LONG TERM OBSERVATIONS OF THE OPEN OCEAN FROM SEA SURFACE TO SUB-SEAFLOOR

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2 LONG TERM OBSERVATIONS OF THE OPEN OCEAN FROM SEA SURFACE TO SUB-SEAFLOOR T he European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and watercolumn Observatory (EMSO) is a large scale, distributed, marine Research Infrastructure (RI). EMSO consists of ocean observation systems for long-term, high-resolution, (near) real-time monitoring of environmental processes including natural hazards, climate change, and marine ecosystems. EMSO observatory nodes have been deployed at key sites around Europe, from the Arctic to the Atlantic, through the Mediterranean, to the Black Sea. Continuous monitoring of the deep ocean is a highly challenging objective that can be compared only with the exploration of outer space. One must be able to accommodate a multitude of scientific objectives in a single infrastructure, and address a very large and diverse user community including biologists, geoscientists, chemists, and engineers. 2

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4 WHY OBSERVE THE OCEAN? TO INCREASE KNOWLEDGE AND ADAPT TO CHANGE The ocean covers over 70% of the Earth s surface, is home to nearly 50% of its species, provides over 90% of the living space, and plays a pivotal role in influencing our climate. Despite this dominance of our Planet, only 5% of our ocean has been explored to date. Hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and underwater volcanoes are all generated through seafloor processes. Human life is dependent on our ocean. The ocean reacts intensely to global changes. At the same time, it is a major driver of climate change because of its role as a CO 2 regulator and the main water reservoir. Its significance is not only regional, it is global. Yet the ocean remains the last frontier of exploration on Earth. 4

5 SHEDDING LIGHT ON COMPLEX EARTH-OCEAN SYSTEMS Understanding processes in the marine environment is key to addressing complex present-day challenges, such as impacts of climate change, preservation of marine ecosystems, and mitigation of natural hazards. The establishment of fixed point, open ocean observatories is essential to investigate global earth-ocean processes. EMSO will provide reliable, science-based information to decision makers which will allow them to develop appropriate evidence-based policies in the face of these challenges. Just by looking at images of Earth from space, it's clear that the ocean is a significant piece of the Earth's story. 70% 50% 90% of Earth s surface of Earth's species of Earth's living space 5

6 CURRENT STATUS AND HISTORY E leven deep-sea sites plus 4 shallow water test sites have been identified to host nodes of underwater infrastructure by the European scientific community involved in EMSO. Some of these nodes already have ongoing operations, including cabled and stand-alone sites, with moorings and benthic instruments communicating in real-time or delayed mode; the remaining nodes are at an earlier stage of development. The Preparatory Phase of EMSO, a project funded within the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) of the European Commission, was coordinated by Italy. The transition between the end of the FP7 project and the launch of the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) is managed by an Interim Office, hosted at the premises of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) in Italy. 11 deep sea sites 4 shallow water test sites 6

7 WHAT ARE OCEAN OBSERVATORIES? Ocean observatories are sources of interdisciplinary ocean data across time and space. Ocean observatories provide power and communication connections for sensors to allow a sustained interactive presence in the Ocean. Sensor systems can either be attached to a cable, which provides power and enables data transfer, or they can operate as independent, standalone benthic and moored sensor platforms. Data, in both cases, can be transmitted in real time either through fibre-optic cables or through cable and acoustic networks that are connected to satellite-linked buoys, back to shore data centres and the Internet. 7

8 THE CHALLENGE WITH DATA H igh-resolution observations, from geographically distributed sites, over extended periods of time, produce large quantities of diverse data. This vast flow of information will be made available to scientists and other stakeholders through an open access model. Making data discoverable, accessible, and interoperable is a challenging task that the EMSO community is currently addressing through existing initiatives such as EMOD- NET (European Marine Observation and Data Network), proposed by the EU in its Green Paper on maritime policy, and the SEADATANET project, a federation of open digital repositories managing, archiving, accessing and sharing data, information, products and knowledge originating from marine observations. EMSO will comply with principles of data quality and standardisation set out through these initiatives so that the data produced will quickly and effectively be available to the science community and to policy makers. 8

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10 10 SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS

11 Incresing innovation Developing high-tech industries Attracting the best science and technogy I nvestments in Research Infrastructures (RIs) have the potential to provide short-medium term economic impact through: immediate, high quality inputs to relevant industries; an increase in innovation and technology; an ability to attract the very best science and technology researchers, engineers and technicians; and, in the longer term, an ability to attract and develop high-tech competitive industries. 11

12 T here is a growing awareness of the impact that the health of the open-ocean environment and deep-sea have on human society. Pollution, habitat degradation, over-fishing, climate change, and invasive species emerge repeatedly as major issues of concern. These threats interact with each other, damaging natural ecosystems, reducing productivity, and diminishing biological and economic diversity. The role of open ocean observatories is to assess and mitigate the effects of these threats by providing accurate and timely information. European observatory infrastructure is providing the capacity to align with the USA, Canada, and Japan to provide these services. Human life is dependent on our oceans. They play a pivotal role in influencing our climate 12

13 We can t have a healthy planet without healthy oceans T he socio-economic interest in marine safety is directly related to transportation, pollution, search and rescue, and minimizing consequences of natural hazards, all of which require specific observations from the oceans. EMSO will provide key scientific data that are especially important for monitoring geo-hazards and pollution in areas of dense maritime traffic. In such cases observatory time-series data will inform ship owners, port authorities, local authorities and insurance companies. 13

14 With the establishment of EMSO an intense involvement of European Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), as well as large companies, is expected. The indirect effects extend beyond the original objectives and include academic and scientific information, technological innovation, networking opportunities, standardisation and interoperability methods, modes of management, and the availability of a critical mass of scientists and engineers. The timing is appropriate to initiate the European partnership that will deliver deep-ocean observation services to government agencies and industry in Europe and collaborate with initiatives from the USA, Canada, and Japan to deliver services to Africa, South America, and the Asia/Pacific Region. EMSO effects: scientific information networking opportunities interoperabiliy methods modes of management 14

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16 MA EMSO SITES OCEAN NETWORKS CANADA OOI - UNITED STATES ECSSOS - CHINA IMOS - AUSTRAL 16 EMSO Sites Description

17 DONET - JAPAN CHO - TAIWAN A 17

18 CURRENT PARTNERS OF EMSO CSIC Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (Spain) CNRS Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) GEOECOMAR Institutul National de Cercetare Dezvoltare pentru Geologie si Geoecologie Marina (Romania) HCMR Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (Greece) IFREMER Institut Français de Recherche pour l exploitation de la mer (France) IMI Marine Institute (Ireland) INGV Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Italy, LEAD) IPMA Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (Portugal) ITU-EMCOL Istanbul Teknik Universitesi, Eastern Mediterranean Centre for Oceanography and Limnology (Turkey) KDM Konsortium Deutsche Meeresforschung e.v. (Germany) NIOZ Stichting Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut voor Zeeonderzoek (The Netherlands) NOCS National Oceanography Centre Southampton (United Kingdom) UGOT Goteborgs Universitet (Sweden) UIT University of Tromsø (Norway) 18

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20 2015 EMSO - European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water column Observatory EMSO Interim Office Via di Vigna Murata, Rome, Italy Tel Fax interim.office@emso-eu.org