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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - EMSODEV (EMSO implementation and operation: DEVelopment of instrument module)

Teaser

The European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water-column Observatory (EMSO) European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) provides power, communications, sensors, and data infrastructure for continuous, high-resolution, (near-)real-time, interactive ocean observations...

Summary

The European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water-column Observatory (EMSO) European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) provides power, communications, sensors, and data infrastructure for continuous, high-resolution, (near-)real-time, interactive ocean observations across a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary range of research areas including biology, geology, chemistry, physics, engineering, and computer science, from polar to subtropical environments, through the water column down to the abyss. Coordination among the consortium nodes (8 deep sea and 3 shallow) is being strengthened through the EMSODEV project, which has realized three EMSO Generic Instrument Modules (EGIMs).
The EMSODEV general objective is to catalyze the full implementation and operation of the EMSO ERIC distributed Research Infrastructure (RI), through the development, testing and deployment of EGIMs. These modules provide accurate, consistent, comparable, long-term measurements of Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs), which are key to addressing urgent societal and scientific challenges, such as climate change, ocean ecosystem disturbance, and marine hazards. This results in the increased interoperability of EMSO ERIC nodes thanks to the harmonized collection of EOV time series.
The specific objectives of EMSODEV are:
(1) to design and implement a state-of-the-art, standardized multidisciplinary EMSO Generic Instrument Module (EGIM);
(2) to fully test, calibrate, validate and assess the effectiveness of this innovative module;
(3) to use the Big Ocean Data produced by the harmonized instrument module as a catalyst to strengthen the data management and delivery backbone of the EMSO RI;
(4) to promote the uptake of the project results and public-private partnerships, establishing links with industry (particularly SMEs) for technology transfer and future RDI activities.

Work performed

In the first reporting period of the project, the technical specifications of EMSO Generic Instrument Module were defined, covering all the possible aspects from sensors to data, power, communications, frame, and shipment. The EGIM was designed on the basis of these specifications and a prototype was built, tested and delivered to the shallow water test at OBSEA for long-term in situ tests. Three nodes were selected to host further testing: PLOCAN, Azores and Western Ionian Sea. Procurement activities to purchase the sensors were carried out and a tender has been issued. The Data Management Plan was drafted at the beginning of the project and the Data Management Platform (DMP) was designed and set up.
In the second reporting period, the project focused on the production of the two replicated EGIMs. Once produced and pressure tested:
• The first prototype was sent to Azores for the deployment, which lasted from July 2017-August 2018. Data were collected from all the sensors although some did not run for the full year-long deployment. Data were made accessible after the cruise via the new EMSO data portal and via the the EMSO France data portal on SEANOE.
• EGIM-01 was sent to Catania on May 2018 to arrive in time for the EGIM School training (6-7th June 2018). The EGIM School was a two-day course in Catania dedicated to scientists and technicians for providing effective training on the deployment, configuration and management of the EGIM unit, to ensure full operability in the various conditions the instrument will face in the different EMSO Regional Facilities. EGIM-01 remained in Catania for preparing the deployment in the Western Ionian site.
• EGIM-02 was sent to Canary Islands for the deployment, which took place at Taliarte Harbour for shallow water tests from 13th to 22nd Feb 2019 and data were collected in real time.
Meanwhile, following initial specification of EGIM, an iterative process was continued throughout the project with feedback to update the specification and to provide an audit that final performance meets agreed criteria. The available results of the deployments implemented have been analyzed and it will be continued until the end of the last deployment, when the final specification will be drafted. Regarding the DMP:
• finalization of the platform infrastructure setup on top of EGI FedCloud Services as the infrastructure as a service cloud on which the EMSODEV DMP has been deployed;
• fine tune of the mid-term DMP prototype including deployment and integration of open source tools, and specification, implementation and continuous fine tune of the DMP API (Application Programming Interface) available at http://api.emsodev.eu;
• ingestion of the data;
• release of six versions of MOODA (Module for Ocean Observatory Data Analysis), including documentation and a GUI (Graphical User Interface) to use MOODA.
The project communication and dissemination focused on the dissemination of the project activities and its results to the scientific community, industry and to the general public.
In the first reporting period, a detailed business case study report was compiled, assessing market applications and commercialization opportunities for the EGIM and the associated software package in areas like ocean energy, seabed mining and marine monitoring for protection, study.
In the second reporting period, several technology transfer activities have been implemented which increased the contact between EMSO partners and end users geographically, technically and in terms of numbers.
Moreover, the project started its activities related to the Exploitation plan, discussing and analysing the best paths for the complete and success exploitation of the main project result (EGIM).

Final results

EMSODEV is a fundamental contribution to advance and complete the construction of the EMSO ERIC infrastructure through the development and integration of a new observational component, EGIM, and of a unified DMP. The results achieved are the basis for the development of the services offered by EMSO ERIC - i.e. data management and products, standardization, training, technology transfer and innovation testing/consulting.
Moreover the procurement, tendering and production processes carried out in the project have been a first test to improve the coordination and cost-effectiveness by benchmarking with international best practices. EMSODEV activities are implemented in collaboration with SMEs, and one of them has been in charge for the replication process. This can set up the conditions for future joint R&D initiatives and activities.
EMSODEV, through the EGIM, is going to produce high-quality, standardized and fully traceable measurements and easy-accessible data and reliable data products for modeling and model calibrations. This will allow EMSO ERIC to gain attractiveness to the global science community and in general to a large stakeholder community. The DMP facilitates the obtainment of time-series data streams and will provide user-oriented tools to speed-up the preparation of the data before the scientists original processing.
EMSODEV provides also training opportunities for young engineers and scientists, empowering the EMSO ERIC vocation to the proactive development of the mobility of researchers for the ultimate goal of spreading of excellence and underpinning capacity building.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.emsodev.eu/.