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The Platform for Long-lasting Observation of Marine Ecosystems (PLOME) project seeks to enhance communication capabilities for stand-alone seafloor platforms. A pivotal innovation within PLOME is the integration of pop-up buoys, enhancing monitoring by transmitting crucial data and enabling its early access. These buoys, evolving from conventional retrieval mechanisms, now incorporate sensing, processing, and communication features, representing a significant advance in marine observation technology. The ongoing development focuses on electronics integration, buoy design, autonomy optimization, release mechanisms, and satellite transmission enhancement, aiming to overcome operational limitations and improve observational capabilities in marine environments., Peer Reviewed

In addition to the potential global impact of climate change on marine ecosystems, the extensive use of high-impact fishing methods is a primary catalyst for benthic biodiversity degradation in the Mediterranean Sea. Implementing fishery no-take zones (FNTZs) emerges as a key measure for the sustainable recovery and management of overexploited stocks and habitats. To identify appropriate geographical scales for their implementation, it is crucial to understand the spatial connectivity of species and ecosystem functioning during long periods. Therefore, it is necessary to implement robust spatio-temporal multiparametric monitoring procedures, allowing the synchronous collection of biological (i.e., image-based), oceanographic and geochemical data. For this, we developed a spatial cooperative network of fixed (i.e., landers) and docked mobile (i.e., AUVs) platforms with wireless intercommunication capability (i.e., by acoustic modems). This system is designed for intelligent observation monitoring and mapping (i.e., AI-based recognition of species and bioturbation features) over extended periods with real-time, remote supervision and data transmission through the water column to an ASV., Peer Reviewed

This work introduces the Modular Open Data Infrastructure, an information system that leverages existing open-source tools and services into a unified software infrastructure for marine data management. It includes a comprehensive integration layer that seamlessly manages and integrates all underlying services, providing a centralized service management and a novel approach to address the challenges of handling diverse scientific data in the realm of marine research.

The study of the effects of climate change on the marine environment requires the existence of sufficiently long time series of key parameters. The study of these series allows both to characterize the range of variability in each particular region and to detect trends or changes that could be attributed to anthropogenic causes. For this reason, networks of permanent cabled observation systems are being deployed in the ocean. This paper presents a balance of a decade of activity at the OBSEA cabled observatory, as an example of ocean monitoring success and drawbacks. It is not the objective of this article to analyze the scientific and technical aspects already presented by the authors in different publications (Table 4). We will evaluate the overall experience by retracing the different steps of infrastructure deployment and maintenance, focusing on routines for in situ control, damages experienced, breakdowns and administrative constraints by local administrations. We will conclude by providing a set of guidelines to improve cabled observatories scientific outreach, societal projection, and economic efficiency. As a result of this work, a 10-years dataset has been published in Pangaea that is available for the community., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

The study of the effects of climate change on the marine environment requires the existence of sufficiently long time series of key parameters. The study of these series allows both to characterize the range of variability in each particular region and to detect trends or changes that could be attributed to anthropogenic causes. For this reason, networks of permanent cabled observation systems are being deployed in the ocean. This paper presents a balance of a decade of activity at the OBSEA cabled observatory, as an example of ocean monitoring success and drawbacks. It is not the objective of this article to analyze the scientific and technical aspects already presented by the authors in different publications (Table 4). We will evaluate the overall experience by retracing the different steps of infrastructure deployment and maintenance, focusing on routines for in situ control, damages experienced, breakdowns and administrative constraints by local administrations. We will conclude by providing a set of guidelines to improve cabled observatories scientific outreach, societal projection, and economic efficiency. As a result of this work, a 10-years dataset has been published in Pangaea that is available for the community

The EMSODEV project (EMSO implementation and operation: DEVelopment of instrument module) is an Horizon-2020 UE project whose overall objective is the operation of eleven sea¿oor observatories and four test sites. These infrastructures are distributed throughout European seas, from the Arctic across the Atlantic and the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, and are managed by the European consortium EMSO-ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) with the participation of 8 European countries and other associated partners. Recently, we have implemented a Generic Sensor Module (EGIM) within the EMSO-ERIC distributed marine researchinfrastructure.EGIMisabletooperateonanyEMSOobservatorynode,mooringline,seabedstation,cabled or non-cabled and surface buoy. The main role of EGIM is to measure homogeneously a set of core variables using the same hardware, sensor references, quali¿cation methods, calibration methods, data format and access, maintenance procedures in several European ocean locations. The EGIM module acquires a wide range of ocean parameters in a long-term consistent, accurate and comparable manner from disciplines such as biology, geology, chemistry, physics, engineering, and computer science, from polar to subtropical environments, through the water column down to the deep sea. Our work includes developing standard-compliantgenericsoftwareforSensorWebEnablement(SWE)onEGIMandtoperformthe¿rstonshore and offshore test bench, to support the sensors data acquisition on a new interoperable EGIM system. EGIM in its turn is linked to an acquisition drives processes, a centralized Sensor Observation Service (SOS) server and a laboratory monitor system (LabMonitor) that records events and alarms during acquisition. The measurements recorded along EMSO NODES are essential to accurately respond to the social and scienti¿c challenges such as climate change, changes in marine ecosystems, and marine hazards. This presentation shows the ¿rst EGIM deployment and the SWE i, Postprint (published version)

The EMSODEV [1] (European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and waterDcolumn Observatory DEVelopment) is a UE project whose general objective is to set up the full implementation and operation of the EMSO distributed Research Infrastructure (RI), through the development, testing and deployment of an EMSO Generic Instrument Module (EGIM). The scientific drivers for developing and deploying the EGIM across a set of observatories in European Seas are manifold, spanning requirements to collect observations for understanding climate change, marine ecosystems, and geo-hazard early warning research. The EGIM (EMSO Generic Instrument Module) is designed to consistently and continuously measure parameters of interest for most major science areas covered by EMSO. This research infrastructure provides accurate records on marine environmental changes from distributed regional nodes around Europe. EGIM is able to operate on any EMSO node, mooring line, sea bed station, cabled or non-cabled and surface buoy. In fact, a central function of EGIM within the EMSO infrastructure is to have a number of ocean locations where the same set of core variables are measured homogeneously: using the same hardware, same sensor references, same qualification methods, same calibration methods, same data format and access, same maintenance procedures. our contribution to the implementation of the EGIM data acquisition system module focusses on the development of a generic software for sensor web enablement. Through this generic software, the EGIM status data is directly inserted into a centralised SOS (Sensor Observation Service) server and into a laboratory monitor system (Zabbix LabMonitor) for recording events and alarms

The EMSODEV[1] (European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water column Observatory DEVelopment) is an EU project whose general objective is to set up the full implementation and operation of the EMSO distributed Research Infrastructure (RI), through the development, testing and deployment of an EMSO Generic Instrument Module (EGIM). This research infrastructure will provide accurate records on marine environmental changes from distributed local nodes around Europe. These observations are critical to respond accurately to the social and scientific challenges such as climate change, changes in marine ecosystems, and marine hazards. In this paper we present the design and development of the EGIM data acquisition system. EGIM is able to operate on any EMSO node, mooring line, sea bed station, cabled or non-cabled and surface buoy. In fact a central function of EGIM within the EMSO infrastructure is to have a number of ocean locations where the same set of core variables are measured homogeneously: using the same hardware, same sensor references, same qualification methods, same calibration methods, same data format and access, and same maintenance procedures., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

The integration of sensor systems into marine observation platforms such as gliders, cabled observatories and smart buoys requires a great deal of effort due to the diversity of architectures present in the marine acquisition systems. In the past years important steps have been taken in order to improve both standardization and interoperability, i.e. the Open Geospatial Consortium’s Sensor Web Enablement. This set of standards and protocols provide a well-defined framework to achieve standardized data chains. However a significant gap is still present in the lower-end of the data chain, between the sensor systems and the acquisition platforms. In this work a standards-based architecture to bridge this gap is proposed in order to achieve plug & work, standardized and interoperable acquisition systems., Peer Reviewed

The integration of sensor systems into marine observation platforms such as gliders, cabled observatories and smart buoys requires a great deal of effort due to the diversity of architectures present in the marine acquisition systems. In the past years important steps have been taken in order to improve both standardization and interoperability, i.e. the Open Geospatial Consortium’s Sensor Web Enablement. This set of standards and protocols provide a well-defined framework to achieve standardized data chains. However a significant gap is still present in the lower-end of the data chain, between the sensor systems and the acquisition platforms. In this work a standards-based architecture to bridge this gap is proposed in order to achieve plug & work, standardized and interoperable acquisition systems

The EMSODEV1 (European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water-- column Observatory DEVelopment) is a UE project whose general objective is to set up the full implementation and operation of the EMSO distributed Research Infrastructure (RI), through the development, testing and deployment of an EMSO Generic Instrument Module (EGIM). The EGIM module will measure various ocean parameters in a long-term consistent, accurate and comparable manner. These measurements are critical to respond accurately to the social and scientific challenges such as climate change, changes in marine ecosystems, and marine hazards. Here we present the current status of the EGIM data acquisition system development., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

Postprint (published version)

The Citizen Science refers to the public participation in scientific activities and research projects related with environment and its biodiversity are taking advantage of new technologies such us internet and mobile phones with recording capabilities for an easy data collection and sharing. In this paper, we presented a Citizen Science experience with the OBSEA costal-cabled video-observatory, deployed in western Mediterranean in 2009. A local biodiversity survey is going to be conducted by citizens as generic non-experienced users, high- school students, and amateur divers helping to identify and classify fishes appearing within different digital products such as time-lapse images and footages. Accordingly, we implemented a protocol for the web-based species identification supervised by scientists, in order to evaluate the different performances for each group., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

In this paper, the Citizen Science experience with the OBSEA costal-cabled video observatory, deployed in western Mediterranean [1] is presented. A local biodiversity survey is being conducted by citizens as generic non-experienced users, high school students, and amateur divers helping to identify and classify fishes appearing within different digital products such as time-lapse images and footages. Accordingly, we implemented a protocol for the web-based species identification supervised by scientists, in order to evaluate the different performances for each group., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

The Citizen Science refers to the public participation in scientific activities and research projects related with environment and its biodiversity are taking advantage of new technologies such us internet and mobile phones with recording capabilities for an easy data collection and sharing. In this paper, we presented a Citizen Science experience with the OBSEA costal-cabled video-observatory, deployed in western Mediterranean in 2009. A local biodiversity survey is going to be conducted by citizens as generic non-experienced users, high-school students, and amateur divers helping to identify and classify fishes appearing within different digital products such as time-lapse images and footages. Accordingly, we implemented a protocol for the web-based species identification supervised by scientists, in order to evaluate the different performances for each group

En mayo 2009 se puso en funcionamiento el primer observatorio submarino cableado de España, OBSEA, que transmite en tiempo real a los laboratorios de las dos creadoras (CSIC y UPC) series de datos recogidos en el suelo marino. El principal objetivo del proyecto es mejorar el entorno y el proceso de visualización de los datos oceanográficos obtenidos por los diferentes instrumentos instalados en el observatorio OBSEA. Por lo tanto, se ha decidido diseñar y programar un visualizador geográfico, y para ello se han utilizado los estándares OGC y la API de Google Maps que definen servicios y tecnologías para la visualización de datos espaciales, como herramientas principales en el desarrollo de este visualizador. Otro objetivo de este proyecto es el desarrollo e implementación de una nueva intranet, que se ha realizado mediante el lenguaje Web dinámico PHP. Esta intranet es la encargada de gestionar los datos e instrumentos para controlar la calidad del observatorio. Cuenta con un sistema de identificación de usuarios que implica una seguridad, impidiendo que una persona ajena al sistema pueda acceder. También se ha implementado dos aplicaciones Java para el correcto funcionamiento general del sistema: la primera (inserción datos instrumentos) se encarga de insertar los datos provenientes de los instrumentos oceanográficos mediante el protocolo de transporte UDP en sus correspondientes tablas, y la segunda (creación nuevas tablas) se encarga de crear las nuevas tablas de los instrumentos instalados en el observatorio.

IEEE-1451[1] and OGC Sensor Web Enablement (OGC SWE)[2] define standard protocols to operate instruments, including methods to calibrate, configure, trigger data acquisition, and retrieve instrument data based on specified temporal and geospatial criteria. These standards also provide standard ways to describe instrument capabilities, properties, and data structures produced by the instrument. These standard operational protocols and descriptions enable observing systems to manage very diverse instruments as well as to acquire, process, and interpret their data in a uniform and automated manner. We refer to this property as “instrument interoperability”. This paper describes integration and evaluation of MBARI PUCK protocol [3] within different observatories including OBSEA [4,5] in Spain, the ESONET test-bed in Germany, and the SmartBay observatory in Canada., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)