Science and Research

On 12 July 2022, during the launch event of 'The Science We Need for the Mediterranean Sea We Want' (SciNMeet) Programme, Alessandra Giorgetti of the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS, Italy) and Sissy Iona of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR, Greece) presented EMODnet, with a special focus on Chemistry and Ingestion data infrastructures. EMODnet is involved in the activities of Task Team 6 (TT6) of SciNMeet on Data Sharing. TT6 is facilitated by A. Giorgetti, Scientific Coordinator of EMODnet Chemistry.

Blue-Cloud is taking part in the EU Green Week with a Partner Event on 1 June 2022 at 15:00 CEST. Blue-Cloud will present three practical use cases from the international marine research community that were awarded at the "Decode the Ocean" Hackathon in February 2022. These applications are currently exploiting the Blue-Cloud platform to expand and improve digital solutions for a range of crucial challenges for a sustainable blue economy. EMODnet is a core marine data infrastructure contributing its technical expertise to Blue-Cloud and its data and data product services to digital applications for the blue economy, EU Green Deal and more.

On 19-20 May 2022, EMODnet experts from across the network joined hundreds of marine and maritime stakeholders in Ravenna, Italy and online for European Maritime Day 2022. At the event, EC DG MARE hosted a workshop on Ocean Observation and the Blue Economy Observatory, which presented the ‘EC Ocean Observation – sharing responsibility’ initiative, explored synergies with the Blue Economy Observatory and launched the EC Blue Economy Report 2022 co-produced with the Joint Research Centre (JRC) which features EMODnet and the European Atlas of the Seas.

On 19 May, EMODnet co-organised a workshop with European projects EuroSea and Blue-Cloud on ‘Ocean Observations, marine data and services for the European Green Deal’ with EMODnet Chemistry and the Secretariat presenting concrete use cases of EMODnet data and data products for the EU Green Deal. In addition, EMODnet Human Activities moderated a workshop on Aquaculture and EMODnet Biology presented at a workshop on the Digital Ocean.

Read more on EMODnet’s activities at EMD2022, including further information on EMODnet and European Atlas of the Seas’ contribution to the EC Blue Economy Report 2022.

On 12 May 2022, EU marine data services EMODnet and Copernicus Marine Service are organising a joint webinar to discuss the evolution of these key marine data services in the context of an all Atlantic and global ocean data space. The webinar is supported by the European Commission and in collaboration with the AANCHOR All-Atlantic Cooperation for Ocean Research and Innovation. The event is open and inclusive, intended for all interested stakeholders across the Atlantic Ocean Basin and beyond. A full programme will be available in April 2022.

The #OceanChallenge4Africa online hackathon aims to tackle ocean challenges in the coastal and marine regions of Africa and to pool African energies to grasp opportunities offered by the ocean. It is organized by Mercator Ocean International, IOC Africa and Garage48; and supported by the EU’s Copernicus Marine Service and Segal Family Foundation. It is further held in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme GEMS Ocean, GEO Blue Planet and the African Group on Earth Observations (AfriGEO). The deadline for idea submission and team formation is 22 March 2022.

The European Ocean Observing System (EOOS) Technology Forum on 22-24 March 2022 brought together experts in ocean observation, marine technology, marine research and development and others from academia, research and more for a forward looking workshop on the technologies required to fulfill the goals of the UN Decade for Ocean Science and Sustainable Development focusing on the topic “Marine pollution: monitoring, mitigation, forecasting and measuring impact on marine life”.

EMODnet was well represented at the event with speaker roles in various panels by the EMODnet Secretariat’s Conor Delaney and Kate Larkin, in addition to wider community inputs.

The Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) is a United Nations coalition among multiple interested parties who are involved in tackling marine litter pollution.

The GPML platform integrates and provides access to up-to-date and reliable data to guide decision-making to achieve the following target of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: preventing and significantly reducing marine pollution of all kinds, by 2025. Most EMODnet Chemistry data products for marine litter, eutrophication, and contaminants are now integrated in the GPML digital platform. Read the related ‘use case’ to get all details on this new collaboration.

Marine Litter Manager (MLM) is a Python  data  formatting tool for Linux and Windows that has been developed to  generate EMODnet beach litter  and  seafloor  trawlings  litter  formats. This is done following  the EMODnet Chemistry guidelines. EMODnet Chemistry has recently made available the User Manual online through its thematic web portal. The manual enriches the web page dedicated to Marine Litter Manager, where users can also find specific video tutorials, some examples of files and the links to save the tool. The experience gained on the use of MLM during the project called 'International Bottom Trawl Survey in the Mediterranean' (MEDITS) was capitalised in the Manual. In particular, the Manual gives some examples of data file formatting by using the tool as part of this project. While the examples are based on seabed litter data, they also help you understand how Marine Litter Manager can facilitate formatting beach litter data files.

EMODnet Biology partners assembled virtually from 28 February to 3 March 2022 for an intensive workshop to develop innovative data products using EMODnet data. They worked collaboratively to develop brand new products (e.g., modelling the distribution of an invasive seaweed) and to significantly improve previous products (e.g., expanding the product on the presence and absence of benthic species to cover all European waters). More focus was placed on changes in Europe’s marine biodiversity through time. They also ran sessions led by two data science experts on good practice in data product development, including tips on a range of methods and techniques to improve the reproducibility and documentation of EMODnet Biology’s products.

Ocean-based industries and conservation organisations are working towards 2030 targets to reduce harmful practices and restore ocean health. The summit will assess whether the targets are ambitious enough, and what policymakers, industry, and investors should do to achieve them.

Did you know that the EMODnet Open Conference virtual exhibition is still open for the public? The exhibition, set up for the EMODnet Open Conference in June 2021 takes the user through an informative journey of the past decade of EMODnet achievements, the latest state-of-the-art in in situ marine data services, key partnerships at EU and global levels – including with the ocean observation community, and EMODnet’s increasing win-win collaborations with the Blue Economy and Business sectors.  There is information on the diverse activities of EMODnet, you can visit the gallery of community posters and get informed on related initiatives such as European Atlas of the Seas. The virtual exhibition closes in Spring 2022.

EMODnet Physics supported OGS in the adoption of the ERDDAP technology which enables users to easily download subsets of scientific datasets in common file formats and make graphs and maps.

By using EMODnet in situ integrated physics data in combination with modeling and remote sensing data from Copernicus Marine Service, Cyprus Subsea Consulting and Services C.S.C.S. Ltd (CSCS) gains important insight on the oceanographic conditions of the operational area where they deploy gliders.

The latest OSPAR Threatened and/or Declining Habitats dataset (version 2020) is now available via the EMODnet Seabed Habitats portal. This dataset comprises point and polygon data and shows the distribution of habitats on the OSPAR list of threatened and/or declining species and habitats within the North-east Atlantic.

The Ocean Sciences Meeting 2022 ("Come Together and Connect") will focus on the importance of strong pilina for the ocean science community. Pilina means connection, relationship, and association and is an important value in Hawaiian culture that encourages inclusivity and collaborations to achieve results that cannot be accomplished with one person alone. EMODnet will be actively contributing to a number of sessions including the scientific session: "OD11 The uptake of data by citizen scientists, aggregators and end-users: successes, challenges and gaps in the dataflow".

The 6th edition of the EU Datathon, the annual EU open data competition, includes four challenges. 

The finals will take place on 20 October 2022.