The European Union (EU) places high importance on coordination among Member States to support and facilitate joint actions. For ocean observations, both in situ and satellite ocean observations come together in the observing system strategies and implementation plans of European Global Ocean Observing System (EuroGOOS) and the European Ocean Observing System (EOOS), developed by expert groups through EU Research and Innovation projects such as EuroSea. These are harmonised with the regional strategies of the All-Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance and AtlantOS, and with the global strategies of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and Global Climate Observing System (GCOS).
EU4OceanObs, through the EU action coordination of the G7 FSOI Coordination Centre, serves as a liaison between the EU ocean observing system community and the global observing system, working across the value chain to promote alignment between the EU and global observing system plans and actions. The EU action coordinator works with EuroGOOS, EOOS, and the projects funded by the EU’s Research and Innovation programmes to enhance the EU’s international engagement and leadership in international ocean governance in both the collection and use of ocean observations through the G7 Future of the Seas and Oceans Initiative and GOOS.
EuroGOOS identifies priorities, enhances cooperation and promotes the benefits of operational oceanography to ensure sustained observations are made in Europe’s seas underpinning a suite of fit-for-purpose products and services for marine and maritime end-users. EuroGOOS is the European component of the Global Ocean Observing System of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO). EuroGOOS supports five Regional Operational Oceanographic Systems (ROOS) in Europe. The EuroGOOS ROOS coordinate and support development and joint service production in European maritime regions.
- Arctic ROOS
- Baltic ROOS, BOOS
- North-West Shelf ROOS, NOOS
- Ireland-Biscay-Iberia ROOS, IBI-ROOS
- Mediterranean ROOS, MONGOOS.
EuroGOOS also fosters cooperation in the Black Sea region with Black Sea GOOS acting as EuroGOOS Black Sea ROOS.
The European Ocean Observing System (EOOS) framework brings together the operational oceanographic system of EuroGOOS, the European Marine Board, and other partners to foster a better integration and a stronger engagement across the different ocean observing sectors. EOOS will gather information on the infrastructure status and monitoring plans and discuss technology breakthroughs and funding priorities, helping to inform national and pan-European research programming. Critical to the EOOS success will be an open dialogue between ocean observing funders, implementers, and users – for a truly fit-for-purpose European ocean observing capability.
The AtlantOS programme builds on the EU Horizon 2020 AtlantOS project and the Galway and Belen cooperative agreements. AtlantOS supports cooperation, alignment of interests and the implementation of an integrated All-Atlantic Ocean Observing and information System. This in turn connects a number of highly relevant existing and future ocean observing activities to meet user needs. Its coordination is collaboratively supported by the Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance (AORA), the All AtlaNtic Cooperation for Ocean Research and innovation (AANChOR) and other national initiatives around the Atlantic basin. The programme supports the Atlantic basin scale implementation of the Global Observing Ocean System (GOOS) and contributes to the GEO Blue Planet Initiative.
The EU H2020 EuroSea project will strengthen European ocean observing and forecasting as an integrated entity within a global context for the European seas and the Atlantic. While advancing the technical readiness and integration of the ocean observing networks, customised services and products focused on operational services, ocean health, and climate are being developed through close dialogue between scientists, developers, and end-users to support the development of the blue economy.
