Physics

On 26 January 2023, the EMODnet Secretariat hosted an online workshop on the added value and benefits of the EMODnet Sea-basin Checkpoint (SBCP) exercises that took place across six sea basins in 2013-2018. The workshop brought together more than 50 experts including EMODnet Sea-basin Checkpoint Coordinators, partners and expert panel members, EMODnet thematic and data ingestion Coordinators and representatives, EMODnet associated partners, the European Commission and wider invited experts from the European Ocean Observing, marine data and user community.

EMODnet invites inputs to a public survey on the benefits of the SBCP which remains open until 2 February 2023!

The EMODnet Secretariat team wishes you peace, joy, good health and prosperity throughout the coming year. Thank you for your continued support and partnership. We look forward to working with you in 2023!

The EMODnet Steering Committee (SC) met with EMODnet coordinators and technical experts at its 17th meeting on 7 and 8 November 2022, with a key focus on the upcoming centralization of all EMODnet services into one unified EMODnet data service. Other topics included highlights from the seven EMODnet thematic lots and data ingestion, including latest outputs and partnerships planning for two upcoming EMODnet flagship events in 2023, namely the 3rd edition of the EMODnet Open Sea Lab hackathon, kicking off on 7 March 2023 and the EMODnet Open Conference & Jamboree, taking place in late Autumn 2023. The EC Marine Knowledge Expert Group joined the 17th EMODnet SC Open Session and also met for a second closed session on 29th November 2022.

This virtual workshop, co-organized and led by the non-profit organisation HUB Ocean and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) in its role as coordinator of the Ocean Decade, aims to define potential use cases that will explore the sharing of industry-owned ocean data with the ocean research community to improve ocean models and science. The workshop will take place on 22-23 November 2022 and will convene a dozen scientific partners working in the ocean-climate modelling domain. It will contribute to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development addressing Ocean Decade Challenge #5, which aims to “enhance understanding of the ocean-climate nexus and generate knowledge and solutions to mitigate, adapt and build resilience to the effects of climate change across all geographies and at all scales.”

On 20-21 October 2022, EMODnet together with EC DG MARE organised a workshop on “EMODnet marine data for the offshore renewable energy sector in the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea”. The workshop was attended by over 80 offshore renewable energy experts with representatives from diverse sectors including research, policy, marine data services and non-governmental agencies. EMODnet was well represented thematic experts from geology, seabed habitats, bathymetry, chemistry, human activities, Data Ingestion, Central Portal and the EMODnet Secretariat. The agenda included a demonstration of the latest EMODnet services, use cases of how the offshore renewable energy sector uses EMODnet data and data products, and dialogues on data requirements and data sharing. This workshop was the second in a series, with the first workshop focusing on the Northeast Atlantic, North Sea and Baltic Sea.

On 17-18 October 2022, ocean stakeholders gathered in Venice, Italy for the first edition of the Sea Level Rise Conference. The conference was organised by the Knowledge Hub on Sea Level Rise, a joint effort between JPI Climate and JPI Oceans, in collaboration with its Italian partners and with endorsement by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The Conference brought together researchers, stakeholders and policy professionals to exchange on regional to local sea level change in Europe. Jan-Bart Calewaert, Head of the EMODnet Secretariat, participated in the closing panel as Co-leader of the Task Group on Communication. Also present on a panel that took stock of existing capability was Dr. Antonio Novellino, Research Manager at ETT and Coordinator of EMODnet Physics who shed light on the vast amount of open, free and harmonised data and information related to Sea Level Rise and coastal adaptation already available via EMODnet services.

The report and presentations are now available from a Coastal workshop convened by EMODnet and Copernicus Marine Service on 22nd September 2022. The meeting brought together experts from the Copernicus Marine Service, EMODnet, European Commission DG Defis, DG MARE and CINEA. Discussions focused on the latest coastal marine data and data products offered by each service, existing gaps and requirements for future evolution, synergies and alignments across data services and with wider European and global initiative. The agenda, minutes and presentations are available on the EC Maritime Forum.

The Sea Level Rise Conference 2022 on 17-18 October will bring together researchers, stakeholders and policy professionals at Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista (Venice, Italy) to exchange on regional to local sea level change in Europe. The conference is organized by the Knowledge Hub on Sea Level Rise, a joint effort between JPI Climate and JPI Oceans, in collaboration with its Italian partners and with endorsement by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

Applications to the Call for Decade Actions No. 04/2022 are now open. The Call is an invitation for worldwide partners to request endorsement for transformative Decade Actions that can contribute to the Ocean Decade vision on Challenge 6 – Coastal Resilience and on Challenge 8 – Digital Representation of the Ocean. Details are available on the Ocean Decade website's dedicated webpage.

On 22 September the second EMODnet-Copernicus Marine Thematic workshop on Coastal issues took place, two years after the first workshop in June 2020. The meeting brought together EMODnet and Copernicus Marine Service experts together with inter-DG representation from the European Commission and CINEA. The workshop focused on dialogue between the two EU marine data services EMODnet and Copernicus Marine Service with a specific focus on the coastal area. Existing capabilities and emerging areas for collaboration across EMODnet themes and between EMODnet and Copernicus Marine were assessed, and concrete joint contributions to European (e.g. EU DTO, Green Deal) and global (UN Ocean Decade) initiatives/strategies were defined. A report will follow on the EC Maritime Forum.

EMODnet Physics gave a Guest Lecture on 'Quality Control and Data Management – EMODnet: methods and tools in the global glider data exchange' at the 2022 Marine Robotics Summer School. The Summer School was an initiative jointly organized by the MIT Portugal Program (MPP), LSTS – Underwater Systems and Technology Laboratory (FEUP), and the University of Azores. It took place at Faial Island, in the Azores, between July 11 and 22. The attendees acquired expertise in marine robotics and oceanography, more specifically in applications for ocean observation, archaeology, and mapping of ecosystems.

Wish to know more about EMODnet and its results? 2021 saw the beginning of a new era. Download the EMODnet Annual Report 2021 to learn about the main achievements, key facts and figures, partnerships, new products and services, the EMODnet Open Conference and Jamboree 2021, wider events and much more!

The EMOD-network has embraced the ongoing #MakeEUBlue campaign of the EU4Ocean European Ocean Literacy Coalition, with pledges from each of the seven thematics, data ingestion, the EMODnet Secretariat and European Atlas of the Seas. The full pledges are being promoted during April and May 2022 via @EMODnet on Twitter, in the weeks leading up to the EU4Ocean Summit on 20 May in Ravenna, Italy, as part of European Maritime Day 2022. Read all the pledges already on the EMODnet website and find out how to become a EU4Ocean Platform member.

The EMODnet partnership held its 16th EMODnet Steering Committee and 11th Technical Working Group meetings between 26-28th April 2022. The hybrid meetings brought together more than 40 experts with representatives from the EMODnet secretariat, Central Portal, Data Ingestion and EC convening in Ostend - where the EMODnet Secretariat offices are based – together with a large online participation of EMODnet Coordinators and Technical experts from across Europe.

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.

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.

The EMOD-PACE (EMODnet PArtnership for China and Europe) project is a collaborative pilot initiative between core implementors of the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) and the National Marine Data and Information Service (NMDIS) of China. It aims to promote effective international ocean governance and support the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean and its resources. 

EMOD-PACE is currently organising a survey to obtain feedback from users and stakeholders interested in marine data and information covering the study area on the usefulness and relevance of the project’s activities, its outputs and provided tools/services. This will help the project partners to (i) gain insight into the effectiveness of the project towards reaching its objectives; (ii) gauge the general appreciation of the outputs and activities by users and stakeholders; and (iii) to help identify areas of possible improvement and/or further action.

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 data, OceanGlider has increased the size of the net being cast for collecting glider mission activity, and has improved its technical approach regarding data and metadata.