The European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) is a network of European organisations working together to observe the oceans, to make the collected marine data freely available and interoperable, to create seamless data layers across sea-basins and to distribute the data and data products through the Internet. The primary aim of EMODnet is to unlock existing but fragmented and hidden marine data and make them accessible for a wide range of users including private bodies, public authorities and researchers.
The Horizon Europe “EuroGO-SHIP” project (December 2022 - November 2025) proposes a programme to address new requirements within the context of the European Research Infrastructure (RI) landscape. Observations from ships, and in particular water column measurements, remain the backbone of much Oceanographic Science, including fisheries, regional oceanography, and global climate science. Every coastal country in Europe has a programme of such observations that feeds data into evaluations in support of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, with these programmes being organised into both regional clusters and serving as contributions to wider international networks. In 2019, as part of the OceanOBS conference, networks identified gaps in their requirements for support. The Euro-GOSHIP addresses various issues including more sustainable data flows and longer-term funding for hydrographic observations taken from ships, as key research infrastructures contributing to the wider ocean observing system. The proposed new services and access opportunities based on the network needs presented at OceanOBS are:
- Shared facilities such as training, best practices, access to capability and access to equipment through a European Marine Equipment Pool (EMEP).
- Data curation to ensure fit for purpose data systems and metadata for both real-time and delayed mode quality-controlled data.
- Secondary quality control to increase consistency and add uncertainty estimates to observations.
These services will be refined by broad consultation with data originators, governments, funders and end-users. In addition, pilot activities will both provide immediate support to the networks and help to refine a statement of requirements. These requirements will be compared to the set of services already available within the European RI landscape and on the basis of this a new structure for supporting European Hydrography proposed.
As Project partner, Seascape Belgium leads the work package focusing on “Communications, Dissemination & Exploitation”
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