforts, create partnerships with the private sector and civil society, and be integrated with satellite observations and models. which highlights the critical needs and benefits of a fit-for-purpose business and funding model for systematic, sustained ocean observations on National, European and Global levels.

This policy brief is the result of a Working Group established by the European Marine Board to address this topic, in light of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, and the start of the Age of the Digital Ocean. This new Policy Brief aims to inform national and European policymakers, funders, and governance influencers; the G7 and G20; and UN agencies such as the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO.

More Information Full Policy Brief

An in situ mesocosm experiment to simulate a “terrestrial input of extreme event” in coastal waters has been carried out from 03 May for several weeks in the frame of the French ANR national project entitled: Microbial responses to terrestrial dissolved organic matter (DOMt) input in freshwater and marine ecosystems in a changing environment (RESTORE, National Coordinator: Fabien Joux).

This national marine mesocosm experiment was also opened to AQUACOSM-plus Transnational Access  (TA) which permitted and funded the participation of Dr Carolina Cantoni from the Institute of Marine Sciences (CNR-ISMAR) of Trieste (Italy) in this mesocosm experiment to realise her project entitled “Dynamics of Total Alkalinity and pH during the Marine RESTORE Project”.

As Dr Cantoni is one of the members of the European project JERICO-S3 (Towards a joint European research infrastructure network for coastal observatories), and as this mesocosm experiment realising in the Pilot Supersite of North-Western Mediterranean Sea of JERICO-S3, her participation to AQUACOSM-plus TA serving also to establish for the first time a synergy between JERICO-S3 observing community and AQUACOSM-plus mesocosm experimenting community.

Behzad Mostajir and Francesca Vidussi: leaders of marine RESTORE mesocosm experiment (Behzad.Mostajir@umontpellier.fr & Francesca.Vidussi@cnrs.fr).

Post by: Dr Carolina Cantoni (carolina.cantoni@ts.ismar.cnr.it)

All Atlantic COASTal observing and technology NETwork – AA-COASTNET is a side event of the ALL ATLANTIC 2021 conference.

The side event is organised by the JERICO-S3 project coordinator, Laurent Delauney (IFREMER, France) and Moacyr Araujo (UFPE, Brasil).

The event will take place on the: 

2nd June at 13:00 – 15:00 UTC (15:00 – 17:00 CEST), the Azores, Portugal

The AA-COASTNET joint action (AANChOR AA- MARINET joint actions package) will establish a network dedicated to Marine Coastal Observation with countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean.

This event will showcase the long-term goals of AA- COASTNET, to optimise the appropriate use and sharing of research infrastructures to achieve the Belém and Galway statement objectives.

The core members of the network will share know-how and strategies to increase operational efficiencies to better answer societal and policy needs.

The AA-COASTNET side event will lay the foundation for sustained cooperation between coastal observing programmes/initiatives along the Atlantic Ocean, from the Arctic to Antarctica.

Table 1: Marine coastal observation programmes and initiatives that form the All Atlantic coastal network (AA-COASTNET)

Download the AA-COASTNET joint action for further information:

AA-COASTNET All Atlantic COASTal Observing And Technology NETwork AANChOR Joint Actions (560.5 KiB)

Find Out More Register Now

Our final Facility of the Week is the E1-M3A station from POSEIDON!

As always, the facilities featured over the last few weeks are available for the JERICO-S3 TA 2^nd call, which is closing 31^st May 2021. Please be sure to get in contact with the host facility and fill out an application form to submit to Jerico.TA@marine.ie before the closing date.

Facility: E1-M3A station POSEIDON

Location: Greece

The E1-M3A station is located 24 nautical miles north of the island of Crete anchored at a depth of 1,400 meters and it has been part of the POSEIDON network since 2007. The Cretan Sea is an area of intermediate and/or deep-water formation dominated by multiple-scale circulation patterns and intense mesoscale variability. Such areas of water formation are key locations for the monitoring of the Mediterranean biochemical functioning. The wintertime convective mixing of the water column and the exchanges of water and mass (diluted, suspended or near-bed) with the adjacent Levantine and Ionian Seas through the straits of the Cretan Arc, make the Cretan Sea the poorer in nutrients and the richer in oxygen among the principal basins of the Mediterranean Sea. The mooring is currently the most developed physical-biogeochemical observing site of the POSEIDON system collecting CTD data down to 1000m, Chl-A, DO and turbidity data for the first 100m of the water column while the recent addition of surface pH and pCO2 sensors further expanded the biochemical component of the station.

For more information about the POSEIDON E1-M3A station click here and on their website.

Please contact the facility provider for more details on the usage of the infrastructure and cooperation from the facility.

This week we are highlighting the Slocum G2 Glider from Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas (COSYNA)!

The glider is one of our unique infrastructures from the wide range of regional facilities that are available for the JERICO-S3 TA 2^nd call, which is open until 31^st May 2021. Please contact the facility provider for more details on the usage of the infrastructure. All applications or queries can be submitted to Jerico.TA@marine.ie.

Facility: COSYNA Slocum G2 Glider

Location: Germany

The Cosyna glider (Slocum G2) has a maximum diving depth of i) 100 m for operations on the coastal shelf or, ii) 1000 m for deeper waters. The glider is equipped with the following sensors:

• Seabird pumped CTD
• Wetlabs sensors for optical backscatter (at 470, 532, 660 nm)
• Fluorescence
• coloured dissolved organic matter
• Rockland Scientific microstructure sensor (optional)

Typical mission endurance ranges from about 4 weeks with microstructure sensor to about 7 weeks without microstructure sensor. A decimated subset of data is available in near- real-time, whereas all data are available after glider recovery. The operational region is mostly the North Sea, but other areas could be considered as well.

More information on COSYNA can be found here and on their website.

Our second facility of the week is the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) station and ferryboxes in NORWAY!

We are highlighting a selection of our unique facilities from the wide range of regional facilities that are available for the JERICO-S3 TA 2^nd call which is open until 31^st May 2021. Email Jerico.TA@marine.ie with any queries.

Facility: NIVA Research Station and FerryBoxes

Location: Norway

The NIVA research station, located in Solbergstrand, performs large-scale experiments in marine ecology, sediment research, biogeochemistry, aquaculture and tests technology for treating ballast water. The research station offers calibration, validation, and testing services.

NIVA also offers Ferrybox routes for:

• coastal Norway (Bergen- Kirkenes, NO)
• eastern North Sea (Oslo, NO- Kiel, DE)
• North Atlantic (Hirtshals, DK-Seydisfjordur, IS)

Ferrybox systems include a core sensor package with thermosalinograph, inlet temperature sensor, oxygen, chl-a fluorescence, turbidity and system for water sampling; with additional sensors for PAH, pycocyanin, cDOM, pCO2, pH, and microplastics sampling units on some installations.

More information on NIVA research station and Ferryboxes can be found in the Transnational Access tab and on their website.

Please contact the facility provider for more details on usage of facility and cooperation at the infrastructure.

We’re introducing “Facility of the Week”!

Over the next few weeks, we will be highlighting a selection of our unique facilities from the wide range of regional facilities that are available for the JERICO-S3 TA 2^nd call, which is open until 31^st May 2021. Email Jerico.TA@marine.ie with any queries.

Facility: PLOCAN

Location: Spain

The Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN) is a multipurpose technical-scientific service infrastructure that provides support for research, technological development and innovation in the marine and maritime sectors, available to public and private users. PLOCAN offers both onshore and offshore experimental facilities and services which include:

• an ocean observatory for the continuous and real-time monitoring in fields such as the study of global change and ocean acidification, water-column and deep-sea ecosystems, ocean biogeochemistry and geophysics
• a test site for the research, demonstration and operation of marine technologies which provides a robust and secure underwater electric infrastructure to evacuate the generated energy to the power grid connection, and a control centre for data analysis
• a base for underwater vehicles that includes a series of underwater unmanned state-of-the-art technologies such as gliders, ROVs and AUVs
• an innovation hub offering efficient and high quality R&D&I project management services, as well as other user-oriented services technological and non-technological
• a training platform for institutions and enterprises.

Click here for more detailed information on PLOCAN and visit their website. Please contact the facility provider for more details on usage of the facility and cooperation at the infrastructure.

Join our quest!

In JERICO-S3, we continue our efforts towards measuring synchronously different environmental variables (especially biogeochemistry and biology) at high frequency and spatial resolution and filling observational gaps in under-sampled areas or periods. This helps to understand phytoplankton dynamics and distribution in coastal waters. Our task is to improve the readiness of ship-based and autonomous platform observing networks by guaranteeing their robustness, reliability, and long-term sustainability.

We are pleased to present you our questionnaire on in vivo fluorometry (single wavelength or multispectral) for phytoplankton biomass and pigmentary groups analysis.

This questionnaire (not longer than 15 minutes to fill) aims to collect the different practices followed by users and to help us define common best practice guidelines for in vivo fluorometry.  

Complete the questionnaire

The results will be presented and discussed during a virtual workshop by mid-June. All participants will be invited to join. 

Deadline July 20th, 2021.

Join our quest!

In JERICO-S3, we continue our efforts towards measuring synchronously different environmental variables (especially biogeochemistry and biology) at high frequency and spatial resolution and filling observational gaps in under-sampled areas or periods. This will help to understand plankton dynamics and distribution in coastal waters. Our task is to improve the readiness of ship-based and autonomous platform observing networks by guaranteeing their robustness, reliability, and long-term sustainability.

We are pleased to present you our questionnaire on automated imagery (in vivo/in situ, in vivo/in flow, in vitro) for plankton analysis.

This questionnaire (not longer than 15 minutes to fill) aims to collect the different practices followed by users and to help us define common best practice guidelines. 

Complete the questionnaire

The results will be presented and discussed during a virtual workshop by mid-June. All participants will be invited to join. 

Deadline July 20th, 2021.

The JERICO-S3 Research Infrastructure wishes to announce the 2^nd call of 3 Transnational Access funding calls to support a wide range of marine researchers by giving free of charge access to high-quality infrastructures and support services at unique multi-disciplinary sites consisting of a mix of gliders, fixed platforms, ferryboxes, cabled observatories, HF radar, benthic stations, and bio-sensors. The call is open for project proposals from 29^th March 2021 to 31^st May 2021.

Successful applicants will be able to carry out first-class experiments on one or more of the multi-disciplinary, multi-platform coastal observing systems thus maximising impact for science, environmental managers, industries, and other relevant stakeholders. Users will have access to the best available equipment and knowledgeable personnel at each of the facilities to enable improved research outputs and scientific excellence.

In this 2^nd call, JERICO-S3 would like to highlight and support the collaboration between JERICO-RI TA facilities and AQUACOSM-plus infrastructures. As a specific action, JERICO-S3 and AQUACOSM-plus study jointly how extreme events affect plankton ecosystems, by applying both observations on natural communities and by experimentation at selected sites (Cretan Sea, North-West Mediterranean and Baltic Sea). JERICO-S3 TA projects supporting these actions are especially welcomed and strongly encourage the involvement between the RI-RI facilities.

Between June 2020 and January 2024, we will offer more than 8800 days of Transnational Access (TA) to more than 40 different integrated marine coastal observation facilities located at 21 JERICO-RI partners throughout Europe. Detailed information about each JERICO-RI facility, technical design and available resources etc. can be found here.

To determine the capabilities and service offerings of each facility we strongly encourage all TA applicants to contact the respective facility providers as early as possible in the proposal process about possible usage of facilities and cooperation at the infrastructures. Please ensure that the objectives and aims of the call are fully addressed before submitting a proposal for Transnational Access. The TA application form and Guidelines can be found online.

This is a unique opportunity for scientists and engineers to avail of high-quality, interlinked instrumented infrastructures operating in coastal and shelf-sea areas for carrying out research and/or testing activities.

Contact JERICO.TA (at) marine.ie for more details

The Division of Marine Physics (DMP) at TalTech recently recovered the Keri cabled bottom profiling station, part of the Gulf of Finland Pilot Supersite of JERICO-RI.

The Keri profiling station is deployed on the seabed at 110 m depth year-round. The autonomous profiler regularly samples the water column from the bottom to the sea surface several times a day.

The station is expected to be deployed back to the sea after maintenance in February 2021.

In addition, near bottom nutrient analysers were recovered after 6 months of deployment. 

Follow DMP here.

JERICO-S3 is pleased to publicise the Announcement of Transnational Access of AQUACOSM-plus European project on MEDIMEER infrastructure. This marine in situ mesocosm experiment, which will be carried out in the Pilot Supersite of North-Western Mediterranean Sea, will also serve to improve synergies between Jerico-S3 (Marine coastal observatories, facilities, expertise and data for Europe) observing community and AQUACOSM-plus mesocosm experimenting community. It is opened from 09 February and will be closed on 26 February (13h CET).

The call includes Transnational Access 8 additional marine and freshwater infrastructures.

Further information can be found on the AQUACOSM-plus project website. 

Full details of MEDIMEER facility and the Transnational Access available are available here. 

During the first week of February 2021, the Balearic Islands Coastal Observing and Forecasting System (SOCIB) has performed the oceanographic campaign “CANALES WINTER 2021” on board the Research Vessel SOCIB (R/V SOCIB). This campaign is part of the SOCIB “CANALES” endurance line and is also a contribution to JERICO-S3 EU funded infrastructure project. The aim is to further deepen the knowledge of state and variability of the Balearic Sea, consolidating and further developing scientific research.

The oceanographic cruise has performed two transects in the Mallorca Channel and two in the Ibiza Channel, two relevant enclaves in the Mediterranean Sea, in a biodiversity hotspot that allows researchers to understand the processes and complex inter-basin circulation and exchange of water masses, at a “choke point” in the cyclonic return flow before it exits into the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar. To that end, the campaign has involved the sampling of physical, chemical and biological parameters (CTD casts and water sampling). In addition, the SOCIB team on board R/V SOCIB has deployed two surface drifters (SVP-B) in the Ibiza Channel, within the framework of the Global Drifter Program (NOAA). Furthermore, samples of microplastics have been also collected in both channels to monitor the current status of the distribution of floating plastic debris in order to verify its correspondence with forecasting models.

As a part of the “CANALES” endurance line, the researchers have also performed a synchronized CTD cast with the current operating glider in the Ibiza channel to compare the data between glider and CTD.

This content was originally published on socib.es.

The first 2021 CANALES mission started last month with the successful launch of the G3 glider from the waters between Cala Figuera and the Dragonera Island.

The Balearic Islands Coastal Observing and Forecasting System (SOCIB) has launched the glider sdeep06 for the GFMR0109 mission, as part of the SOCIB permanent “CANALES” endurance line in the Balearic Sea. The field team aboard the Zodiac Hurricane 920, SOCIB I, has conducted the procedure of launching the glider without technical complications, despite the poor state of the sea. Currently, the glider has begun its mission that will last until March, collecting valuable oceanographic data from the surface to nearly a thousand meters deep and sending it via satellite.

The mission will perform two transects in the Mallorca Channel and eight in the Ibiza Channel, two relevant enclaves in the Mediterranean Sea, in a biodiversity hotspot that allows researchers to understand the processes and complex inter-basin exchange of water masses, before the cyclonic return flow exits into the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar. To that end, the mission will involve the sampling of physical, chemical and biological parameters: glider’s CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth), Eco Triplet (backscattering, fluorescence EX/EM), oxygen, and PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation).

The glider sdeep06, along with the other three that were added to SOCIB’s fleet in mid-2020, has been co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), within the framework of the Operational Programme of the Balearic Islands for the 2014-2020 programming period. These four G3 gliders are added to the two fully operational G2 gliders, and the seaglider, allowing SOCIB to complement its routine and strategic programme of glider endurance line in the Mediterranean Sea.

These gliders along with the SOCIB’s glider fleet are offered via competitive access for the scientific community, allowing to use high-quality autonomous underwater infrastructures operating in the coastal, shelf, and open sea areas for carrying out research, monitoring, and/or testing activities.

Web Link: Follow the glider in real-time

WebLinks:

SOCIB

Procedure of launching the glider: 03 Launching – EN – YouTube

Competitive Access:

https://socib.es/?seccion=gliderCompetitiveAccess&facility=gliderGeneralOverview

Follow the glider in real time: http://apps.socib.es/dapp/?status=active&platformtypes=glider

This content was originally published on socib.es. 

Join our effort!

In JERICO-S3, we continue our efforts towards measuring synchronously different variables (especially biogeochemistry and biology) and filling observational gaps in under-sampled areas to understand phytoplankton dynamics and distribution in coastal waters. Our task is to improve the readiness of ship-based and autonomous platform observing networks by guaranteeing their robustness, reliability, and long-term sustainability.

A questionnaire (not longer than 15 minutes to fill) aims to collect the different practices followed by the users and to define the best practices for in vivo automated (including online) flow cytometry. The results will be presented and discussed during a virtual workshop early next year. Participants will be invited to join through existing networks.

The questionnaire is available to complete online.

Deadline 8^th of January 2021.

During the first semester of 2020 Instituto Hidrográfico (IH, partner 19) completed the main stages of implementation of the Hidrografico+ ( https://geomar.hidrografico.pt ), the new web portal that will be used to provide user access to data, numerical forecasts and other information.

Developed and implemented by IH and Deimos, the Hidrografico+ web portal will be vehicle to JERICO-S3 Virtual Access to data collected by the real time monitoring infrastructure MONIZEE, operated by IH. At the present stage of development Hidrografico+ is providing access to the real-time data collected the observing systems that integrate MONIZEE; comprising multiparametric buoys, wave buoys, HF radars and tide gauges. Until the end of the 2020 the access will also be extended to the delay mode fully processed and quality controlled data. VA metrics based on Analytics (Grafana) are in course of implementation and should be fully operational by November2020.

The Jerico Research Infrastructure (www.jerico-ri.eu/) wishes to announce that the first of 3 Transnational Access funding calls to support a wide range of marine researchers by giving free of charge access to high-quality infrastructures and support services at unique multi-disciplinary marine coastal sites will be closing on November 16^th 2020 @5pm CET

Successful applicants will be able to carry out first-class experiments on multi-disciplinary, multi-platform coastal observing systems thus maximising impacts for science, environmental managers, industries and other relevant stakeholders.

Users accessing the Infrastructure will not only get access to the best available equipment and facilities for their needs, but also the  expert personnel. Having access to this detailed knowledge at each of the Facilities adds value for external users of the Infrastructure, improving research outputs and scientific excellence.

Between June 2020 and January 2024 will offer more than 8800 days of Transnational Access (TA) to more than 40 different integrated marine coastal observation facilities located at 21 Jerico RI partners throughout Europe. Detailed information about each Jerico RI facility, technical design and available resources etc. can be found here – ( https://www.jerico-ri.eu/ta/jerico-facilities-in-ta/)

To determine the capabilities and service offerings of each facility we strongly encourage all TA applicants to contact the respective facility providers – as soon as possible in the about usage of facilities and cooperation at the infrastructures. Please ensure that the objectives and aims of the call are fully addressed before submitting a proposal for Transnational Access. The TA application form and Guidelines can be found online https://www.jerico-ri.eu/ta/call-program/first-call/.

This is a unique opportunity for scientists and engineers to avail of high-quality, interlinked instrumented infrastructures operating in coastal and shelf-sea areas for carrying out research and/or testing activities.

Contact JERICO.TA (at) marine.ie for more details

A new oceanic monitoring station using multi-sensor platform is supplying data, augmenting the Hidrografico and JERICO Research Infrastructure (JERICO-RI) capabilities.

On the 29 April 2020, a team from Instituto Hidrografico (IH), Portugal, deployed a new multi-parametric buoy offshore from Sines, off the southwest coast of the Portuguese mainland. The mission was conducted by a team from IH onboard NRP “Almirante Gago Coutinho” during one of the regular missions for maintenance of the multi-parametric buoys systems, which is still ongoing.

Installed over a bottom of 1750m, this buoy measures waves, meteorological parameters, water temperature and currents in the upper ocean. It is also equipped with an oil-spill alert sensor and a real time hydrophone for acoustical monitoring developed in previous SUBECO project.

The real time data provided by this new buoy is already accessible through the web page of Instituto Hidrográfico. The buoy, now deployed, increases the total number of multi-parametric buoys that presently integrate the MONIZEE (Monitoring the Portuguese EEZ) infrastructure to 5 in total. MONIZEE is operated by Instituto Hidrográfico and is part of JERICO-RI.

Find the ENVRI statement on their website.

The series of EU-funded JERICO projects starts a third edition with the launch of the JERICO-S3 project.

JERICO-S3: From 1st February 2020 to 31st January 2024

JERICO-S3 will provide a state-of-the-art, fit-for-purpose and visionary observational Research Infrastructure (RI), expertise and high-quality data on European coastal and shelf seas. The project will support world-class research, high-impact innovation and a window of European excellence worldwide.

It will be structured regionally around 4 Pilot Super Sites (PSS) and 5 Integrated Regional Sites (IRS). Through this innovative structure, JERICO-S3 is targeting a more integrative approach to better observe the coastal ecosystem, raising up the scientific excellence and developing the potential of the different sites, with consideration of the regional and local ecosystems.

The preliminary development of an e-infrastructure (VRE, Virtual Research Environment) will support scientists and users by offering access to dedicated services and help progress on the design of the RI and its strategy for sustainability. Major user-driven improvements will be realised in terms of observing the complexity of coastal seas and continuous observation of the biology, access to facilities, data and services, best practices and performance indicators, innovative monitoring strategies, and cooperation with other European RIs. 

Laurent Delauney is the project Coordinator and Ingrid Puillat is the Scientific Coordinator, both of whom are based in IFREMER, France.

Building a Pan European Sustainable Research Infrastructure: The JERICO-RI

JERICO-S3 follows 2 previous EU funded projects: JERICO-FP7 (2011-2014) and JERICO-NEXT (2015-2019). JERICO stands for Joint European Research Infrastructure of Coastal Observatories. The previous projects have also been coordinated by Ifremer, France. The projects aim at improving collaboration and harmonisation between coastal observatories in Europe. The key objective is to build a pan European sustainable Research Infrastructure: the JERICO-RI.

The JERICO community (39 partners and 17 EU countries today) is working together to provide powerful and structured services to observe and monitor the complex marine coastal seas with an ecosystem approach, offering state of the art capabilities to:

• Support excellence in marine coastal research and cutting edge innovation in the domain, 
• Access the research  observation infrastructure for international science collaboration, 
• Access to high quality marine FAIR data, 
• Provide expertise and best practices for an integrated multidisciplinary and interoperable system, 
• Address societal and policy needs in the related domain and foster innovation potential and involving industry.

One of the fundamental characteristics of the JERICO-RI is that, rather than focusing on a single specific scientific question, it addresses a complex host of interrelated scientific issues regarding the marine coastal and shelf dynamics and environment. It will support national policy bodies to apply national environmental policies and EU ones like the MSFD by benefiting of the experience and know-how shared with other nations, specific services to get information, data, practices and expertise from a single shopping point.

What next ? 

In parallel to the JERICO-S3 project, a study of “how” to develop the JERICO-RI into a pan-European sustainable Research Infrastructure will be necessary. It aims at developing further the structuration frame and define a full structure that will interconnect the physical systems with the virtual part (as an extension of the pilot e-JERICO). The full design will consider the national strategies and visions to optimise the value of JERICO-RI for nations. The following steps are foreseeable today: 

• A Design Study (proposal under evaluation – 2020-2023). It will design the place of JERICO-RI as the coastal component of EOOS. Above all JERICO-S3 will make a strong case for the national engagement on a business plan to propose at the end of 2023 a legal entity for an organised RI. 
• An application to the ESFRI 2021 roadmap (2020-2021, call for proposals on May 5th 2020). A key evaluation at the European level to validate the next potential step:
• A Preparatory Phase (only hypothetically, 2023-2027), preparing the implementation of the coastal RI in a continuum from land to ocean RIs in coordination with other ESFRI RIs in the marine domain. It would logically be followed by an Implementation Phase if all goes as planned. 

https://openscience.cefas.co.uk/phytoops_tool

Phytoplankton are the basis of the marine ecosystem and as such in-situ data on phytoplankton abundance, biomass and community composition are vital for scientific understanding of ecosystem processes, ecosystem assessments and validation of modelling and earth observation data. Over the last few years, biological sensors have been developed and deployed successfully on buoys, research vessels, container ships and ferries. These measure the diversity, biomass and the physiological state of the phytoplankton at high frequency, generating data on line. However, the quantity of data produced as well as their differing format compared to traditional approaches makes it difficult to integrate these data types into existing data infrastructure. PHYTO-OPS (phytoplankton observations, products and services), is an R shiny application designed to make biological data collected during regular surveys on board the RV Cefas Endeavour around the UK more accessible, by visualising the data and improving their interoperability to inform experts in phytoplankton ecology such as remote sensing scientists, modellers, data managers and monitoring agencies. This application is now available through the Cefas website and as a product in the JERICO-NEXT catalogue, with the data available on the Cefas Data Hub.

Benthic Non Native Species Tool is now available! (https://openscience.cefas.co.uk/invasive_species/)

Many marine stakeholders need to assess NNS distribution, including offshore developers (biosecurity plans), government (for purposes of MSFD assessment in descriptor 2) and the public. The non-native species tool provides a simple, up-to-date means of assessing NNS distribution. Developed during JERICO-NEXT, the Benthic Non-Native Species (NNS) tool uses the R-shiny application. It allows users to map the distribution of 20 benthic non-native species across the UK seas, using data from 777 benthic surveys (33,198 samples) collected over a period of 47 years (1969 to 2016). These data are publicly available from the Cefas data Hub (https://doi.org/10.14466/CefasDataHub.34).

Paula Oset, Simon Claus, Klaas Deneudt, Elisabeth Debusschere

An important objective of JERICO-Next has been to promote a stronger integration of biological data within the observation networks in order to address pelagic and benthic biodiversity questions. This biological information can be gathered with established methods but also with innovative observation techniques capable of delivering operational (near real-time) data. Part of the work package on data management (WP5) in JERICO-Next focuses on making sure that the biological (meta)data collected through the project aligns with the international standards that make possible for the data to flow to the European Data Infrastructures.

During the recent years, large marine biological data systems have been created to store, archive and integrate traditional marine biological data, e.g. (Eur)OBIS, EMODnet Biology. In WP5 we described the general data management practices, data standards (Darwin Core) and quality check procedures that are currently applied for biodiversity data in these European Data Infrastructures. We have also inventoried the different data types that will result from the JERICO-Next project, making a distinction between the more mature ones and those data collected with emerging technologies. The current standards can be easily applied to the pelagic or benthic data collected with traditional sampling methods. However, some data derived from developing technologies and sensors was not fully ready to be ingested by the existing marine biological data networks in an operational way.

Taking advantage of synergies with complementary projects, we have explored the possibility to adapt and expand the current data schemas in order to facilitate the integration of this novel data on pelagic and benthic biodiversity. For example, the SeaDataCloud project holds a specific task to work on the ingestion, validation, long-term storage and access of Flow Cytometer (FCM) data. In this context, new controlled vocabularies have been developed by the FCM community to store the cluster and optical properties data from FCM observations. Besides, a transition from Darwin Core Occurrence to the Darwin Core Event schema has recently been implemented by (Eur)OBIS and EMODnet Biology, allowing for more flexibility and the possibility to accommodate additional data types.

A description of biological data collected throughout the project can be found at the Data access section of JERICO-Next website. A metadata record is available for each dataset in the EMODnet Biology catalogue, where the characteristics, state and accessibility and terms of use of the data are documented. These metadata records can also be accessed using a map interface where the geographical scope of each dataset is displayed. Once a dataset is fully processed, harmonized and QCed, direct access to the data is provided in the metadata record, where a link to an archived version of the raw data might also be. Once the data is integrated in EMODnet Biology, it is also findable using the data download toolbox. This way, we facilitate the exchange of the data generated by the project between different users, including the project’s partners.

J. Schulz-Stellenfleth (HZG), E. Jansen (CMCC)

The accurate estimation and forecast of biochemical transports in the coastal ocean is a key factor for the understanding of ecological processes and the optimisation of decision processes in coastal management. Due to the spatially heterogeneous structure of most coastal seas, the respective current fields are usually complex and often contain a large variety of small-scale features, which are relevant for many applications. Today’s state of the art numerical models have reached a level, where the most dominant physical processes are taken into account and where the grid resolutions can be chosen small enough to cover a large range of spatial scales. However, there still exists a big number of systematic and stochastic error sources in these models, such as inaccurate bathymetries, insufficient implementation of turbulence dynamics, or errors in the atmospheric and open boundary forcing. 

HF radar systems are so far the only instruments suitable for operational use, which provide ocean current information with large coverage and at the same time high spatial and temporal sampling. The use of these observations in combination with numerical model information is therefore of high interest both for model optimisation and forecast improvements.  One of the very interesting aspects of the work in JERICO_NEXT is that coastal seas with very different dynamical characteristics are investigated within a common framework. In this particular task CMCC and HZG were concerned with the assimilation of HF radar data in the Adriatic Sea and in the German Bight respectively. The dynamics of the Adriatic Sea is strongly influenced by baroclinic processes and complicated interactions between the ocean and atmosphere. The German Bight on the other hand is extremely shallow and strongly dominated by tides.

Because of the different dynamics it was clear right from the beginning that there is no single data assimilation method that is optimal for all European coastal seas. The key factors to be taken into account in the design of an assimilation scheme are

• The dominant error sources in the numerical models
• The temporal and spatial correlation length of these errors

For the German Bight the bathymetry and bottom roughness parameterisations are of particular concern. Because of the domination by tides, the memory of the German Bight system is very short and the information provided by measurements is usually lost relatively quickly. The processes in the Adriatic Sea on the other hand, take place on a much long time scale and mixing mechanism play a much more important role. The impact time of observations in a data assimilation system is therefore also usually longer in the Adriatic than in the German Bight.

Fig. 1A shows as an example a circulation pattern in the Western Adriatic Sea as predicted by the Adriatic-Ionian Forecasting System (AIFS) for June 1, 2017. One can see a large variety of different boundary currents and ocean eddies. Fig. 1B shows tidal ellipses estimated using model data from the Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas (COSYNA) modelling system. The ellipses refer to the 12.4 hourly M2 tide with the colours indicating the sense of rotation of the current vectors. The grey isolines refer to the bathymetry and indicate that the currents in the German Bight are in many places strongly steered by topographic features like tidal inlets.

Fig. 2 shows the geometry of HF radar measurements taken in the Adriatic (A) and the German Bight (B). Radar data from four antenna stations in the Adriatic and three antenna stations in the German Bight were used. For illustration, Fig. 2 A and B show radial current measurement obtained from a single station (Mattinata and Büsum).

Two different approaches were used to combine model data and observations to optimise estimates for transports:

• An Ensemble Kalman filter was used for the Adriatic to assimilate HF radar data in combination with complementary salinity and temperature observations.
• A variational 4DVAR approach was used for the German Bight to assimilate HF radar data in combination with tide gauge measurements.

As an illustration Fig. 3a shows the modification of the surface current field in the Adriatic after one assimilation cycle for the zonal component. Fig. 3b shows the relative improvement of the zonal current component in the German Bight achieved by assimilation of current and water level information.

There were two main lessons learned from the work done on HF radar data assimilation in the Adriatic and the German Bight:

• The assimilation schemes have to be adjusted to the specific errors and time scales of the model system.
• It is often beneficial to assimilate measurements in addition to the HF radar surface current observations.

For the Adriatic additional temperature and salinity measurements provided valuable information on important baroclinic processes and for the German Bight the use of tide gauge data further improved the estimation of vertically integrated transports.

As an outlook one can say that the data assimilation schemes, which were optimised for HF radar measurements in two very different coastal ocean systems, are suitable to improve transport estimates. One has to be aware however that these methods have to be adjusted continuously in particular concerning new developments in the model community, e.g., the trend towards higher spatial resolutions, two-way nested models, unstructured grid models, or coupling of various model compartments. This model evolution process is for example very visible in the CMEMS system, which can be a good guideline for future developments in the data assimilation sector. With the increasing spatial resolutions covered by CMEMS, HF radar observation will be of growing relevance for this European infrastructure concerning both validation and data assimilation.

At the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019, NIVA hosted two Transnational Access (TNA) activities at NIVA’s Research Station at Solbergstrand (NRS). NRS is located about 40 km south of Oslo on the eastern rocky shores of the Oslo fjord. Nearby is the small coastal village of Drøbak – sleepy during the winter and bustling during the long, warm days of summer. There are 10 laboratories at NRS that include one recently refurbished wet lab which hosted both TNA activities: Intercomparison of instruments for carbonate system measurements (INTERCARBO) and In-situ comparison of nitrate sensors (NitrateComp).

INTERCARBO was a week-long international activity led by Lauri Laakso from the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) who was joined by colleagues from Finland, Germany, Italy, and France. In sum, there were nearly 20 instruments that measured different variables of the carbonate system: carbon dioxide, pH, and total alkalinity. The goal of the activity was to compare measurements made by different labs using different sensors on the same seawater samples. During the activity, measurements using the various instruments were carried out in 1 m3 tanks that were filled with seawater at salinity 5, 20, and 35 and carbon dioxide values at approximately 200, 400, and 800 parts per million (ppm). The measurements were made on seawater at 10 °C as well as 20 °C. The lab air temperature was held at the same temperature as the seawater temperature, so the conditions in the lab for the first half of the week were quite cool! In all, the group managed to create and make measurements on 17 unique combinations of salinity, temperature, and carbon dioxide concentrations! Most nights included a group dinner in the meeting room at NRS which was followed by late night measurements in the wet lab!

During INTERCARBO, the NitrateComp TNA activity began with a visit from Mario Esposito from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany. This activity, which is six months in length, installed two different types of sensors for the measuring nitrate – an important nutrient for algae in the ocean. The two sensors that were installed were a miniature lab-on-a-chip nitrate analyzer and an optical nitrate sensor called an OPUS (manufactured by TriOS). The sensors were mounted in a seawater tank continuously filled from a 60 m intake pipe in the Oslo Fjord. In addition to measuring nitrate, salinity and temperature is also being continuously measured. Surface seawater from the Oslo fjord will also be measured later in the activity to test the performance of the two sensors during spring/summer when biologically activity is high and nitrate concentrations are expected to be more dynamic.

Please visit the TNA page for the NIVA Research Station for more information.

Dr. Gisbert Breitbach, Institute of Coastal Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht

Within the framework of the JERICO-NEXT EU project, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht (HZG) has recently upgraded the FerryBox database for permanent routes to an European FerryBox database (http://ferrydata.hzg.de). Besides the previously already existing routes, including Hurtigrouten (IMR/Norway), Helsinki-Travemünde (SYKE/Finland) and Peraues-Irakleion (HCMR/Greece) three new routes performed by NIVA/Norway have been added in November (Hurtigrouten, Oslo-Kiel and Tromsø-Longyearbyen). All routes now automatically provide the data in near-real time (within days).

As an additional service the data are exported from the database in netCDF format using an Opendap web service (e.g. http://opendap.hzg.de/opendap/data/cosyna/ferrybox_niva/contents.html) for delivering the specific data to the corresponding ROOSes of Copernicus Marine Services (CMEMS) as well as EMODnet. Furthermore, a SOS V2 web service based on the 52N service can be accessed via the web interface for visualization, which is also available from outside the database (see figure or SOS V2 link).

Marta Bolgan¹, Eric Parmentier^{1 ,}Marc Torner², Albert Miralles², Manu Rubio², Pau Balaguer², Verónica Ortiz², Joaquín Tintoré²

¹ Laboratory of Functional and Evolutionary Morphology (Department of Biology, Ecology & Evolution), FOCUS, AFFISH-RC, Institut de Chimie B6c, University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium, ² SOCIB (Sistema d’Observació Costaner de les Illes Balears), Parc Bit, Naorte, Bloc A 2ºp. pta,  3 Palma de Mallorca SPAIN. E-07121. Tel: +034 971 43 99 98. CIF: Q0700535H

The DEFPAM-G experiment recently started (04/02/2019 @ 11am, utc) in front of Palma’s Bay (N39.3534° E2.4532°, Fig. 1) by launching SOCIB’s glider Unit-567 (aka SDEEP04) which was equipped with the instrument (acoustic datalogger, BCB, Loggerhead Instruments) provided by the TNA-user-team (Prof. Parmentier and Dr. Bolgan, Université de Liège).

Figure 1 – Initial trace of the glider that is running DEFPAM-G. The launching site is circled in red.

Initial 24 hours have been considered a preliminary field test whilst keeping the glider close to shore, facilitating an emergency response intervention, in case of trouble. Up to date, all parameters are within the standards and the glider is about to begin the scientific cruise by covering the first leg (Mallorca-Ibiza channel). Nevertheless, the datalogger (Figure 2) was recording sounds since the moment the glider was released.

Figure 2 – The hydrophone installed on the glider SDEEP04

The tactical plan is to cruise (sampling with CTD, OXY and FLNTU, along recording with the datalogger as long as its batteries resist [typically 21 days]) from Mallorca to Ibiza, going around the island of Ibiza and then covering 8-10 Ibiza-Valencia transects.

DEFPAM-G stands for ‘DEep-sea Fish Passive Acoustic Monitoring by using Glider technology’. The overarching question of this project is: “Can we couple Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) of deep-sea fish populations to the glider technology?”. The underling hypothesis is that deep-sea fish, which live in a pitch black environment characterised by extreme pressure have evolved to use sounds to re-connect and communicate. Monitoring these sounds can provide important insights about deep-sea fish life history, cycles of activities and movements.

We expect that some Mediterranean deep-sea fish present morphological structures enabling sound production. For example, dedicated sonic muscles have been described in grenadiers (Macrourinae, Gadiformes) and cusk-eel (Ophidiiformes) (Marshall, 1967; Ali et al., 2016; Fine et al. 2018; Parmentier et al. 2018). Because the cusk-eel and the grenadiers make up more than half of the deep-sea benthic fish fauna (Priede, 2017), it is relatively easy to suppose that the deep-sea is rich in fish sounds. In particular, we expect to find a spatial and depth variation of deep-sea fish sounds, highlighting spatial partitioning among species, as well as diversity and abundance variations related with depth.

We look forward to the results of this experiment which is a new application for both teams involved, SOCIB and Université de Liège. The TNA is a good opportunity for enjoying sea-work and exchange knowhow between user and access provider ( Figure 3).

Finally, the progress of the mission is open to the general public through SOCIB’s on-line deployment viewer http://apps.socib.es/dapp (also through Android and iOS mobile application: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.socib&hl=es).

Figure 3 – TNA actions not only aim to produce high-value scientific data but also to foster knowhow exchange and strengthening teamwork (from field operations to open-public seminars)

References:

Ali, H. A., Mok, H. K., & Fine, M. L. (2016). Development and sexual dimorphism of the sonic system in deep sea neobythitine fishes: the upper continental slope. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 115, 293-308.

Fine, M. L., Ali, H. A., Nguyen, T. K., Mok, H. K., & Parmentier, E. (2018). Development and sexual dimorphism of the sonic system in three deep-sea neobythitine fishes and comparisons between upper mid and lower continental slope. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 131, 41-53.

Marshall, N. B. (1967). Sound-producing mechanisms and the biology of deep-sea fishes. Marine bio-acoustics, 2, 123-133.

Parmentier, E., Bahri, M. A., Plenevaux, A., Fine, M. L., & Estrada, J. M. (2018). Sound production and sonic apparatus in deep-living cusk-eels (Genypterus chilensis and Genypterus maculatus). Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 141, 83-92.

Priede, I. G. (2017). Deep-sea fishes: biology, diversity, ecology and fisheries. Cambridge University Press.

FOULSTOP: Ifremer system deployed at Obsea-UPC

This project consist to test in the Mediterranean sea environment an innovative technique to protect optical windows that are part of optical oceanographic sensors or more generally part of optical devices like underwater cameras and lights. The biofouling protection is achieved by a conductive layer that coats the optical window and is used to generate very low quantity of hypochlorous acid by controlled in situ chlorination of seawater.

link 
https://obsea.es/jericonext/foulstop.php

Livevideo for the FoulSpot Camera:
https://obsea.es/data/live_video/live_video.php

gallery
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOy7j4EREGpZY0yO7xO27mi8Ib4GDz4CFpleoKLuhr01PkzHZ8-Yi2XbCUTqnJOgg?key=eTFJNnNTa2FZZFJxdTlhbVVaNkJ4dDBnLUtsTTlB

SOCIB Data Center has developed a pilot service for glider data processing from external users. The service is accessible through a web interface and relies on the SOCIB Glider toolbox. The SOCIB glider toolbox (https://github.com/socib/glider_toolbox) has proven to be a reliable and efficient software to process glider data. It produces international standards such as EGO and it will soon incorporate automatic QC of the data.

SOCIB is now exploring the possibilities of providing this service operationally to allow organizations worldwide to process data by using SOCIB infrastructure. This service proofed to be a need for the glider data management community during the last EuroGOOS Glider Data Management Meeting that was held in Genova (Italy) last September 2018.

Temporary Section Manager – Oceanographic & Climate Services

Location: Marine Institute, Oranmore, Co. Galway, Ireland

Summary of the Role

The Section Manager will lead OS work with MI and other agencies and Higher Education Institutes at national and international level and work with colleagues and other partners as appropriate in supporting and developing new research and service-development projects funded through national, EU and other sources. The Section Manager will lead the development and implementation of existing projects/programmes and identify and generate new R&D projects/programmes and related value-added activities. These areas of activity will strengthen the contribution of oceanographic and climate services to the delivery of monitoring and advisory services to Government and research activities contributing to addressing national resilience and societal grand challenges and underpinning the sustainable development and management of marine resources. The activities of OS will focus on two main areas; operational oceanographic services for Government and oceanographic and climate research underpinning service development.

More information

Temporary Section Manager – Marine Renewable Energy and Marine Infrastructure Projects

Location: Marine Institute, Oranmore, Co. Galway, Ireland

Summary of the Role

The role of the Section Manager MRE and Marine Infrastructure Projects will be to manage the operational activity, strategic development, and governance of the Marine Institute’s contribution to the National Ocean Energy Programme. Furthermore this position will oversee relevant European and other international collaborative projects and programmes including Ireland’s involvement in the EMSO ERIC.

More information

All applications are to be either emailed or posted via the email and postal addresses in the adverts

There is a strict deadline of 12 noon on December 10th, we can’t accept late applications unfortunately.

Maerl beds refer to the accumulation of unattached calcareous coralline algae. They are composed of living and dead thalii forming an ‘underwater carpet’. Considered as biodiversity “hotspot” sheltering many and varied marine species, they are an important carbon-storing habitat. Within the EU project JERICO-Next (VA) the new version of SpiArcBase (V2.0) (https://spiarcbase.epoc.u-bordeaux1.fr/) has been developed to assess maerl beds while measuring different features: mean and total maerl-water interface rugosity, total living maerl surface, total dead maerl surface, mean maerl bed thickness, vertical profiles of the surface proportion of living and dead maerl.

Within the JRAP 2 of JERICO-NEXT (WP4), the pertinence of those features has been studied and related to an abrasion disturbance gradient in the Bay of Brest induced by dredge-fishing activity. Preliminary results show among others that these features are appropriate to quantify the harmful effects of abrasion through a decrease in live maerl thalli, compaction of the maerl bed and the decrease in interstice surface and the rugosity of the surface.

Dr. Alicia Romero Raminez
Service Géomatique et analyse d’image
Laboratoire EPOC-UMR5805
Université Bordeaux, France

37 participants from 13 EU countries and 14 non-EU countries followed a one-week summer school in Malta organised by the JERICO-NEXT H2020 pan-European project. The course entitled “Operational Oceanography for Blue Growth” was planned and run by the Physical Oceanography Research Group of the University of Malta, and co-ordinated by Prof. Aldo Drago. The course aimed to empower participants to source, interpret, and merge available environmental data from the coastal area, and to acquire the key skills to transform these data into knowledge and added value products which can be used in the marine and maritime economic sectors and the related services. Beside the good time spent in Malta, all the participants acknowledged the quality of the lectures, and the practical sessions including a mini-hackathon. No doubt that the summer school was a success!

“I want to congratulate you for the summer school that you have perfectly organised. The speakers were very interesting, and I had the honour to meet high level participants with whom I was able to exchange. Despite the short duration of training, I believe that it was great benefit for me.” BENGOUFA Soumia, Doctorante en géoscience marine et littorale, Ecole nationale supérieure des sciences de la mer et de l’aménagement du littoral ENSSMAL (Algeria)

“The work done by the university led by Professor Aldo Drago and the team was excellent and demands recognition. They exhibited high sense of professionalism in operational oceanography and related maritime issues. From the workshop, I have learnt a lot, am ready for action when called upon, in matter related to this maritime, I will be available to honour subsequent training courses that you deem fit for the oceanography advancement, at same time have intention of working together in future as we engage on matters of mutual interest, on maritime issues and beyond”. Emojong Amai Mercy, Environment Inspector, NEMA (Kenya)

“Many thanks for the great summer school. Personally, I found it very informative, extremely useful and I am very impressed by your generous hospitality. Thank you really for all your time and effort. I so enjoyed meeting everyone and exchanging valuable information. I really do appreciate it”. Ghada Neji, marine environment consultancy (Tunisia)

The course was supported by experts engaged by the COPERNICUS Marine Environment Monitoring System (CMEMS), the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet), Bangor University (Wales) and JERICO-NEXT partners. 9 participants from African countries (Djibouti, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, Tanzania) were supported by the Centre of Excellence for Small States (Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade Promotion, Malta).

Prof. Aldo Drago
Faculty of Science, Misda, Malta

JERICO-NEXT poster presentation at the 4th Blue Planet Symposium, 4-6 July 2018, Toulouse, France.

Abstract

Puillat I.* (LOPS-Ifremer, FR); Artigas L. F. & Louchart A (CNRS-LOG, FR); Creach V. (CEFAS, UK); Debusschere E. (VLIZ, B), Rijkeboer M. (RWS, NL); Marrec P. & Thyssen M. (CNRS-MIO, FR); Karlson B. (SMHI, SW) and JERICO-NEXT partners.

JERICO-RI, the Joint European Research Infrastructure of Coastal Observatories integrates several observing platform types i.e. fixed buoys, piles, moorings, drifters, Ferrybox, gliders, HF radars, coastal cable observatories and the associated technologies dedicated to the observation and monitoring of the European coastal waters. This observing system of systems, is designed to provide high-quality data that are supporting knowledge development on the complex and often coupled physical, chemical and biological processes characterizing the coastal waters of European coastal seas. The RI is to serve both the implementation of European marine policies and the elucidation of contemporary and future key scientific questions. It therefore includes observations of the physical, chemical and biological compartments and aims at a better integration of marine biology with physical and chemical oceanology.

This poster is part of a 3-poster series dedicated to present some results and prototype products after deployments led in the JERICO-NEXT H2020 project. According to a key message of the JERICO-RI consortium (2014): “The complexity of the coastal ocean cannot be well understood if interconnection between physics, biogeochemistry and biology is not guaranteed…”, this poster we will focus on integrated biology and physical results. Map and transects of automated flow cytometer data and/or multi-spectral fluorometry along with hydrology collected thanks to ferryboxes and moorings will be presented with preliminary conclusions on information types and potential products. Areas of interest are Bay of Biscay, Channel-North-Sea, Celtic Sea and Baltic Sea with Skagerrak Kattegat strait.

Download the poster here.

JERICO-NEXT poster presentation at the 4th Blue Planet Symposium, 4-6 July 2018, Toulouse, France.

Abstract

Puillat I.* (LOPS-Ifremer, FR); Rubio A. (AZTI, SP); Vitorino J. (IH, PT); Pairaud I. (Ifremer, FR); Davila X., Basurko O.C. & Caballero A. (AZTI, SP); Mourre B. (SOCIB, SP); Quentin C. (MIO, FR) and JERICO-NEXT partners.

JERICO-RI, the Joint European Research Infrastructure of Coastal Observatories integrates several observing platform types i.e. fixed buoys, piles, moorings, drifters, Ferrybox, gliders, HF radars, coastal cable observatories and the associated technologies dedicated to the observation and monitoring of the European coastal waters. This observing system of systems, is designed to provide high-quality data that are supporting knowledge development on the complex and often coupled physical, chemical and biological processes characterizing the coastal waters of European coastal seas. The RI is to serve both the implementation of European marine policies and the elucidation of contemporary and future key scientific questions. It therefore includes observations of the physical, chemical and biological compartments and aims at a better integration of marine biology with physical and chemical oceanology.

The objective of our 3 posters series is to present the RI and some results and prototype products after deployments at sea and numerical simulations led in the JERICO-NEXT H2020 project. In this poster we will focus on hydrography and transport results after deployment and/or simulations in the SW Bay of Biscay, the Nazare Canyon and in the NW Mediterranean Sea. We will show some of the results after joint analyses with data acquired in situ and related to suspended matter and plastics, as well as HF radar data to study the transports associated to the slope current and mesoscale eddies in the study areas.

Download the poster here.

JERICO-NEXT Presentation at the 4th Geo Blue Planet Symposium, 4-6 July 2018, Toulouse, France.

Abstract

Puillat I. (LOPS-Ifremer, FR); Farcy P. (Ifremer, FR); Durand D. (Covartec, NO); and JERICO-NEXT partners

JERICO-RI, the Joint European Research Infrastructure of Coastal Observatories integrates several observing platform types i.e. fixed buoys, piles, moorings, drifters, Ferrybox, gliders, HF radars, coastal cable observatories and the associated technologies dedicated to the observation and monitoring of the European coastal waters. This observing system of systems, is designed to provide high-quality data that are supporting knowledge development on the complex and often coupled physical, chemical and biological processes characterizing the coastal waters of European coastal seas. The RI is to serve both the implementation of European marine policies and the elucidation of contemporary and future key scientific questions. It therefore includes observations of the physical, chemical and biological compartments and aims at a better integration of marine biology with physical and chemical oceanology.

The objective of our 3 posters series is to present the RI and some results and prototype products after deployments at sea and numerical simulations led in the JERICO-NEXT H2020 project. This poster will describe the research infrastructure with the today funded project JERICO-NEXT involving 34 partners during 2015-2019. Emphasis will be given on its system of systems, facilities, along with 6 scientific research and development axis. This poster will introduce the 2 other posters by a general description.

Download the poster here.

JERICO-NEXT poster presentation at the 4th Blue Planet Symposium, 4-6 July 2018, Toulouse, France.

Abstract

João Vitorino, Walter Chicharro, Inês Martins, Nuno Zacarias, Pedro Pisco, Dino Casimiro, Ilmer Golde, Paul Mota, Carla Maurício, Sara Almeida

Instituto Hidrográfico operates a real-time monitoring system for the Portuguese continental margin which comprises multi-parametric buoys, HF radars, wave buoys and coastal tide gauge stations. Between 2009 and 2011 those capacities were implemented in the area of influence of Nazare Canyon which extends for more than 200km and cuts the complete continental margin offshore the village of Nazare (W Portuguese coast). The implementation of the Nazare Canyon Observatory MONICAN was conducted in a close partnership with the Nazare City Hall. This allowed a close contact with the local nautical communities, particularly with the fishing community, an essential aspect in the design of products to end-users and in the identification of dissemination channels. The direct communication with the local decision structures also played a key role during periods of extreme weather events or in the articulation with local initiatives aiming the sustainable use of coastal ocean resources.

In 2011 the MONICAN observatory gained worldwide visibility following the successful attempt of the American Garret McNamara to surf the giant waves that the canyon promotes very near the northern shore of Nazaré. Those images spread around the World and rapidly attracted to the area big wave surfers and large crowds of visitants, triggering an explosive increase of tourism in the region. The real-time measurements and forecasts provided by MONICAN become an essential information not only to support international surfing competitions but more frequently to help thousands of visitors to plan their visits to Nazaré big waves. And are providing an open window to the coastal ocean that meets the public curiosity and boost dissemination and educational activities.

The present poster joints the views of some of the key players from Instituto Hidrografico and from the Nazare City Hall (namely the Nazare Mayor, Walter Chicharro) in a synthesis of the experience gathered in Nazaré and the near future developments.

Download the poster here

JERICO-NEXT approach on high-frequency phytoplankton observation was presented by Dr. Luis Felipe Artigas, co-leader of the JRAP1, during the workshop on developing an implementation plan for a sustained, multidisciplinary global observing system of plankton communities (25 – 27 June 2018, Santa Cruz, United States). The workshop particularly aimed to:

• Build on the ideas of the IMSOO-Plankton discussions and craft detailed implementation plans for the Phytoplankton diversity and biomass and Zooplankton diversity and biomass EOVs
• Bring together a multidisciplinary team to identify the necessary components of a multi-year implementation plan that will ultimately deliver a mature system in terms of requirements, coordination of observations, and data management and information products

The cruise ‘Pagure-Next’ (on R/V Thalia) was held in the Bay of Brest from 20th to 25th April 2018 to investigate with underwater imagery the ecological state of soft bottoms colonized by the slipper limpet (Crepidula fornicata), an emblematic invasive gastropod. This kind of perturbation can affect the ecosystem structure and functioning, negatively or positively, depending of the users’ point of view (scientists, fishermen, etc.) and on the spatial scale at which this interaction is analysed (local vs. embayment).

We used for this purpose the new underwater video system ‘Pagure-2’, developed in 2016 in the frame of the EU project JERICO-Next (WP3). ‘Pagure-2’ was deployed successfully during 5 days in a sledge mode (it can also be deployed in a ‘flying’ mode when necessary) and has collected about 8 hours of video footage and 2500 high resolution photos of the benthic biodiversity (mega- and macro-epifauna).
30 video profiles (on average 500m long) were achieved on shallow muddy habitats more or less intensively colonized by C. fornicata, as well as on neighbouring areas without C. Crepidula (considered as reference) in order to assess how the epibenthic compartment is modified by the proliferation of the slipper limpet.

Since C. fornicata has started to significantly decline in the Bay of Brest in the 2000’s, forming large beds of empty shells, we also investigate the impact of this recent evolution on benthic biodiversity.
Preliminary interpretations of images showed that several species of large suspension-feeders (e.g., variegated scallop, flat European oyster, ascidians) thrive in dense living Crepidula beds of the northern part of the Bay. Conversely, very few megafauna was detected on dead Crepidula beds, which now occur in the southern part of the Bay.

Preliminary interpretations of images showed that several species of large suspension-feeders (e.g., variegated scallop, flat European oyster, ascidians) thrive in dense living Crepidula beds of the northern part of the Bay. Conversely, very few megafauna was detected on dead Crepidula beds, which now occur in the southern part of the Bay.

NIVA’s FerryBox data for three ships of opportunity (M/S Trollfjord – Norwegian coast, M/S Color Fantasy – North Sea, and M/S Norbjørn – Barents Sea) are available for JERICO-NEXT Virtual Access as of January 2018. Daily data can be downloaded by FTP from NIVA’s website (https://www.niva.no/en/water-data-on-the-web/ferrybox-ships-of-opportunity)

Additionally, NIVA has developed digital touchscreen consoles to promote ocean literacy to provide educational information and near real-time ocean data collected by FerryBoxes. The consoles are designed for use by school aged children and adults, and provide information in English, German, and Norwegian. This has been led by the H2020 ResponSEAble project with support for data processing and virtual access by H2020 JERICO-NEXT. Two consoles are currently in operation – one on the passenger cruise ship M/S Trollfjord and one in the entrance lobby of NIVA’s main office in Oslo as you can see on the picture.

SOCIB – Follow the Glider will be present at scientific fair “Science for all 2018” (Ciència per a tothom in Catalan) taking place from 10th to 12th of May in the University of the Balearic Islands Campus.

The fair targets both to primary and secondary school students as well as the general public. This event aims to promote vocations in scientific careers and to bring science closer to society. Last year 5,000 students and teachers took part in it.

SOCIB will attend the event with two stands for our outreach and educational programmes. In particular, Follow the glider stand will have: a project canvas, a student book and a teacher’s guide, a ‘Build a glider’ sheet and some ‘gliders syringes’, two tablets for check the project website and the glider scale model. We will also have the support of our glider facility staff (engineer and technicians).

We will publish some pictures and more information on SOCIB social networks (Facebook, Twitter and Flickr).

The accurate monitoring of surface transport, which is inherently chaotic and depends on the details of the surface velocity field at several scales, is key for the effective integrated management of coastal areas, where many human activities concentrate. This has been the driver for the growth of coastal observatories along the global ocean coasts. Among the different measuring systems, coastal High Frequency Radar (HFR) is the unique technology that offers the means to map ocean surface currents over wide areas (reaching distance from the coast of over 200km) with high spatial (a few kms or higher) and temporal resolution (hourly or higher). Consequently, the European HFR systems are playing an increasing role in the overall operational oceanography marine services. Their inclusion into the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) is crucial to ensure the improved management of several related key issues as Marine Safety, Marine Resources, Coastal and Marine Environment, Weather, Climate and Seasonal Forecast.

In this context, INCREASE has set the necessary developments towards the integration of the existing European HFR operational systems into CMEMS, following four main objectives:

• Provide HFR quality controlled real-time surface currents and key derived products;
• Set the basis for the management of historical data and methodologies for advanced delayed mode quality-control techniques;
• Boost the use of HFR data for improving CMEMS numerical modelling systems;
• Enable an HFR European operational node to ensure the link with operational CMEMS.

Thanks to INCREASE outputs, HFRs are now one of the new observing platforms for the Operational Phase 2 of CMEMS In Situ TAC (INSTAC2). Next steps in the implementation of HFR data in the INSTAC catalog will be to implement the standardization defined in JERICO-NEXT (WP5) and the operational delivery of HFR total data (to be included in CMEMS v5 catalog in 2019) and radial data (to be included in CMEMS v6 catalog in 2020) and to work on the reprocessing and the standardized delivery of historical radial and total data (to be included in CMEMS v7 catalog in 2021).

Application Deadline Extended to 7th June 2018

“Operational Oceanography for Blue Growth is a week long summer school organised by the JERICO-NEXT project, hosted by the University of Malta (Physical Oceanography Research Group, Department of Geosciences). It will be held from 9^th-14^th July 2018 and delivered by an international range of renowned experts. 

Full details of the course are available here

ARTE channel just released a documentary about the big waves in Nazaré which includes scientific knowledge about the Nazaré Canyon processes and the importance of MONICAN monitoring system (https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/079474-015-A/re-die-perfekte-welle/ for the German version) or https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/079474-015-A/arte-regards/ for the French version).

Extending more than 200 kilometers offshore the western coast of Portugal from abyssal depths in excess of 5000m to a few hundreds of meters from the beach of Nazaré, the Nazaré Canyon is one of the largest submarine canyons of the European margin. Among the large range of impacts that this submarine canyon promotes on the coastal ocean conditions offshore Nazaré one of the most spectacular is the nearshore amplification of the incoming swells. This process leads to the development of giant waves off Praia do Norte (located just north of Nazaré village) particularly during winter when the large swells generated by storms in the North Atlantic reach the western Portuguese margin.

With the aim of monitoring the oceanographic and meteorological conditions that affect the area of influence of Nazaré Canyon, a real-time monitoring system (MONICAN system) was installed between 2009 and 2011 by Instituto Hidrografico forming the backbone of the Nazaré Canyon Observatory which is presently contributing to JERICO-NEXT network.

Since its implementation, the MONICAN system is supporting the local coastal populations and nautical communities providing real-time measurements and operational forecasts which are disseminated through a dedicated web page (http://monican.hidrografico.pt ) and in the form of tables sent daily by email to local users such as the Town Hall offices and port authorities.

This information is particularly relevant to support the nautical communities in the planning of marine activities in the area or to support local authorities during periods of extreme conditions such as during storms. An expression of this interest are the more than 200.000 visitors that were received during 2017 in Forte de S. Miguel, the old fortress and lighthouse that is located just in front of the area of formation of the big waves and where the Nazaré City Hall installed an exhibition about Nazare, the big wave surfing and (in collaboration with Instituto Hidrográfico) the science and monitoring of the Nazare Canyon area.

Breaking News: Rodrigo Koxa received yesterday the WSL Biggest Wave Award for the biggest wave surfed in 2017/2018 which was 24.38m height and is a new Guinness World Record for the biggest wave ever surfed, breaking the previous Guinness Record obtained in 2011 by  Garret McNamara (23.77m).

João Vitorino
Oceanography Division
Instituto Hidrografico
R. das Trinas 49
1249-093, Lisboa
Portugal

The TNA project ReMoBib deployed a specifically designed cage for 6 fully cabled bivalves in the Underwater Node Helgoland in Germany.

The construction allows the bivalves to move up and down in the sediment and therefore behave as natural as possible while the sensors measure valve gape activity of each bivalve with a frequency of 1Hz.

An online visualisation of the activity of the bivalves will be soon available on the NIOZ and AWI websites as means to raise awareness about sea life among the broader public and show that the shells are living creatures reacting to external stimuli.

Read more on this project here 

OS2.4
Oceanography at coastal scales. Modelling, coupling, observations and benefits from coastal Research Infrastructures

On Monday 9th April, 08:30–12:00, Room 1.85

Convener: Agustín Sánchez-Arcilla 
Co-Conveners: Sandro Carniel , Emil Stanev , Pablo Cerralbo , Davide Bonaldo , Ingrid Puillat , Laurent Delauney , Catherine Boccadoro 

Considering the increase in human pressures on coastal systems, better monitoring, modelling and understanding of coastal dynamics are needed to tackle the complexity of physical, chemical and biological processes and their variability and interactions. This applies particularly to coastal and marginal seas where the challenge for high resolution and non-linear coupling requires a synergetic combination of models, in-situ observations and satellite data to deliver reliable and accurate marine forecasts.

Oceanographic processes at coastal scales have a number of differences with respect to deep-sea oceanography, which result in higher prediction errors. In shallow coastal domains the bottom topography, via the sea-bed boundary condition, exerts a strong control on the resulting wave and current fields. In addition to this, other factors need to be accounted for, such as the relevance of the tidal influence, stratification and mixing effects, land boundary condition (affecting the wind fields), the presence of distributed run off and point-wise river mouths all of them interacting with biogeochemical and biological processes and supporting densely populated areas with many ongoing economic activities. Moreover, the coupling between wind, waves, currents and sediments at limited scales, or even the choice of the numerical strategy (including the option between nested meshes, finite-difference or finite-element discretization, variable grid, etc.) may also play a critical role in the quality of the predictions. Part of these efforts are carried out within the CEASELESS H2020 EU project, whose main aim is to advance in the coupling, assimilation and application of coastal scale forecasts to selected pilot sites (North Sea and Mediterranean) and for selected applications (renewable energy, search and rescue, water quality and erosion plus flooding). Another part of these efforts are carried out by coastal Research Infrastructures (RI) that intend to provide data in an operational way, as for example within the JERICO-RI H2020 EU project, to support science results and society needs.

Coastal observations are therefore necessary to drive numerical models, combining point-wise data from different platform systems such as multi variable buoys, ferryboxes, high frequency radar images and a number of satellite images, the accuracy of which however tends to degrade as we get closer to the shoreline border. The advent of new satellite capabilities (resolution and sensors like for instance those of the Sentinel constellation) and new modelling advances (local parametrizations and enhanced coupling and boundary conditions) together with in situ data from coastal observatories including automated observation platforms should allow starting a quantum leap in coastal oceanography, including the interactions between physics, chemistry and biology/biogeochemistry which form a key element to address future research and applications.

For any information related to the registration please click here

The JERICO Research Infrastructure and the JERICO-NEXT project were presented at the BlueMed Coordinators meeting along with a number of other projects and initiatives across the Mediterranean. Collaborative work was carried out to further the aims and objects of the BlueMed project.

The meeting was significant opportunity to work together for sharing vision and connect, integrating inputs not only to consolidate the SRIA, but also to envision future common trajectories.

BlueMed is an R&I Initiative for promoting the blue economy in the Mediterranean Basin through cooperation. It is the strategy of reference for the Mediterranean countries to work together for a healthy, safe and productive Mediterranean Sea. The Initiative will contribute to the creation of new ‘blue’ jobs, social well-being and a sustainable growth in the marine and maritime sectors through the implementation of its Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA).

The main objectives of BlueMed:

• developing innovative marine-based technologies, methodologies and approaches with a view to boosting the sustainable economic growth of the European maritime sectors and the conservation and upgrading of the marine environment, resources and cultural heritage;
• fostering innovative multidisciplinary research and cooperation activities addressing the relevant Mediterranean challenges;
• providing knowledge-based support for the implementation of EU policies and directives on marine and maritime issues in the Mediterranean;
• creating an interoperable, fully integrated observing and forecasting system to promote continuous long-term observation based on open data structures to guarantee easy access;
• promoting public awareness and understanding of how important sustainably prosperous resources of the Mediterranean Sea for the surrounding countries and for Europe as a whole;
• training a new generation of scientists, professionals, technicians and entrepreneurs able to tackle complex ecological, economic and societal challenges in a holistic way, thus creating new and qualified ‘sea-based’ jobs.

Further information can be found at the BlueMed website

The objective of JERICO-NEXT consists of strengthening and enlarging the European network for the provision of operational services to deliver timely, continuous and sustainable high quality environmental data and information products related to the marine environment in European coastal seas. Under Horizon 2020, Virtual Access is a new activity in European-funded projects. As a part of this activity, JERICO-NEXT project supports 15 Virtual Infrastructures for making their data, and products available and improving or developing services. After 18 months, an assessment of virtual access activity has been carried out using a template indicating the number of visits, downloaded data sets, the geographical distribution of the visitors and their sector of activity as well as outcomes such as publications, meetings for each VI. Additionally, availability indicators i.e. a methodology to assess the degree to which the datasets are discoverable, accessible, ready for use, and obtainable (either directly or indirectly) were calculated for the general Virtual Access activity in JERICO-NEXT, providing an understanding of the readiness and service performance of the infrastructure. Very little information from the template could be used across the Virtual Infrastructures. Only the number and the country of origin of visitors were answered by all the providers. When the information was available, the scientific community was the main visitor (41 to 77%) of the Virtual Infrastructures and only 3 of them put in place a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to identify the source of the data. On average 54% of the actions performed was associated to visibility, 30% to accessibility and 15% to performance. These actions were reflected by an improvement in the availability indicator scores after 6 months of the first assessment. All the listed links were working and the data easy to find. 67% of the Virtual Infrastructures were linked to European Data Infrastructures such as EMODnet, NOOS, MONGOOS, CMEMS, Global HF radar portal, EPOC, SOMLIT. The next step is the assessment of each Virtual Infrastructure by an expert panel to determine if all the requirements of the European commission have been fulfilled by the VIPs and advice the VIP in their future actions.

In the frame of JERICO-NEXT-TNA (2nd Call) program, ABACUS-4 mission, ESA’s SENTINEL-3 scientific satellite track #713 (for the 24th time since it was launched), flew over SOCIB’s glider, SDEEP04, on 21/Nov/2017 @21utc. This glider, deployed six days earlier, was at that instant sampling at the center of its programmed transect off the Southern coast of Mallorca that, to allow intercomparison and multi-platform sampling, corresponds to a segment of SENTINEL’s track #713. Whilst the satellite covered this segment in less than 3 minutes, SDEEP05 will still take 4-5 days to cover the same over-ground distance.

JERICO-NEXT representatives participated in a two-and-a-half-day workshop on “Evolving and Sustaining Ocean Best Practices” organised by The AtlantOS and ODIP Projects, JCOMMOCG and IODE. The Workshop took place at the IOC Offices, Paris, France from Wednesday 15th November to Friday 17th November 2017. The workshop focused on new approaches and recommend processes for archiving, discovering and accessing ocean observation best practices.

This International Workshop included a series of presentations, as well as breakout sessions examining current methods and then focussed on identifying and describing key steps forward for a more global and cohesive process. The implementation of this process would then begin through collaboration within currently funded projects.

The Workshop has been organised in response to a growing need for global and sustainable ocean best practice management. The Workshop provided the opportunity for leaders of the global ocean observing community to guide the creation of a new process for best practice management. The outcomes of the workshop will include a review of the prototype repository of best practices and a position paper on sustaining ocean best practices.

The JERICO-NEXT’s Best Practices Workshop on “Assimilating Technical Best Practice improvements to optimize network data flow” was a joint organization of project’s WP2 (leader: Rajesh Nair, OGS, Coleader: Wilhelm Petersen, HZG) and WP5 (leader: Leonidas Perivoliotis, HCMR, Coleader: Patrick Gorringe, EuroGOOS) and was held in Bergen, Norway on 5^th of October 2017. The workshop was planned to examine the possibilities for closer collaboration between the above two WPs in order to better reconcile contrasts arising from differences in the way data are regarded by the project’s observing and data management components. During the workshop, eight speakers presented the data producer and data management perspectives on the next four thematic areas:

• HF-radar data: Julien Mader, AZTI and Antonio Novellino, ETT
• Data relating to biology based on optical measurements: Jukka Seppala, SYKE and Veronique Creach, CEFAS
• Data on marine carbonate system variables: Kai Sorenson, NIVA and Benjamin Pfeil, University of Bergen
• Data from AUVs (gliders): John Allen, SOCIB (presentation made by Rajesh Nair) and Thierry Carval, Ifremer

The presentations and the discussions that took place between the audience and the speakers revealed the different level of maturity in data collection and data processing in these four thematic areas, highlighting also the difficulties relative to current data-handling practices employed within the project. The final outcomes from the workshop will be documented and further analyzed at the JERICO-NEXT’s Steering Committee, in December 2017; where the required next steps will be decided.

A new towed underwater video system (TUVS), called ‘Pagure-2’ has been developped by Ifremer thanks to the JERICO-NEXT project, in order to map habitats, describe biodiversity, and monitor ecological changes in coastal benthic ecosystems.  

For this purpose, we modified an existing TUVS (‘Pagure’) to expand the range of accessible benthic habitats, to get more stable footage on irregular rocky bottoms, and to investigate fragile ecosystems (e.g., marine protected areas) where impact has to be limited.

Thus, the Pagure-2 is a more versatile tool capable of being deployed on two different configurations: a classical ‘sledge’ mode with skates, and a ‘flying’ mode that reduces contact with the sea floor. It is easily deployable on small (~25 m) coastal vessels as well as large research vessels and was designed to cope with a 10-500 m operating depth range and with all kind of sea conditions and currents. It is also simple to use opportunistically on different kind of scientific cruises (benthic survey, fisheries stock assessment, hydrology, etc…) and without any dedicated specialist staff.

Pagure-2 proved to be a relevant imagery tool to get comprehensive insights into the integrity of benthic habitats of European coastal areas. The flying mode deployment will be tested at sea in next spring 2018 in the framework of our project. This less destructive configuration is particularly relevant to study benthic biodiversity in protected areas where disturbance has to be limited (e.g., maerl and seagrass beds, rocky bottoms with large erected benthic species).

Numerous applications should come in the next years, such as investigations of areas adversely affected by invasive species (e.g., Crepidula fornicata), human activities (bottom-trawling, sand-mining, marine renewable energy development).

During the NeXOS Final General Assembly at PLOCAN GRAN CANARIA on 14th of September 2017, Session 7 was dedicated to the topic « Beyond NeXOS »

Two presentations were planned, JERICO-NEXT and EMSO.

The JERICO-NEXT presentation focused on JERICO-NEXT general objectives, WP2 (Harmonisation of technologies and methodologies-technical strategy), WP3 (Innovations in Technology and Methodology) and on the JERICO-NEXT TNA 2018 call that is a great opportunity for sensors and systems developers that were attending the NeXOS Final GA. Willi Petersen, Stefania Sparnocchia and Laurent Delauney were in charge of giving the JERICO-NEXT message to the attendees.

JERICO-NEXT GENERAL WP3 WP2 TNA - Delauney PDF (7.6 MiB)

Summer 2017 Welcome to the JERICO-NEXT Newsletter 

3rd ISSUE – JERICO-NEXT, Joint European Research Infrastructure network for Coastal Observatory – Novel European eXpertise for coastal observaTories

We are very pleased to send you the latest updates on coastal observatories and JERICO-NEXT activities.

Spotlight on the TNA project ABACUS 3 

ABACUS 3 is a project funded by JERICO-NEXT Transnational Access which aims at assessing the importance of a new monitoring line across the Algerian Basin between  Palma de Mallorca and the Algerian Coast. For more information watch the video below and then click here. 

The third and last call for access to the JERICO-NEXT Coastal Observatories and Supporting Facilities is planned for January 2018.

Advances on JERICO-NEXT valorisation through applied joint research
Case study on marine contaminants – artificial sweeteners
The ubiquitous presence of artificial sweeteners in North European and Arctic coastal waters was discovered in the framework of the JRAP3 activities led by NIVA (Norway) thanks to the JERICO-NEXT project. JRAP3 deals with the assessment of distribution of man-made chemical pollutant in European coastal water and the biological responses they can induce. More info here
Phytoplankton biodiversity investigated with novel methods
	Under JRAP1 activities, in 2017 SMHI, NIVA, HZG-AWI and other partners are working up the data from the intense study near a mussel farm on the Swedish Skagerrak coast in autumn 2017 where an imaging flow cytometer was used together with other instruments and manual water sampling to observe algal bloom dynamics and biodiversity. More info here

Upcoming JERICO-NEXT events

5th-6th October 2017, Bergen (Norway): a Joint WP2-WP5 WORKSHOP on ASSIMILATING TECHNICAL BEST PRACTICE IMPROVEMENTS TO OPTIMIZE NETWORK DATA FLOW will be organized during these two days in the framework of EuroGOOS 2017 Conference. This workshop is open to the public. More information here

17th-19th October 2017, Oslo (Norway): The 8th FerryBox Workshop will be arranged as a cruise on NIVAs FerryBox ship Color Fantasy traveling between Oslo and Kiel. More information here

4th-5th December 2017, Issy-les-Moulineaux (France): The 4th Steering Committee meeting will be held during two full days in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris next December. 

To access the project deliverables – http://www.jerico-ri.eu/project-information/deliverables/

 
Editor: Anne Schmidt 

JRAP1 has activities in several sea areas around Europe. In the Baltic Sea Ferrybox systems on ferries and merchant vessels are used to automatically measure bulk parameters related to phytoplankton such as chlorophyll and phycocyanin fluorescence. The Ferrybox systems are operated continuously when the ships are at sea. Automated water sampling is carried out for analysis of phytoplankton using microscopy.

In 2017, additional work will be carried out at the Utö observatory where high frequency data will be collected using different instruments. SYKE (Finland) and SMHI (Sweden) are the JERICO-NEXT partners active in the area. In the Kattegat-Skagerrak NIVA operates a Ferrybox system similar to the one in the Baltic Sea. SMHI, NIVA, HZG-AWI and other partners are working up the data from the intense study near a mussel farm on the Swedish Skagerrak coast in autumn 2017 where an imaging flow cytometer was used together with other instruments and manual water sampling to observe algal bloom dynamics and biodiversity.

Also data from three cruises connected to the study at the mussel farm are being processed. In the English Channel –North Sea area several cruises with research vessels have been carried out. The institutes involved are VLIZ, CNRS, RWS, Ifremer and Cefas. Ferrybox systems are used together with flow cytometers and multi wavelength fluorometers and fast repletion rate fluorometers. HZG has contributed data on multi wavelength absorption to detect phytoplankton biomass. In the western Mediterranean Sea, the CNRS carries out studies that are described in some detail below.

The Western Mediterranean Sea is considered as an oligotrophic region although with contrasted areas due to the thermohaline counter clockwise circulation. Phytoplankton distribution is poorly studied at the basin or meso-scale, while links with hydrologic regionalisation are required to understand production balances in this semi enclosed area.

In order to resolve phytoplankton distribution, a CytoSense instrument was coupled to a Ferrybox on board the ferry “le Carthage” of the Compagnie Tunisienne de Navigation (CTN) for more than 3 months (October 2016 to January 2017, A*MIDEX CHROME project, https://chrome.mio.univ-amu.fr/). The ship route goes from Tunis to Marseille and Tunis to Genova once to twice a week. The data acquired correspond to more than 70 Gb of files (one sample of 5 cm³ every 30 min while crossing) with pico to microphytoplankton counts and pictures of large cells. The sensor was improved to count for Prochlorococcus cells as they can outnumber phytoplankton in the oligotrophic regions. The data analysed within the next year will be saved in the Cytobase (S. Lahbib, M Dugenne and M Libes) dedicated database. The datasets are currently undergoing a brainstorming within the H2020 Sea Data Cloud project to ensure best standardized vocabulary for high resolution flow cytometry.