Newsletter July 2024 | Volume 5
The three-year HORIZON EUROPE EuroGO-SHIP seeks to enable the European community conducting ship-based hydrographic observations at sea to provide higher quality and more sustainable data flows to a broad range of end users, more effectively. The project is funded under the call HORIZON-INFRA-2022-DEV-01-01: Research infrastructure concept development.
A Note from our Coordinator
Dear All,
The second quarter of this year brings EuroGO-SHIP to the halfway point of its three year lifecycle, marked by the annual meeting in Venice last week. This successful event was bookended by two significant workshops: The Black Sea Observing Community and The Research Infrastructure Community, respectively.
First, I would like to thank all of our visiting stakeholders and team members for their immense contributions to the many interactive sessions and lively discussions we engaged in during these workshops. Your insights will focus our thoughts going forward and inform our upcoming reports concerning how we will shape a suite of new services in support of ship-based hydrography in Europe.
On behalf of EuroGO-SHIP, I’d like to put a spotlight on our partners CNR-ISMAR for hosting our annual meeting in its spacious headquarters in the historic area of Arsenale and making sure our stakeholder visitors were well looked after during the two workshops. I’d also like to acknowledge and thank our partners at the Marine Institute and Catherine Halbert for the stellar job they did planning and facilitating the RI workshop.
We hope you enjoy this newsletter and we look forward to updating you again in the Autumn. In the meantime, please get in touch with any feedback or questions. We are interested in hearing from you and welcome your comments. Please write to us here.
Kind regards,
Dr. Elaine McDonagh
EuroGO-SHIP Project Coordinator
NORCE, Bergen, Norway
Research Infrastructure Workshop in Venice
In an unprecedented event, representatives from 19 European Marine Research Infrastructures (RIs), initiatives (EMODnet, EDITO), DG MARE and DG RTD, joined the EuroGO-SHIP team for a dynamic Research Infrastructure Workshop in Venice at the historic CNR-ISMAR Institute of Marine Sciences facilities on 27 of June. This was a rare opportunity for scientists from different perspectives and regional focus to evaluate the needs and service gaps facing the ongoing delivery of marine data, and to explore potential synergies with a view to solidifying the EuroGO-SHIP RI value proposition.
Through hands-on activities, services in support of ocean observation across Europe were mapped out to gain a picture of the existing landscape and to identify the gaps where the needs of the observing community are not being served. In a comprehensive exercise focused on fishing, pollution and climate, participants collaborated to map out how their organisations can address these societal challenges, once again allowing a snapshot to develop of the underserved areas, disciplines and infrastructure.
The Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) Field Campaign: A EuroGO-SHIP Aspiration
Angelina Smilenova (NORCE) has co-developed an intriguing blog with stakeholders from our partner Plymouth Marine Lab, Dawn Ashby and Jennifer Lockett based on their recently published AMT Case Study.
Established in 1995, the Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) programme is one of the longest running Atlantic Ocean colour monitoring field campaigns. Through its long-term, multidisciplinary approach to oceanographic research, the AMT programme has made significant contributions to the fields of Earth Observation, climate change research, and environmental policy. To effectively address and mitigate the increasingly frequent and severe impacts of human-induced climate change, it is crucial to recognize the irreplaceable value of high-quality ship-based oceanographic data. This recognition will be a foundational step towards securing sustained and justified funding support for ship-based hydrography at both national and European levels.
Second Annual Meeting
Members of EuroGO-SHIP’s 14-partner consortium gathered in Venice, Italy for the project’s Second Annual Meeting, hosted at Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR-ISMAR) in the historic Arsenale di Venezia, June 25-26. The hybrid-event offered colleagues the opportunity to present progress and results, and to collaborate through lively discussions and activities to gain a better understanding of the current gaps within the ocean observation value chain, in particular how ship-based hydrography needs to be supported.
For highlights and key take-aways, read more here.
EuroGO-SHIP Surveys - Fine tuning the development of new services with your input!
In our quest to ensure we are shaping our proposed infrastructure with services that will effectively address the needs of the ship-based hydrography community, EuroGO-SHIP has been actively engaging in direct consulation with stakeholders through workshops and meetings, and is currently seeking input through two important questionnaires.
If you are a member of the Repeat Hydrography Community or are involved in chemical observations on hydrographic cruises, please check out our questionnaires. And please pass the links on to anybody you know who would be interested in participating.
Not crazy about filling out surveys? Please have a look at the information we are seeking and then email us if you’d like to have a conversation: contact@eurogo-ship.eu
Repeat Hydrography Community Survey
Need more Information? Get an overview here.
Take me to the Survey
Access to Shared Facilities Survey
1) dissolved inorganic nutrients 2) dissolved oxygen 3) transient tracers:
Need More Information? Get an overview here.
Take me to the Survey
Report on Pilot Activities in Relevant to Shared Facilities (Deliverable 3.2)
Shared facilities can foster collaboration, innovation, and standardization among the hydrographic community, as well as reduce costs and duplication of efforts. This concept paves the way for a more inclusive and democratic approach to hydrography, acknowledging the diverse economic landscapes across Europe. It ensures that countries with limited resources can also contribute to and benefit from the collective advancements in hydrographic science.
EurGO-SHIP aims to make shared facilities more accessible and fit-for-purpose. To learn more about the pilot activities that EuroGO-SHIP has been in engaged in to test innovative models in support of shared facilities, please read our recently published report.
Report on Updated Salinity Best Practices (Deliverable 3.3)
How can EuroGO-SHIP increase the quality, traceability, and availability of hydrographic data? By addressing gaps in facilities, testing best practices and shaping new services! Society’s need for hydrographic data is growing! Measurements of parameters like ocean salinity and velocity, dissolved oxygen and inorganic carbon, inorganic nutrients and transient tracers throughout the water column are essential for understanding the ocean’s role in local and global climate and ecosystems.
For a comprehensive view of EuroGO-SHIP’s work to test salinity best practices, read our recently published report
Cruise with RV Maria S. Merian
EuroGO-SHIP colleagues Johannes Karstensen (GeoMar) and Sorin Balan (GeoEcoMar) are currently on an adventure aboard the RV Maria S. Merian engaged in hydrography observations in the Labrador Sea related to climate research and mooring observations. The work is partly funded by EuroGO-SHIP in support of Work Package 3 Concept Demonstrations: best practices and standard systems, and pilot activities demonstrating EuroGO-SHIP principles and operations.
Live tracking of the cruise is available here:
https://beluga.geomar.de/msm129
Engagement with Stakeholders
Black Sea Observation Workshop
Direct consultation with stakeholders in a key element of the EuroGO-SHIP quest to provide effective new services. On the 24th of June, we held a hands-on workshop in Venice, Italy with members of the Black Sea Observation Community to discuss their needs and gain an understanding of the current state of play for ship-based hydrography in the Black Sea—the type of data collection, what the specific challenges are and what parameters must be considered to shape the most effective solutions. During the activities, we learned that while there are fragmented systems in place around the region, individual nations have mature processes and there is willingness to collaborate with pan-European initiatives to ensure consistency and quality of data. Stakeholders present were receptive to the EuroGO-SHIP proposition to provide new services in support of access to shared facilities and training on best practices.
This workshop was a follow up of an initial meeting that took place last year in Constanța, Romania as part of EuroGO-SHIP’s first annual meeting, and was held as a prologue to the week-long EuroGO-SHIP second annual event which brought consortium partners from around Europe to Venice.
Ocean Decade Conference
EuroGO-SHIP had a presence at Ocean Decade Conference in Barcelona this past spring when Thecla Keizer on behalf of our partner Plymouth Marine Lab disseminated the EuroGO-SHIP Factsheet and Julia Vera (SSBE) engaged with stakeholders. It was an inspirational week for the international scientific community with strong demonstrations across projects, initiatives and institutions focusing on the commitment to collaboration and research toward understanding and managing our ocean for science and society.
Science is Wonderful
There was a lot of inspiration for the future on display at the Science is Wonderful event held in April in Brussels. Dedicated early career scientists were passionately engaged with students and teachers demonstrating a variety of concepts and experiments. Of note for EuroGO-SHIP was the salinity and temperature experiments for ocean observation. We were pleased to share EuroGO-SHIP’s aim to strengthen services for present and future scientists and provide some curated reads on our website for stakeholders we met.
Coming 2025
EuroGO-SHIP Webinar Series
June 2025
3rd Annual Meeting in Finland
We hope you will support EuroGO-SHIP’s mission to promote the importance of ship-based hydrography in the ocean observation value chain by inviting your contacts to sign-up to this newsletter!