Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - AtlantOS (Optimizing and Enhancing the Integrated Atlantic Ocean Observing System)

Teaser

The ocean covers about 70% of the surface of the earth and facilitates 90% of the global trade. It provides resources such as food, energy and materials, and regulates the global climate. Integrated, effective, sustainable, and purposeful in-situ and satellite ocean observing...

Summary

The ocean covers about 70% of the surface of the earth and facilitates 90% of the global trade. It provides resources such as food, energy and materials, and regulates the global climate. Integrated, effective, sustainable, and purposeful in-situ and satellite ocean observing is needed to record, discover und understand the substantial dynamics and characteristics of the ocean, to document changes, to facilitate system models, and to provide the relevant information for improved ocean understanding, forecasting and new opportunities for sustainable human prosperity.
Atlantic Ocean observation is currently undertaken through loosely-coordinated, in-situ observing networks, satellite observations and data management arrangements of heterogeneous international, national and regional design to support science and a wide range of information products. Thus there is tremendous opportunity to develop the systems towards a fully integrated Atlantic Ocean Observing System (AtlantOS) consistent with the recently developed ‘Framework of Ocean Observing’ (FOO). The FOO, a strategy for the future to foster progress in sustained ocean observing considering the recognition that more integration across disciplines is needed to best respond to user needs and societal drivers.
The EU Horizon 2020 project AtlantOS Optimising and Enhancing the Integrated Atlantic Ocean Observing Systems is contributing to the Trans-Atlantic Research Alliances, GOOS (Global Ocean Observing System), and the GEO (Group on Earth Observations). The project pools the effort of 57 European and 5 non-European partners (research institutes, universities, marine service providers, multi-institutional organisations, and the private sector) from 18 countries. The vision of AtlantOS is to improve and innovate Atlantic observing by using the FOO to obtain an international, more sustainable, more efficient, more integrated, and fit-for-purpose system.

Work performed

The AtlantOS consortium is actively working on a broad range of project topics spanning from refined observing system requirements and associated design studies, via innovation and enhancement of ship-based and autonomous observing networks, interface activities with coastal ocean observing systems, integrated regional observing systems, cross-cutting issues and emerging networks, and data flow and integration, showcasing of societal benefits from observing/information systems in support of system evaluation and sustainability to broad community engagement, dissemination and communication; some more specific results are provided below. Current capacities and gaps were analysed for all three ocean observing disciplinary components (a) physical, (b) biogeochemical, and (c) biological resulting in a strategy for performing a comprehensive capacity and gap analysis of the ocean observing value chain in the context of an integrated Atlantic Ocean Observing system.
Coordination and management procedures for and across ship-based and autonomous observing networks has significantly improved e.g. between GO-Ship and other hydrographic surveys, within the seabed mapping and all autonomous ocean observing communities. These improvements lead consequently to technical advancements and new developments such as the autonomous titration system for total alkalinity, various sensors and optodes, and an autonomous particle sampler. A comprehensive overview about the observing efforts was gained by several meetings to join forces and to promote integration on observing in the North and South Atlantic. This initiative greatly fostered the progress towards the Belem Statement.
Regarding the enhancement and optimisation of data flow and integration a web portal (AtlantOS catalogue) has been implemented and is continuously updated. The Trans-Atlantic data harmonisation workshop in 2017 with representatives from all Atlantic bordering continents resulted in new initiatives that will pave the way for an improved approach to manage data harmonisation at Trans-Atlantic level. Furthermore, significant progress has been made towards case studies on ocean information systems for societal benefit which are expressed by various webpage applications available on or via the AtlantOS webpage (https://www.atlantos-h2020.eu).
Furthermore, AtlantOS was intensively cooperating with JCOMMOPS and EMODnet fostering a new generation of information system and web based services which will provide a real-time and persistent monitoring system beyond the lifetime of AtlantOS. The AtlantOS impact in terms of connection, availability, and accessibility of data is easily represented by this tools. Regarding engagement, AtlantOS produced a comprehensive overview on ‘Best Practices in Stakeholder Engagement, Data Dissemination and Exploitation’ and various briefing papers, newsletters, peer-reviewed articles and actively engaged with policy and decision makers.

Final results

The AtlantOS project initiative aims to have a sustainable contribution to realising societal, economic and scientific benefits arising from the integrated approach. Advances will be achieved by improving the value for money, extent, completeness, quality and ease of access to Atlantic Ocean data required by governments, science and the private sector.
The overarching target of the AtlantOS initiative is to deliver an advanced framework for the development of an integrated Atlantic Ocean Observing System that goes beyond the state-of–the-art, and can be sustained after the project’s lifetime (2015-2019). The sustainability will derive by (a) improving international collaboration in the design, implementation and benefit sharing, (b) promoting engagement and innovation (c) facilitating free and open access to data and information, and (d) enabling and disseminating methods of achieving quality and authority of ocean information.
The AtlantOS initiative directly supports the implementation of GOOS and contributes to the Blue Planet Initiative of GEO. Moreover, it fosters achieving the aims of the Galway Statement signed in 2013 by the EU, Canada and the US and that of the Belem Statement signed in 2017 by the EU, Brazil and South Africa on Atlantic Ocean Cooperation and launching a Transatlantic Ocean Research Alliance to enhance collaboration to better understand the Atlantic Ocean. It further contributes to the Sustainable Development Goal 14 “life below water” and related SDGs by providing indicators building on a smart index framework, based on reliable open access ocean information and it paved the way for discussions with funding agencies in North America. AtlantOS helped to strengthen European efforts in this space (CMEMS, EMODnet, EUROGOOS and EOOS) and made explicit connection to the G7 Future of Seas and Oceans initiative.
AtlantOS successfully organised and implemented the process of an Atlantic Ocean BluePrint initiative including, the first draft of the BluePrint which will be released in summer 2018. Furthermore, the project successfully managed to integrate and promote ‘ocean observing and its relevance for society’ by means of a highly visible and attractive initiative – the sailing event ‘Volvo Ocean Race’. Currently, AtlantOS is working on a vison 2030 for sustained European Atlantic Ocean observing, a community white paper for the OceanObs19 conference and will provide key input to the planning process of the UN Decade of Ocean Sciences in support of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

Website & more info

More info: https://www.atlantos-h2020.eu/.