New impulses for interdisciplinary ocean observing and forecasting

Within the framework of the EU project EuroSea, 53 partners from 14 European countries as well as Brazil and Canada worked together to improve the European system for ocean observing and forecasting in a global context. In doing so, they provided an important basis for meeting the growing demand for information supporting social and political processes and decisions. On 21 September 2023 they met with other 200 stakeholders at the headquarters of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris for the plenary meetings and the final symposium.

The ocean forms the basis of all life on our planet. It regulates the climate and provides food and oxygen. However, human-induced changes such as pollution, overfishing, warming and other factors are upsetting marine ecosystems. Understanding ocean and coastal processes is essential to maintaining ocean health and sustainable ocean management.

The EuroSea project, funded by the European Union with 12.6 million euros, has filled important knowledge gaps in these areas over the past four years and paved the way for an interdisciplinary and sustainable ocean observation and forecasting system. To this end, the most important European players in ocean observation and forecasting worked together with the users of oceanographic products and services.

The project partners have set the course for connecting existing ocean observation systems of individual European actors and making ocean data more accurate and accessible to all. For instance, actors of the Blue Economy - an environmentally sound economy based on the use of the oceans, including fisheries, ports, tourism and offshore energy production - and policy makers should be able to make better informed decisions based on the data.

The project has produced numerous innovations that improve ocean observing and forecasting at the European level, in a global context. Among other things, the partners developed a tool to be used by cities and their ports based on data from three test sites in Spain, Italy and Colombia, which provides real-time information and forecasts on waves, sea level, sea surface temperature, thus increasing safety in maritime operations. A system for aquaculture monitoring that uses sensors, unique buoys and advanced modelling capabilities to measure parameters such as oxygen, temperature and pH has also been created within the EuroSea project. It enables targeted predictions of extreme marine events such as marine heat waves and provides aquaculture operators with an early warning mechanism.

At the subsequent final symposium, national and international stakeholders from politics, science and industry were able to inform themselves about the current state of innovations in the field of European ocean observation and forecasting. In addition to addressing upcoming challenges, the discussion focused on recommendations for an effective, sustainable, and interdisciplinary system.