A new project funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 program will contribute to the long-term sustainability of EMSO ERIC, the European Infrastructure made up of multidisciplinary underwater observatories dedicated to the study and monitoring of European seas
EMSO-Link, the new project funded by the European Commission as part of the Horizon 2020 strategy for research infrastructures, kicks off today with a Kick Off Meeting in Rome.
The new project is coordinated by EMSO ERIC, the European Consortium that deals with the management of the EMSO Research Infrastructure (European Multidisciplinary Observatory of the seabed and the water column) and sees the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) among the partner.
“EMSO-Link aims to accelerate the organization and full operation of the Consortium, as coordination center of the EMSO observatories, allowing physical and virtual access to the same observatories and to the data of the European infrastructure, made up of multidisciplinary submarine observatories dedicated to the study and monitoring of European seas, EMSO-Link will contribute to the long-term sustainability of EMSO ERIC", explains Laura Beranzoli, INGV project manager.
“To coordinate and expand the current network of EMSO ERIC members, attracting other countries with their respective scientific communities,” says Paola Materia, Project Manager of EMSO-Link, “and increase relations with similar initiatives and with complementary research infrastructures, it is the expected impact of the project”.
EMSO-Link will also focus on increasing the effective involvement of potential users such as operators in the marine environment monitoring and protection sector, industry, academia and training, through awareness-raising actions.
This project will consolidate EMSO ERIC's contribution to European economic growth and innovation, through the implementation of a powerful innovation platform for marine technologies, in service and in cooperation with industry and small and medium enterprises.
EMSO extension (http://www.emso-eu.org, European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water-column Observatory) is a European-scale Research Infrastructure in the field of environmental sciences. It was founded in accordance with the action plan of the European strategy forum for research infrastructures (ESFRI) and includes a complex system of underwater observatories for long-term monitoring, even in real time, of environmental processes related to interaction between the geosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere. This system is currently made up of eleven underwater observatories positioned on deep seabeds and four test sites in shallow waters. These observatories are located at specific sites in the seas around Europe, from the Arctic to the Atlantic and from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, thus forming a widely distributed pan-European infrastructure.
EMSO ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) is the European consortium that manages EMSO. The ERIC will have to coordinate the provision of services to the various stakeholders by providing power supply, communications, sensors and guaranteeing the data infrastructure necessary to guarantee interactive, continuous, high-resolution and near-real-time ocean observations . The data collected by the observatories involve a wide range of research areas including biology, geology, chemistry, physics, engineering and information technology and in the most diverse scenarios from the polar to the subtropical environment, thus guaranteeing a vast multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity.
The member countries of EMSO ERIC are: Italy (which hosts the registered office), France, Spain, England, Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Romania.
The European marine research has a long-term sustainability perspective
A new project funded by the European Commission H2020 is underpinning the long-term sustainability of EMSO ERIC, the pan-European distributed Research Infrastructure composed of fixed point open ocean observatories for studying and monitoring the European seas
EMSO-Link, a new project financed by the European Commission (€4.3 million) as part of the Horizon 2020 roadmap for the research infrastructures, kicks off today in Rome.
EMSO-Link is led by EMSO ERIC – the European Research Infrastructure Consortium charged of the management of the European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water column Observatory - and is aimed at accelerating the organization and full operation of the consortium as the central hub coordinating EMSO fixed-point open ocean observatories, including physical and virtual access to observatories and data.
The project's ambition is also to consolidate and expand the current EMSO ERIC membership involving other countries and their respective marine science communities, and to enhance the relations with sister marine initiatives and counterpart/complementary Research Infrastructures.
EMSO-Link is also addressed to increase stakeholders (eg, marine operators, industry, academia, universities and marine experts) active engagement through a number of awareness raising campaigns.
EMSO-Link will also strengthen the EMSO ERIC contribution to the European economic growth and innovation through the implementation of a powerful marine technologies Innovation Platform serving and cooperating with Industry and Small Medium Enterprises.
The EMSO-Link kickoff meeting takes place in Rome (Italy), at Hotel Villa Eur, 28-29 March 2017.
EMSO extension (http://www.emso-eu.org/) is a large-scale European Research Infrastructure in the field of environmental sciences. It was founded according to the Roadmap of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) and comprises a European-scale complex system of systems made up with open ocean observatories for long-term monitoring, also in real time, of environmental processes related to the interaction between the geosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere. It is presently composed of eleven deep-seafloor observatories and four shallow water test sites deployed in specific sites around European waters, from the Arctic through the Atlantic and the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, thus forming a widely distributed pan-European infrastructure.
The EMSO ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) is the European institution steering the infrastructure of seafloor observatories. The ERIC shall coordinate the provision of services to various stakeholders, supplying 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. EMSO ERIC members are: Italy (hosting the ERIC legal head-office), France, Spain, United Kingdom, Ireland, Greece, Portugal, and Romania.
Photo 1 - EMSO ERIC nodes
Photo 2 - EMSO ERIC nodes
Photo 3 - EMSO ERIC nodes
Photo 4 - EMSO-Link Kick Off Meeting, Rome
Photo 5 - EMSO-Link Kick Off Meeting, Rome