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Research infrastructures have been established throughout Europe in order to create robust organizations that will facilitate and enhance research and innovation processes and will advance society with innovative products and services. The Hellenic Integrated Marine Observing, orecasting and Technology System (component of HIMIOFoTS RI) has been implemented in the framework of the National Roadmap for Research Infrastructures to form a large-scale infrastructure for the marine environment in Greece. It links together ocean observing and forecasting systems, coastal zone monitoring and management practices, as well as ocean engineering testing facilities. The overarching framework of the system supports the coordination of five organizations with expertise in the field of marine science and technology, the central management of research activities, and the common development of services and products. It comprises facilities and resources while it provides open access to research communities (academia, industry) to support the scientific advancements and innovation in their fields. The Hellenic Marine Observing, Forecasting and Technology System was further enhanced during its implementation through significant upgrades and developments in order to extend its observing capacity and the forecasting and technological abilities, while advancing the provided services and products. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

This report describes the governance of the European HF radar network including: the landscape of the Ocean observation networks and infrastructures, the role and links between operators of observational systems and stakeholders, the role and activities of the EuroGOOS HF radar Task Team in building a sound community strategy, the roadmap of the community with current achievements and future work lines.

Ecosystem models are recognized as valuable tools to understand marine ecosystem dynamics and address management questions, requiring an integrated approach of physical and biotic processes. In the present study, a three-dimensional basin scale Mediterranean hydrodynamic/biogeochemical model, currently operational as part of the POSEIDON forecasting system, was extensively validated against available in-situ and satellite data. The generic POSEIDON ecosystem model skill was objectively assessed, in capturing the observed seasonal variability of the main chemical ecosystem components within the planktonic food web. A cluster K-means analysis was applied to obtain an objective `biogeography' of the Mediterranean Sea, allowing a more efficient validation of model outputs against observational data. The model presented a reasonable skill in reproducing the seasonal cycle and observed patterns of the Mediterranean inorganic nutrients and chlorophyll-a, characterized by a prominent west-to-east gradient and their increase in areas receiving lateral nutrient inputs. Despite some model deviations, validation results have demonstrated the capability of the model to represent the Mediterranean ecosystem, ranging from oligotrophic open ocean to mesotrophic conditions in productive coastal areas.

Microplastics (MPs) are a contaminant of growing concern due to their widespread distribution and Interactions with marine species, such as filter feeders. To Investigate the MPs accumulation In wild and cultured mussels, a dynamic energy budget (DEB) model was developed and validated with the available field data of Mytilus edulis (M. edulis, wild) from the North Sea and Mytilus galloprovincialis (M. galloprovincialis, cultured) from the northern Ionian Sea. Towards a generic DEB model, the site-specific model parameter, half-saturation coefficient (Xk), was applied as a power function of food density for the cultured mussel, while for the wild mussel It was calibrated to a constant value. The DEBaccumulation model simulated the uptake and excretion rate of MPs, taking Into account environmental characteristics (temperature and chlorophyll a). An accumulation of MPs equal to 0.53 particles per Individual (fresh tissue mass 1.9 g) and 0.91 particles per Individual (fresh tissue mass 3.3 g) was simulated for the wild and cultured mussel after 4 and 1 years respectively, In agreement with the field data. The Inverse experiments Investigating the depuration time of the wild and cultured mussel In a clean-from-MPs environment showed a 90% removal of MPs load after 2.5 and 12 d respectively. Furthermore, sensitivity tests on model parameters and forcing functions highlighted that besides MPs concentration, the accumulation Is highly dependent on temperature and chlorophyll a of the surrounding environment. For this reason, an empirical equation was found, directly relating the environmental concentration of MPs, with the seawater temperature, chlorophyll a, and the mussel's soft tissue MPs load. © Author(s) 2020. This work Is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

A three-dimensional coupled hydrodynamic/biogeochemical numerical model, currently in operation as part of the POSEIDON forecasting system, was implemented in the Mediterranean Sea. The model was assessed regarding its efficacy in representing the main biogeochemical components and seasonal dynamics of the Mediterranean planktonic system. Model outputs were compared with available historical data in a proposed objective eco-regionalisation of the Mediterranean basin, based on productivity. The simulated production (primary, bacterial) and planktonic biomass (phytoplankton, zooplankton and bacteria), as well as particulate and dissolved organic carbon, were found consistent with observational estimates in different areas of the Mediterranean Sea, following large scale productivity gradients. Although some limitations of the model were identified, the observed variability of the phytoplanktonic community structure was reasonably well-reproduced, simulating a dominant microbial food web with an intermittent development of the classical food web. The generic POSEIDON ecosystem model skill assessment provides a benchmark for future model improvement, highlighting the need to expand the range of biological variables sampled for further model calibration and validation. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

This publication is primarily aimed at stakeholders involved in ocean observing, spanning diverse roles from commissioning, managing, funding and coordinating, to developing, implementing, or advising on, ocean observation programmes. Such programmes will have strategic and policy drivers but their main purpose may vary from predominantly researchdriven scientific purposes to environmental monitoring for providing data and reporting to legally-binding regulations or directives. The main focus is on European capabilities but set in a global context with the various actors spanning a variety of geographical scales from national to regional and European. Key stakeholder organizations include environmental or other agencies; marine research institutions, their researchers and operators; international and regional ocean observing initiatives and programmes; national, regional and European policy makers and their advisors; national stations for observations; etc.). It will also be of interest to the wider marine and maritime research and policy community. The main aim of the publication is to increase the relevance of current (and future) European biological ocean observation capacity to strengthen global efforts towards our understanding of the ocean and enhance marine biodiversity conservation, for maintaining a healthy ocean for healthy societies. This document explains why biological ocean observations are needed to assess progress against national and international conservation targets, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Blue Growth agenda and to contribute to key EU directives including the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). To achieve this, the publication highlights the need of biological ocean observations to reflect clearly defined hypotheses about potential causes of change, including the combined impacts of local and global drivers, and to support the management of our impacts on the ocean. Additionally, it calls for flexible biological ocean observing programmes to capture the relevant drivers operating at multiple spatial scales, by networking and integration of ongoing monitoring programmes, methodological standardization and appropriate policies of data integration and dissemination. It then presents key variables, elements and information products to inform on the status and trends of marine biodiversity.

The Mediterranean community represented in this paper is the result of more than 30 years of EU and nationally funded coordination, which has led to key contributions in science concepts and operational initiatives. Together with the establishment of operational services, the community has coordinated with universities, research centers, research infrastructures and private companies to implement advanced multi-platform and integrated observing and forecasting systems that facilitate the advancement of operational services, scientific achievements and mission-oriented innovation. Thus, the community can respond to societal challenges and stakeholders needs, developing a variety of fit-for-purpose services such as the Copernicus Marine Service. The combination of state-of-the-art observations and forecasting provides new opportunities for downstream services in response to the needs of the heavily populated Mediterranean coastal areas and to climate change. The challenge over the next decade is to sustain ocean observations within the research community, to monitor the variability at small scales, e.g., the mesoscale/submesoscale, to resolve the sub-basin/seasonal and inter-annual variability in the circulation, and thus establish the decadal variability, understand and correct the model-associated biases and to enhance model-data integration and ensemble forecasting for uncertainty estimation. Better knowledge and understanding of the level of Mediterranean variability will enable a subsequent evaluation of the impacts and mitigation of the effect of human activities and climate change on the biodiversity and the ecosystem, which will support environmental assessments and decisions. Further challenges include extending the science-based added-value products into societal relevant downstream services and engaging with communities to build initiatives that will contribute to the 2030 Agenda and more specifically to SDG14 and the UN's Decade of Ocean Science for sustainable development, by this contributing to bridge the science-policy gap. The Mediterranean observing and forecasting capacity was built on the basis of community best practices in monitoring and modeling, and can serve as a basis for the development of an integrated global ocean observing system. © Copyright © 2019 Tintoré, Pinardi.

A dynamic energy budget (DEB) model was developed to investigate the growth and reproduction of cultured bivalve species raised under different environmental conditions (varying phytoplankton carbon biomass [Phyto-C], particulate organic carbon [POC] and temperature) and tuned against field data for Mytilus galloprovincialis from the Maliakos and Thermaikos Gulfs (Aegean Sea, Greece). Values of most DEB model parameters were adopted from the literature, while half saturation constant (Xk) and initial values of energy reserves (E) and reproductive buffer (R) were calibrated. Different values have been found for Xk in the 2 areas (Maliakos: Xk = 36 mg C m-3; Thermaikos: Xk = 28 mg C m-3), suggesting that Xk should be treated as a site-specific parameter. Food density (X) was adapted to include not only Phyto-C but also POC in the diet of M. galloprovincialis and only when Phyto-C density was low compared to POC density. Results showed a small contribution of POC during spring in the Maliakos Gulf and almost none at Thermaikos Gulf. The simulated mussel growth showed good agreement with field data. Sensitivity tests on the calibrated parameters (E, R and Xk) were performed to investigate model uncertainty. The standard deviation of simulations with perturbed parameter/initial values remained relatively small and appeared to increase as the modeled mussel grew, in agreement with observations. © The authors 2017.

The development and use of FerryBox systems as a cost-effective instrument for continuous observations of the marine environment has been well established since more than 15 years. The systems have evolved to maturity and are since widely used around the coastal ocean of Europe. The availability of newly developed sensors allows the extension of FerryBox measurements to more biogeochemical parameters which are of interest for the requirements of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The FerryBox community initially formed from the partners of an EU funded FerryBox project provides mutual exchange of experience and is now organized within EuroGOOS as a so called FerryBox Task Team (www.ferrybox.org). Within the EU funded infrastructure projects JERICO and JERICO-NEXT the technical harmonization as well as the developing of best practise guides for FerryBox systems have been a step further to high quality environmental data products. Within JERICO-NEXT it has been decided to build up a common FerryBox database and data portal in order to make the FerryBox data more available and visible. Furthermore this database will be function as a close link to the Copernicus Marine Environmental Monitoring Services (CMEMS) and the EMODnet portal.

This handbook collects the “best practices” in all phases of the system covering the entire infrastructural chain of data acquisition. It includes recommendations on how to produce high quality data aiming towards common methodologies and protocols within the FixO3 network. The Fixed point Open Ocean Observatory network (FixO3) seeks to integrate European open ocean fixed point observatories and to improve access to these key installations for the broader community. This network integrates open ocean moorings, surface buoys and deep cable observatories included in the ERIC EMSO. Unpublished Current

A new approach for processing the remote sensing chlorophyll-α (Chl-α) before assimilating into an ecosystem model is applied in two contrasting, regarding productivity and nutrients availability, Mediterranean sites: the DYFAMED and POSEIDON E1-M3A fixed point open ocean observatories. The new approach derives optically weighted depth-distributed Chl-α profiles from satellite data based on the model simulated Chl-α vertical distribution and light attenuation coefficient. We use the 1D version of the operational ecological 3D POSEIDON model, based on the European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model (ERSEM). The required hydrodynamic properties are obtained (off-line) from the POSEIDON operational 3D hydrodynamic Mediterranean basin scale model. The data assimilation scheme is the singular evolutive interpolated Kalman (SEIK) filter, the ensemble variant of the singular evolutive extended Kalman (SEEK) filter. The performance of the proposed assimilation approach was evaluated against the Chl-α satellite data and the seasonal averages of available in situ data for nitrate, phosphate and Chl-α. An improvement of the model simulated near-surface and subsurface maximum Chl-α concentrations is obtained, especially at the DYFAMED site. Model nitrate is improved with assimilation, particularly with the new approach assimilating depth-distributed Chl-α, while model phosphate is slightly worse after assimilation. Additional sensitivity experiments were performed, showing a better performance of the new approach under different scenarios of model Chl-α deviation from pseudo-observations of surface Chl-α. © 2016 Elsevier B.V..

This document constitutes Deliverable 5.5 of the JERICO project. It is intended to furnish members of the JERICO community with a basic understanding of how to proceed when attempting to establish measurement uncertainty for marine temperature, salinity and chlorophyll-a sensors. The document presents descriptions of the three measurands from a metrological standpoint, and discusses the approaches that could be taken to prepare uncertainty budgets for relevant sensors with some suitable examples and useful advice. The estimation of the uncertainty associated with the results of a measurement is an objective way to numerically depict the trustworthiness of those results. It is, therefore, a crucial part of the measuring process. Any measured value can be considered complete only if accompanied by a relative estimate of uncertainty. However, the latter characteristic is rarely discussed in marine observing circles and in the marine data management community despite its intimate link to sensor performance, data quality and data usability issues. This disregard arises from ignorance concerning the rigor required of modern measuring activity and the complexity of the underlying metrological system supporting it. There is a pressing need to begin to address this state of affairs, and the present publication, intended as a guidance document for members of the JERICO community, is a first step. The document deals with outlining a possible approach to determining uncertainty for sensor measurements of seawater temperature, salinity and chlorophyll-a. The approach is based on the generally accepted methodology for uncertainty evaluations given in the BIPM (Bureau International des Poids et Mesures) publication “Evaluation of measurement data - Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement”, commonly referred to as the GUM (2008). In all three cases, the conceived blueprint for action is based on the following topical cornerstones: the specification of the measurand, the descriptions of the realized quantity and the relative reference value, and finally, the identification of the uncertainty components and the quantification of the uncertainty. The present document is intended to be used in conjunction with the GUM, which continues to remain the master reference document for the evaluation of uncertainty in measurement at this time. Published Refereed Current Standard Operating Procedure

The objective of the workshop was to address main issues of JERICO project: - TNA: overview and formal approval of the selected proposals after the 3rd call - The JERICO Label document: content and issues - The JERICO strategy for the future. The document reports hereafter the synthesis of the discussions.

International audience; This paper conducts a detailed survey on the use of FPGA-based reconfigurable computing platforms for a wide range of sequence and structural bioinformatics applications, with emphasis on performance and energy savings of the underlying architectures. Applications considered include sequence comparison, multiple sequence alignment, RNA and protein secondary structure prediction, gene prediction, and phylogenetic tree computation.

Considering the importance of observing systems and the substantial investment made until now, an important task of JERICO is to describe best practices in all phases of the system (pre-deployment test, maintenance, calibration etc); to adopt common methodologies and protocols and to move towards the harmonisation of equipment which will help in reducing maintenance and calibration costs. These efforts are described and analysed in depth in this deliverable. European Commission, Joint European Research Infrastructure network for Coastal Observatories (JERICO) Project, Grant Agreement n° 262584 Published Permission to deposit: Patrick Farcy, Coordinator JERICO Project (jerico@ifremer.fr) Refereed Current

This paper presents an in-depth look of how FPGA computing can offer substantial speedups in the execution of bioinformatics algorithms, with specific results achieved to date for a broad range of algorithms. Examples and case studies are presented for sequence comparison (BLAST, CAST), multiple sequence alignment (MAFFT, T-Coffee), RNA and protein secondary structure prediction (Zuker, Predator), gene prediction (Glimmer/GlimmerHMM) and phylogenetic tree computation (RAxML), running on mainstream FPGA technologies as well as high-end FPGA-based systems (Convey HC1, BeeCube). This work also presents technological and other obstacles that need to be overcome in order for FPGA computing to become a mainstream technology in Bioinformatics.

The EuroSITES project was funded within the EU framework 7 to aid the convergence of the efforts of the 11 European-wide deep ocean observatories which formed its core. A major output of the project was envisaged as the synergies of the 13 partners working together to create a network providing sets of data in near-real-time, and in delayed-mode, which have been collected and processed in such a way as to be accessible to the wider scientific community, and comparable across time and site. The common data policy agreed by all the partners at the start of the project, and the evolution of a EuroSITES quality control manual which includes all the observatories practices, have formed the framework within which each data management group has delivered datasets which now carry the EuroSITES 'brand' as well as all the originators details. As a focal point for the, currently, 12 sites the EuroSITES data managers have worked as the European partner within the international OceanSITES project, developing the OceanSITES distribution standard, and studying the options for attaching additional metadata to data sets. The influence of EuroSITES as the European champion for the distribution of data in OceanSITES format will be an enduring legacy. The EuroSITES website (www.eurosites.info) provides a highly visible, and user accessible platform for the distribution of near-real time data from the observatories, as it becomes available. The data from the diverse sites are displayed in a consistent manner and the web pages form a coherent 'shop window' where potential data users can source data sets useful to their research, as well as a visual means of monitoring the health of the observatories. The sister site (outreach.eurosites.info) has been developed in parallel to be accessible to non-scientists. Working together EuroSITES has been able to develop a single conversion software package taking MEDATLAS and ODV ascii files and outputting the OceanSITES format. The sharing of knowledge in this and other developments ensures that costly duplication of effort is minimised. During the 3 years of the project the data management groups have interacted to share best practice, and although each is still independent and serves its own National Data Centre, the EuroSITES data inventory now carries data from all 13 sites, distributed in the OceanSITES v1.2 format. This format is NetCDF based, and carries within the file metadata. This describes the data in a consistent manner which achieves the first step towards interoperablility. The future of the funding of EuroSITES after April 2011 is not yet clear, but the project has achieved a remarkable degree of harmonisation already, and the relationships between the data management groups will undoubtedly continue as the cost benefits of resource and knowledge sharing become ever more important in the scientific arena.

In this work the ability of nesting two hydrodynamical models, the high-resolution Cretan Sea shelf model and the lower resolution regional ALERMO model, was investigated. A new database was developed by objectively analysing raw climatological data from the MODB database enriched with in situ measurements collected by the Institute of Marine Biology of Crete. Prior to nesting with the ALERMO model, the Cretan Sea model was integrated using this new hydrological database, in order to investigate the capability of the model setup to describe the phenomenology of the Cretan Sea. Results show that the model can successfully reproduce the complex general circulation characteristics of the area, such as the dipole of a cyclone and an anticyclone, and the flow reversal between winter and summer. As a next step, the shelf-model was one-way nested with the ALERMO model and was integrated on a climatological basis. The evolution of the circulation characteristics of the Cretan Sea was compared, qualitatively and quantitatively, against the results of the regional model, and proved that the nesting between the two models can provide reliable information while overcoming at the same time the computational constraints imposed by high-resolution models.

Este artículo contiene 30 páginas, 14 figuras., The Mediterranean community represented in this paper is the result of more than 30 years of EU and nationally funded coordination, which has led to key contributions in science concepts and operational initiatives. Together with the establishment of operational services, the community has coordinated with universities, research centers, research infrastructures and private companies to implement advanced multi-platform and integrated observing and forecasting systems that facilitate the advancement of operational services, scientific achievements and mission-oriented innovation. Thus, the community can respond to societal challenges and stakeholders needs, developing a variety of fit-for-purpose services such as the Copernicus Marine Service. The combination of state-of-the-art observations and forecasting provides new opportunities for downstreamservices in response to the needs of the heavily populatedMediterranean coastal areas and to climate change. The challenge over the next decade is to sustain ocean observations within the research community, to monitor the variability at small scales, e.g., the mesoscale/submesoscale, to resolve the sub-basin/seasonal and inter-annual variability in the circulation, and thus establish the decadal variability, understand and correct the model-associated biases and to enhance model-data integration and ensemble forecasting for uncertainty estimation. Better knowledge and understanding of the level ofMediterranean variability will enable a subsequent evaluation of the impacts and mitigation of the effect of human activities and climate change on the biodiversity and the ecosystem, which will support environmental assessments and decisions. Further challenges include extending the science-based added-value products into societal relevant downstream services and engaging with communities to build initiatives that will contribute to the 2030 Agenda and more specifically to SDG14 and the UN’s Decade of Ocean Science for sustainable development, by this contributing to bridge the science-policy gap. The Mediterranean observing and forecasting capacity was built on the basis of community best practices in monitoring and modeling, and can serve as a basis for the development of an integrated global ocean observing system.

Understanding and sustainably managing complex environments such as marine ecosystems benefits from an integrated approach to ensure that information about all relevant components and their interactions at multiple and nested spatiotemporal scales are considered. This information is based on a wide range of ocean observations using different systems and approaches. An integrated approach thus requires effective collaboration between areas of expertise in order to improve coordination at each step of the ocean observing value chain, from the design and deployment of multi-platform observations to their analysis and the delivery of products, sometimes through data assimilation in numerical models. Despite significant advances over the last two decades in more cooperation across the ocean observing activities, this integrated approach has not yet been fully realized. The ocean observing system still suffers from organizational silos due to independent and often disconnected initiatives, the strong and sometimes destructive competition across disciplines and among scientists, and the absence of a well-established overall governance framework. Here, we address the need for enhanced organizational integration among all the actors of ocean observing, focusing on the occidental systems. We advocate for a major evolution in the way we collaborate, calling for transformative scientific, cultural, behavioral, and management changes. This is timely because we now have the scientific and technical capabilities as well as urgent societal and political drivers. The ambition of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030) and the various efforts to grow a sustainable ocean economy and effective ocean protection efforts all require a more integrated approach to ocean observing. After analyzing the barriers that currently prevent this full integration within the occidental systems, we suggest nine approaches for breaking down the silos and promoting better coordination and sharing. These recommendations are related to the organizational framework, the ocean science culture, the system of recognition and rewards, the data management system, the ocean governance structure, and the ocean observing drivers and funding. These reflections are intended to provide food for thought for further dialogue between all parties involved and trigger concrete actions to foster a real transformational change in ocean observing., This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No. 862626, project EuroSea (Improving and Integrating European Ocean Observing and Forecasting Systems for Sustainable Use of the Oceans).

39 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, This paper presents major gaps and challenges for implementing the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) in the Mediterranean region. The authors make recommendations on the scientific knowledge needs and co-design actions identified during two consultations, part of the Decade preparatory-phase, framing them in the Mediterranean Sea’s unique environmental and socio-economic perspectives. According to the ‘Mediterranean State of the Environment and Development Report 2020’ by the United Nations Environment Programme Mediterranean Action Plan and despite notable progress, the Mediterranean region is not on track to achieve and fully implement the Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030. Key factors are the cumulative effect of multiple human-induced pressures that threaten the ecosystem resources and services in the global change scenario. The basin, identified as a climate change vulnerability hotspot, is exposed to pollution and rising impacts of climate change. This affects mainly the coastal zones, at increasing risk of extreme events and their negative effects of unsustainable management of key economic assets. Transitioning to a sustainable blue economy is the key for the marine environment’s health and the nourishment of future generations. This challenging context, offering the opportunity of enhancing the knowledge to define science-based measures as well as narrowing the gaps between the Northen and Southern shores, calls for a joint (re)action. The paper reviews the state of the art of Mediterranean Sea science knowledge, sets of trends, capacity development needs, specific challenges, and recommendations for each Decade’s societal outcome. In the conclusions, the proposal for a Mediterranean regional programme in the framework of the Ocean Decade is addressed. The core objective relies on integrating and improving the existing ocean-knowledge, Ocean Literacy, and ocean observing capacities building on international cooperation to reach the “Mediterranean Sea that we want”, With the institutional support of the ‘Severo OchoaCentre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S)

8 pages, 2 figures, Research Infrastructures (RIs) are large-scale facilities encompassing instruments, resources, data and services used by the scientific community to conduct high-level research in their respective fields. The development and integration of marine environmental RIs as European Research Vessel Operators [ERVO] (2020) is the response of the European Commission (EC) to global marine challenges through research, technological development and innovation. These infrastructures (EMSO ERIC, Euro-Argo ERIC, ICOS-ERIC Marine, LifeWatch ERIC, and EMBRC-ERIC) include specialized vessels, fixed-point monitoring systems, Lagrangian floats, test facilities, genomics observatories, bio-sensing, and Virtual Research Environments (VREs), among others. Marine ecosystems are vital for life on Earth. Global climate change is progressing rapidly, and geo-hazards, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis, cause large losses of human life and have massive worldwide socio-economic impacts. Enhancing our marine environmental monitoring and prediction capabilities will increase our ability to respond adequately to major challenges and efficiently. Collaboration among European marine RIs aligns with and has contributed to the OceanObs’19 Conference statement and the objectives of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030). This collaboration actively participates and supports concrete actions to increase the quality and quantity of more integrated and sustained observations in the ocean worldwide. From an innovation perspective, the next decade will increasingly count on marine RIs to support the development of new technologies and their validation in the field, increasing market uptake and produce a shift in observing capabilities and strategies, Parts of this paper have been supported by EU projects EMSODEV contract 676555 (see EMSODEV, 2020), and EMSO-Link contract 731036

The oceans play a key role in global issues such as climate change, food security, and human health. Given their vast dimensions and internal complexity, efficient monitoring and predicting of the planet’s ocean must be a collaborative effort of both regional and global scale. A first and foremost requirement for such collaborative ocean observing is the need to follow well-defined and reproducible methods across activities: from strategies for structuring observing systems, sensor deployment and usage, and the generation of data and information products, to ethical and governance aspects when executing ocean observing. To meet the urgent, planet-wide challenges we face, methods across all aspects of ocean observing should be broadly adopted by the ocean community and, where appropriate, should evolve into “Ocean Best Practices.” While many groups have created best practices, they are scattered across the Web or buried in local repositories and many have yet to be digitized. To reduce this fragmentation, we introduce a new open access, permanent, digital repository of best practices documentation (oceanbestpractices.org) that is part of the Ocean Best Practices System (OBPS). The new OBPS provides an opportunity space for the centralized and coordinated improvement of ocean observing methods. The OBPS repository employs user-friendly software to significantly improve discovery and access to methods. The software includes advanced semantic technologies for search capabilities to enhance repository operations. In addition to the repository, the OBPS also includes a peer reviewed journal research topic, a forum for community discussion and a training activity for use of best practices. Together, these components serve to realize a core objective of the OBPS, which is to enable the ocean community to create superior methods for every activity in ocean observing from research to operations to applications that are agreed upon and broadly adopted across communities. Using selected ocean observing examples, we show how the OBPS supports this objective. This paper lays out a future vision of ocean best practices and how OBPS will contribute to improving ocean observing in the decade to come.

Maritime economy, ecosystem-based management and climate change adaptation and mitigation raise emerging needs on coastal ocean and biological observations. Integrated ocean observing aims at optimizing sampling strategies and cost-efficiency, sharing data and best practices, and maximizing the value of the observations for multiple purposes. Recently developed cost-effective, near real time technology such as gliders, radars, ferrybox, and shallow water Argo floats, should be used operationally to generate operational coastal sea observations and analysis. Furthermore, value of disparate coastal ocean observations can be unlocked with multi-dimensional integration on fitness-for-the-purpose, parameter and instrumental. Integration of operational monitoring with offline monitoring programs, such as those for research, ecosystem-based management and commercial purposes, is necessary to fill the gaps. Such integration should lead to a system of networks which can deliver data for all kinds of purposes. Detailed integration activities are identified which should enhance the coastal ocean and biological observing capacity. Ultimately a program is required which integrates physical, biogeochemical and biological observation of the ocean, from coastal to deep-sea environments, bringing together global, regional, and local observation efforts.

In the field of ocean observing, the term of ‘observatory’ is often used without a unique meaning. A clear and unified definition of observatory is needed in order to facilitate the communication in a multidisciplinary community, to capitalize on future technological innovations and to support the observatory design based on societal needs. In this paper, we present a general framework to define the next generation Marine OBservatory (MOB), its capabilities and functionalities in an operational context. The MOB structure has four components (observatory infrastructure, cyberinfrastructure, human capacity and knowledge generation engine) that are constantly and adaptively interacting with each other. Therefore, MOB is a complex infrastructure focused on a specific geographic area with the primary scope to generate knowledge via data and information thus addressing scientific, societal and economical challenges. MOB long-term sustainability, is a key feature that should be guaranteed by strategic planning that incorporates governance feedbacks. Innovations and the overall reduced-cost of equipment and operations will allow the development in quality and quantity of the MOBs globally. Thanks to the desirable MOB’s proliferation, a deeper biological understanding of the marine ecosystem should be reached thus contributing to effective conservation of ecosystems and management of humankind activities in the oceans. In sum, we provide an actionable blue-print for the upgrade and development of a sustained marine observatory producing knowledge to support science-based economical and societal decisions.

1365-2486; Ocean warming can modify the ecophysiology and distribution of marine organisms, and relationships between species, with nonlinear interactions between ecosystem components potentially resulting in trophic amplification. Trophic amplification (or attenuation) describe the propagation of a hydroclimatic signal up the food web, causing magnification (or depression) of biomass values along one or more trophic pathways. We have employed 3-D coupled physical-biogeochemical models to explore ecosystem responses to climate change with a focus on trophic amplification. The response of phytoplankton and zooplankton to global climate-change projections, carried out with the IPSL Earth System Model by the end of the century, is analysed at global and regional basis, including European seas (NE Atlantic, Barents Sea, Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Bay of Biscay, Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea) and the Eastern Boundary Upwelling System (Benguela). Results indicate that globally and in Atlantic Margin and North Sea, increased ocean stratification causes primary production and zooplankton biomass to decrease in response to a warming climate, whilst in the Barents, Baltic and Black Seas, primary production and zooplankton biomass increase. Projected warming characterised by an increase in sea surface temperature of 2.29 ± 0.05 ºC leads to a reduction in zooplankton and phytoplankton biomasses of 11% and 6%, respectively. This suggests negative amplification of climate driven modifications of trophic level biomass through bottom-up control, leading to a reduced capacity of oceans to regulate climate through the biological carbon pump. Simulations suggest negative amplification is the dominant response across 47% of the ocean surface and prevails in the tropical oceans; whilst positive trophic amplification prevails in the Arctic and Antarctic oceans. Trophic attenuation is projected in temperate seas. Uncertainties in ocean plankton projections, associated to the use of single global and regional models, imply the need for caution when extending these considerations into higher trophic levels. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.