At the EMODnet Open Conference 2023, a new video animation was released that explains the EMODnet unified service, noting the centralisation of all 7 EMODnet thematics into one portal, and what is means for EMODnet’s diverse user community. Follow the link to watch the full video.

Starting this month, the EMODnet newsletter will include updates on the European Atlas of the Seas the EC DG MARE Ocean Literacy tool, powered by EMODnet. The EU Atlas of the Seas offers 275 marine data layers, with over 50% coming from EMODnet. This month the EU Atlas of the Seas has released 5 new predefined maps, a new tutorial for MyMaps tool, took part in outreach activities at the World Cleanup Day village in Brussels, and more!

EMODnet centralisation may be complete, but EMODnet services continue to evolve. Discover the enhancements and latest technical upgrades to the EMODnet Map Viewer, brought to you by the Central Portal Technical team. These upgrades improve marine data discovery and visualization, including new map projections, customized parameter exploration, offering a more efficient and precise marine data exploration than ever before.

Following the centralisation of EMODnet services, a successful webinar was organised to showcase and promote all the new features and capabilities of the EMODnet portal and how to use them. The webinar recording is now available on the EMODnet YouTube Channel   .

This thematic unification simplifies access and enhances the EMODnet user experience. Central to the upgrade and major improvement is the release of the common map viewer, which offers the user easy and seamless access to discover, visualise and download marine data across seven thematics spanning marine environment and human activities and hundreds of data and data products from one place, powered by a searchable unified catalogue.

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!

Over the past couple of years EMODnet Biology has been focusing on the development of R packages that allow users to access EMODnet data via OGC webservices. These are now publicly available.

EMODnet Chemistry has significantly expanded the new edition of the guidelines entitled "Updated guidelines for SeaDataNet ODV production: Eutrophication & Contaminants". The recently published manual explains to data providers which standards, tools and software provided by the SeaDataNet infrastructure are adopted by EMODnet Chemistry to harmonise and validate data. A list of the most important problems and common errors and how to solve or avoid them is also part of the guide. In addition to information on the correct submission of data for pollutants and eutrophication, this edition includes a full section on ocean acidity.

The summary for the UN Ocean Conference (27 June to 1 July 2022) side event on “Marine Data Interoperability”, that was co-organised by the EMODnet Secretariat, is now available online. Check it out!

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.

The data set on fishing intensity made available by EMODnet Human Activities, previously only covering the North Sea, now also includes the Azores, the Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Coast, the Baltic Sea, the Barents Sea, the Celtic Sea, the Faroes, Icelandic Waters, the Norwegian Sea and the Oceanic Northeast Atlantic.

EMODnet Human Activities has released a new data set on desalination plants in Europe.

Launched in February 2021, the data set on Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) is constantly increasing its coverage. Latvia has now joined Belgium, Denmark, Finland and the Åland Islands, whose MSP plans were already available on EMODnet.

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.

On 17 February 2022 EMODnet experts joined the Copernicus Marine 2.0 kick-off meeting that set the course for the Copernicus Marine workplan 2022-2028. Kate Larkin, Deputy Head EMODnet Secretariat spoke in a Panel on partnerships across Copernicus service and with EMODnet, noting that EMODnet is a proud collaborator with Copernicus which includes partnerships at multiple operational and coordination levels, and that EMODnet together with Copernicus Marine are key EU data services delivering the EU marine data space, the marine component of the EU Green Deal Data Space and the EU ocean contribution to the UN Ocean Decade.