More information
Description
The project “Atlantic Observatory – Data and Monitoring Infrastructure” aims to create an infrastructure for the acquisition, aggregation and dissemination of oceanographic data contributing to the improvement in the research and monitoring of the Atlantic Ocean, whilst supporting the sustainable management of marine resources. It will focus on:1. Strengthening a digital infrastructure for data collection,2. Aggregation and brokerage of entities operating in the Portuguese, continental and autonomous regions (including the integration of information made available by relevant datasets produced by international or regional initiatives relevant to the Atlanticenvironment), and3. Strengthening of existing means for ocean monitoring in the Portuguese marine research community.The AO intends to easy the access to high quality marine environmental data covering the Atlantic Ocean basin, including deep ecosystems with critical scientific value, promoting the share of experimentation facilities and monitoring instruments and builds on top of previous and ongoing initiatives. This initiative shall also promote networking between national and international marine research groups, fostering synergies between a large diversity of scientific and technological communities and agendas, including marine robotics, marine biology, marine geosciences, renewable energies, biotechnology, climate research, business, economy and related social sciences.The project also has a bilateral objective –which means the promotion of the cooperation between partners from Norway, Iceland and Portugal focused on the Atlantic environment. This objective will be achieved through the involvement of all project partners in the planning and implementation of the project as well as their contribution to the work-packages according to their expertise. Four technical work packages were established being their work based on the best expertise of each partner.
Summary of project results
Efficient ocean governance requires structured, coherent and effective collection and sharing of information on the ocean system. All stakeholders must be involved to ensure the sustainable use of marine resources, namely those who live off the ocean, study it, monitor it and govern the ocean in its various dimensions, including the environment, infrastructure, security and maritime traffic.The key idea of the Atlantic Observatory - Data and Monitoring Infrastructure project is based on the creation and of an integrated, efficient, low-cost and scalable marine observation system, centred on the Atlantic basin, building ongoing global or regional initiatives, promoting networking between stakeholders, and acting as a single point of access to data, information and services associated with the Atlantic.It will serve to fulfil information needs for the management of marine protected areas, thespatially explicit marine planning, the assessment of anthropogenic pressures and, ultimately, to support the Atlantic blue economy.
The project achieved two very important results that contribute to the overall objectives set forth:1. Strengthening the existing resources for ocean monitoring in the Portuguese marine research community, and,2. Creation of a digital infrastructure for data aggregation, management and sharing.The SOMOSATLÂNTICO marine spatial data infrastructure was developed to allow for the acquisition, aggregation and provision of oceanographic data, information and services, in order to enhance research, monitoring and data dissemination of the Atlantic. It provides a quality and reliable data repository, in respect of the European INSPIRE directive and according to the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) principles. The infrastructure will integrate the National Oceanographic Data Centre which is being developed according to the IOC/IODE regulations.
The project has contributed to significant changes for the end beneficiaries, by providing state-of-the-art ocean observation systems which didn’t exist and by allowing the creation of a data platform, both of which are expected to have a long-term impact, not only at the national level, but also to all the Atlantic stakeholders.The reinforcement of marine observation systems was achieved through the acquisition of state-of-the-art oceanographic equipment by the project''s national partners. FRCT acquired an ocean glider, ARDITI acquired a water column profiler, and IPMA acquired two Argo floats, a CTD, a ROV and six Ferrybox systems.
Summary of bilateral results
The project greatly benefitted from having donor project partners throughout the entire process. The project proposalwas written with all the partners, gaining from the Norwegian and Icelandic partners expertise and experience. Asmembers of the Steering Committee, donor partners were kept up to date on project progress and took part in alldecisions made. Most importantly, donor partners called on experts from their institutions to provide guidance andconsultancy in more technical aspects, such as the definitions of the scientific equipment’s technical specifications, andthe digital data platform solutions and best practices, in the scope of which IPMA was aided by the Head of NorwegianMarine Datacentre, one of the few National Oceanographic Data Centres accredited by IODE.