Scientific Objectives

 Oceans exert a pervasive influence on the Earth’s environment, most notably as a regulator of climate. Understanding the link between natural and anthropogenic processes and ocean circulation is essential for predicting the magnitude and impact of future changes in Earth’s climate. In this respect, the knowledge of deep water circulation close to the seafloor (i.e., water currents at the Benthic Boundary Layer) is a fundamental objective. More generally, understanding the interactions between ocean, biosphere and geosphere (lithosphere, and solid earth below), leading to natural hazards (e.g., tsunami, seismicity, submarine landslides) or environmental changes (e.g., sea-level, ecosystem changes, greenhouse gas budget) is one of the main scientific challenges for the next few decades.

To accomplish this goal, long time-series measurements of critical parameters, such as those collected using deep sea observatories and water column Eulerian observatories, are needed to supplement traditional seagoing investigations. These observatories will have power and communication capabilities and provide support for spatially distributed sensing systems and mobile platforms. Sensors and instruments will cover the whole water column, potentially extending the observation capabilities from below the seafloor up to the air-sea interface. Deep sea observatories will also be a powerful complement to satellite measurement systems by providing the ability to collect vertically distributed measurements within the water column for use with the spatial measurements acquired by satellites while also providing the capability to calibrate remotely sensed satellite measurements.

It is now clear that to answer many important questions in the ocean and Earth sciences, a co-ordinated research effort of long-term investigations is required. Experiments and research programmes, from the 1980s to the present, reflect the progressive enhancement of monitoring systems in the ocean basins. During this time we have witnessed the achievement and strengthening of the concept of “deep sea observatories” and the technical evolution of earlier, quite simple, stand-alone mono-disciplinary instrumented modules into more complex multi-parameter platforms with extended lifetime and performance. Much of deep sea observatory research is interdisciplinary in nature and has the potential to greatly advance the relevant sciences.

Observatories networked at seafloor level will offer Earth and ocean scientists new opportunities to study multiple, interrelated processes over time scales ranging from seconds to decades. These include: a) episodic processes; b) processes with periods from months to several years; c) global and long-term processes. Episodic processes include, for instance, eruptions at mid-ocean ridges and volcanic seamounts, deep-ocean convection at high latitudes, earthquakes, and biological, chemical and physical impacts of storm events. Category “b” includes processes like hydrothermal activity and biomass variability in vent communities. The establishment of an observatory network will be essential to investigate global processes, such as the dynamics of the oceanic lithosphere and the thermohaline circulation in the Ocean.

 Such an increase in sampling capability will result in major advances across a range of scientific disciplines :

Global Change and Physical Oceanography:
Deep water thermohaline ocean circulation,
Physical oceanography processes,
Upper ocean and climate change,
CO2 budget.

Earth sciences, geohazards and seafloor interface:
Transfers from the Earth's interior to the crust, hydrosphere and biosphere,
Earthquake hazards,
Tsunami hazards,
Slope instability and sediment failures,
Fluid flow and gas seepage through sediments and gas hydrates,
Sediment transfer to the deep sea and climate change.

The Marine Ecosystem:
Biogeography of European seas,
The temporal ecology of photosynthetically and chemosynthetically driven benthic ecosystems,
The dynamics of deep seafloor hydrothermal vents ecosystems,
Pelagic (upper ocean) ecosystems,
Coral reefs and Carbonate Mounds.

Non-Living resources:
Energy (renewable resources and hydrocarbons, including CO2 sequestration),
Mining/deposition.

In order to solve key issues, such scientific fields are facing time and regional limitations that seafloor/water column observatories will overcome; these issues are presented in Appendix B.

Environment and Security Operational Objectives

Seismic and Tsunami hazard operational networks

Deep sea observatories also have the potential to play a key role in the assessment and monitoring of geo-hazards, as many of Earth’s most seismogenic zones and most active volcanoes occur along continental margins plate boundaries like South Europe. Continuous measurements are required with the ability to react quickly to episodic events, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. For geo-hazard mitigation, as the human population continues to grow, the potential social and economic dislocation provoked by natural hazards, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, submarine landslides and tsunamis, has increased. These impacts are especially detrimental to developing nations. The destructive earthquakes and related tsunamis that occurred at the end of 2004 in the Indian Ocean, and that strongly affected Sumatra, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Andaman Islands, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India and the Maldives in terms of lives and economic impact, are only the most recent examples. 

 For estimating earthquake parameters and forecasting the expected height of the oncoming water wave, computer aided tsunami generation models are used. In all areas threatened by tsunami hazards, deep sea observatories developed within ESONET will be equipped with seismometers and high precision, low frequency pressure sensors. Each of these ESONET nodes will represent the base for the implementation of a tsunami early warning system covering the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean areas.  The concept of “earthquake early warning systems” has been suggested by Hiroo Kanamori (2004) and others, in which the eventual size of an earthquake is estimated from the very beginning of the P-wave, so that an early warning of the damaging ground motion due to the S-wave can be issued. Because a seismic faulting is essentially a shear faulting, the first arriving P-wave is small and seldom causes damage.

Taking advantage of this special property of energy radiation from a seismic faulting, it is possible to develop early warning methods which will play an important role in modern societies with large and sophisticated structures. This concept is still in its infancy, but it is definitely worth progressing through ESONET and permanent seafloor monitoring.

 Deep sea observatories need a real-time communication to on-shore, allowing the integration of their data in the already existing land-based seismic networks to advance a better understanding of plate-tectonic margin behaviour and of important seismogenic zones located at seas around Europe. ESONET NoE will benefit from already established links with organisations able to manage data and waveforms of terrestrial networks (like ORFEUS and CSEM) through the relationship with other approved EC projects [e.g., NERIES] in which some of the ESONET partners are involved. In relation to other geo-hazards like tsunamis, the actions of ESONET NoE will be in coordination with UNESCO-IOC, following in particular the recommendations of the “Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami Early Warning System in the North Eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and Connected Seas (ICG/NEAMTWS)” launched at its 1st Session held in Rome (November, 2005).  

Physical Oceanography networks (water column)

Integrated operational monitoring and forecasting systems, such as the Mersea system, are able to simulate and anticipate ocean conditions. The operational monitoring and forecasting of the ocean physics, bio-geochemistry and, to a certain extent ecosystem, will be completed within 2-3 years (objective of FP6 –MERSEA IP project); Satellite Remote sensing and in-situ Lagrangian data are providing most of the necessary assimilation input to the models, but Eulerian data are needed.

 Indeed, the development of the algorithms for the models, the checking of these models during their development and their validation when operated (especially when forecasting is aimed at) are all needing time series. In-situ quantities in critical or representative locations need to be collected in a mode that delivers temporal variability on scales of hours to months.

ESONET NoE will provide data on key parameters from the subsurface down to the seafloor at representative locations and transmit them in real time to shore. The strategies of deployment, data sampling, technological development, standardisation and data management will be integrated with projects dealing with the spatial and near surface time series.   

The contribution of ESONET will come through GMES for several key parameters of the water column. During the next 4 years, the target of GMES is clearly to prepare an operational phase in ocean physical oceanography. ESONET will contribute to “Initial Operational Phase of GMES Marine Core Services” (Figure 3) planned for 2008 as well as a regional policy on the Downstream Services. ESONET NoE regional development will take into account the geographical policies of GOOS regional task teams: Arctic, North-West Atlantic shelf NOOS, Mediterranean MedGOOS (reference projects MFSTEP, MOON), Iberia-Biscay-Ireland Shelf IBI-ROOS, Black SeaGOOS.

 Eulerian data in Operational Ocean Monitoring and Forecasting 

No observing system can possibly capture a medium as vast and complex as the ocean, with all its diversity of processes and scales of variability. All knowledge and information available must be combined to describe it fully; the information is gained not only from all observations available, but also from the knowledge of the dynamics. The state of the art for the optimum combination of diverse data sets (in situ and remotely sensed) is through assimilation into numerical models, which take explicitly into account the physics and dynamics which control the temporal evolution of the ocean[1]. Data assimilation allows not only nowcasts, i.e. best estimates of the present state, but also forecasts of its evolution, and re-analysis, which reconstitutes a coherent and consistent history of the evolution over an extended period of time. The Mersea project[2], for instance, is developing an integrated system to monitor and forecast global ocean and European seas through routine assimilation of near-real-time satellite and in situ observations into 3D ocean models. The system expands and coordinates on-going national efforts in these fields (e.g. the global Foam, Mercator, MFS and Diadem/Topaz, and several national regional systems). The Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (Godae), is an international effort aiming to demonstrate the feasibility and the value of operational oceanography systems.

It is obvious that those systems cannot operate without the provision of comprehensive Eulerian in situ data set, which are the indispensable complement of Earth observing satellites.

Time series observatories occupy an indispensable niche in the vast temporal and spatial sampling that is required to monitor and forecast the ocean properly. They are essential to model validation. Progress in ocean model and assessment of system performance depends on rigorous validation against in situ data. For instance the validation of climate scenarios models is often made by considering their ability to reproduce past evolutions, where comprehensive data sets are the only objective reference. In the case of model development, in situ observations provide the necessary data for quantifying ocean processes and guide the tuning of their parametric representation (e.g. mixed layer depth, deep water formation, position of fronts, warm water pool, eddy kinetic energy, mixing, etc…). In the context of operational models, which assimilate observations, it is valuable either to estimate the misfits between model output and data -a measure of the ability of the model to account properly for the data -or to validate forecast skill by comparison of a previous forecast with data effectively collected at the target date.

According to MERSEA coordinator, the ESONET system can provide key in-situ model quantities in critical or representative locations need to be collected in a mode that delivers the temporal variability on scales of days to months, for:

·  providing data on changes, processes, and events unobservable from satellites (like biogeochemical quantities),
·  referencing, calibrating, validating satellite products (e.g. chlorophyll),
·  estimating and tuning model parameters and process representations (e.g. primary production),
·  validating assimilation and forecasting products (ecosystem changes),
·  establishing meaningful statistics (high resolution spectra, extreme events, means, variance and covariance).

The biogeochemical models are in desperate need of data, since satellites cannot provide the required information and no observing system exists which delivers such variables. Timeseries observatories are at present the only method/technology to provide a complete suite of biogeochemical quantities, like chlorophyll, oxygen, CO2, nutrients. The technology and infrastructure for this, including real-time data transmission, has been developed and implemented in the FP5 project ANIMATE.

Time series observatories from the ESONET network offer the advantage of relaxing the stringent constraints of power and data transmission limitations of autonomous surface moorings; they open the perspective of adaptive sampling strategies (burst sampling), high resolution measurements, and multi-parameter observations.

Ecosystem management

Monitoring of the ocean environment requires not only physical but also ecosystem models. Significant advances have been made in recent years in understanding and modelling the complex processes in ecosystems, ranging from the bio-geochemical processes governing the global carbon cycle (uptake, sequestration, and release) and other gas exchanges, to the coastal ecosystems describing water quality, primary production or algal blooms. The performance of ecosystem models is strongly predicated on the realism of the underlying physics, which in turn depend on good observations.

Well-managed seascapes are the basis of sustainable development and human security. They are critical to address underlying causes of biodiversity loss.

Ecosystem management requires a good knowledge of the structure and function of the communities of organisms inhabiting the pelagic and benthic environments of the deep ocean extending from the edge of the continental shelf to the depths of the deepest trenches. The paucity of sampling and monitoring of this vast area, combined with the increasing demands on open ocean resources require extensive study of this domain. Deep sea observatories are powerful instruments to approach some critical points:

- spatial and temporal variability in the deep ocean of organisms,
- seasonally and interanually variabiity of food supply,
- shifts in populations of megafauna,
- description of unknown species of organisms.

They will contribute to resolve questions essential to deep ecosystem management:

1)     What are the dynamics of deep sea community structure in terms of species composition, abundance, biomass and diversity?

2)     What processes produce/maintain diversity in deep sea communities?

3)     What is the pattern of succession in deep sea communities and how is it regulated?

4)     What is the influence of a spatially and temporally variable food supply on deep sea communities?

5)     What are the vertical and lateral movements of deep sea animals?

6)     What is the importance of vertical and lateral movements of deep sea animals in the transport of nutrients through the water column and across the continental margin?

7)     What are the temporal and spatial influences of natural perturbations on deep sea communities?

8)     How do anthropogenic inputs influence deep sea communities?

9)     How do various scales of fluid release influence chemosynthetic communities?

10) How does the productivity of chemosynthetic systems influence surrounding deep sea communities?

11) What is the structure and productivity of the sub-seafloor biosphere?

12) What processes influence the formation, deposition, dissolution, or venting of gas hydrate deposits, and how do gas hydrate dynamics affect the subsea floor biosphere, deep communities, or climate system ?

Technical Objectives

The technology of deep water scientific cabled observatories is still at its infancy. This situation is contrasted by the fact that deep sea exploration led by the hydrocarbon industry is now mature and industrial products and services are readily available. Taking advantage of the state of the art through cooperation with engineering underwater R&D actors and cooperation with leading companies in this field (e.g. Statoil, Alcatel, Fugro, Tecnomare) and SMEs, ESONET will provide the necessary steps to new cost effective developments and implementation of permanent observation capabilities with high priority for our society. This means that ESONET will facilitate the introduction and adoption of standards in the realm of scientific investigations to enable interoperability on the system and component level. Furthermore the project will enhance capacity building in the context of long term operation of observatory systems. This will result in an improved efficiency regarding scientific cooperation on the European level for instance in shared use of instrument and sensors on different platform-types.

The integration of leading European companies and SMEs into the anticipated Network of Excellence will be beneficial to both the industrial and the academic side. The scientific user will be able to adjust the requirement on the observatory system with respect to a technical and economic feasible solution while European companies will be enabled to adapt existing and develop new innovative methods for the prospective ocean observatory system. In this way, ESONET will stay abreast of future changes in the technological field.

The offshore oil and gas industry make great use of remotely operated vehicles (work class ROVs). Until recently, only a few scientific institutes in Europe (IFREMER, RCOM, NOC) had deep water ROVs capable of servicing deep sea observatories. Major investment has now been made or is decided. These partly specialized ROVs or mobile dockers are able to deploy the diverse instrumentation of subsea experiments. SERPENT[1], a collaborative project between oil companies, industrial companies and scientific institutions, shows the potential of use of work class ROVs for the deployment of scientific equipment. An objective of ESONET NoE is to provide common procedures based on experience within the offshore industry and standard interfaces to ease the interoperability of these subsea intervention means on the various European observatories.

Societal and Policy objectives

These will be achieved through the integrated research described in the Joint Programme of Activities (JPA). Through its JPA, ESONET will make a significant contribution to the development of a thematic strategy for the protection, conservation and sustainable use of the marine environment (Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on “Towards a strategy to protect and conserve the marine environment”, 2 October 2002). 

ESONET will spread scientific excellence and information resulting from its activities in three main directions: (1) to the socio-economic users of knowledge regarding the impacts of climate and anthropogenic forcing on continental margin ecosystems, (2) to the European industry including SMEs and (3) to governmental bodies. A complete WorkPackage, WP6, is dedicated to these objectives. 

[RP1] [r2] PESOS (an Association of SMEs from several member states, partner of ESONET- group of Providers of Equipment and Services for Observatory Systems) will initiate the building by ESONET of a SME organisation at European scale with SMEs interested in the monitoring of European continental margin ecosystems and seafloor processes. This association will play a major role into standardisation groups. More specifically, ESONET will indicate future environmental technology monitoring and innovation needs in the fields of continental margin exploration and exploitation. The ESONET observatory network will also improve the protection of European society against geohazards, by enhancing the capability to monitor, in real time, the dynamics of European margins. 

The transfer of knowledge to users will allow the EU and governmental bodies to make significant contributions to the world effort to define mitigation strategies to confront global change, and to manage marine resources and ecosystems. The socio-economic users of ESONET knowledge include (a) assessment bodies, their scientists and policymakers, e.g. IPPC, (b) Intergovernmental organisations, e.g. UN / IOC, UN / FAO, ICES, (c) International agreements on exchange of data related to hazards such as global seismographic networks like GSN, FDSN and GEOSS related tasks (d) International Conventions, e.g. CBD, OSPAR Convention, (e) Non-governmental Organisations, (f) National fisheries assessment and climate change agencies, (g) Relevant European Commission directorates, e.g. Fisheries Directorate General.

The spreading of knowledge to the European public will be achieved through the use of centres of public outreach like aquaria and museums. Transfer of knowledge will specifically target the young age groups in order to favour general orientation towards science, foster scientific careers and most importantly shape an environmentally sensitive European society. The WP7 is dedicated to these objectives.

Overall, the ESONET approach answers Europe's strategic need to strengthen excellence on the major topic of hazard mitigation through environmental monitoring. This will further be achieved by restructuring the existing research capacities and the way research is carried out.

Objectives of long term governance

The ESONET NoE is a stepping stone on the way to creating an underwater ocean observatory network that will remain in place for decades, and that will be added to over time.  The costs and practicalities of sustaining such a network require a concerted approach by the funding agencies of the European countries over a long time period.  The costs will be more expensive than can be borne by a single country or the EU alone; the expertise required to create and manage the observatories lies in more than one country; and the ship time to service and install the equipment requires a combined effort.  The benefits will be shared by all the maritime nations of Europe who will gain better knowledge of geophysical processes and risks (e.g. offshore earthquakes and tsunamis), knowledge of the seabed environment and natural change therein for better planning and regulation and better understanding of global change as it affects the oceans (e.g. ocean acidification, temperature change).  The ESONIM project is in the process of establishing technical, legal and financial models for seafloor observatories, ESONET will add to this effort by directly engaging the funding agencies to alert them to the work in progress, future benefits and opportunities.

 The actual structure of governance of the European Underseas Observatory Network that the NoE will build is not easy to determine at this stage. One of the objectives of ESONET NoE is to investigate the legal, economical and research policy feasibility of the organisation and in the same time build up the convincing elements for its successful achievement. ESONET partners are conscious of the time needed for planning financial commitments that will last beyond the life of the NoE.

 Nevertheless, ESONET NoE has a preliminary plan for the construction of this organisation. The NoE will promote it, adapt it to research policy requirements, and issue the long term plans from the evaluation of the first results. This preliminary plan is to establish an inter-related structure consisting of: 

·    a legal body at European scale, in charge of common responsibilities and tasks (dissemination, data management, standardisation, interoperability issues for maintenance, technology,…) providing CORE SERVICES and attributing ESONET LABEL. It might be an association, a foundation, a European Economic Interest Grouping or a mission devoted to an institute in Europe.

·    a number of ESONET REGIONAL LEGAL ENTITY (RLE), owners and managers of the infrastructure and activities on one or more ESONET sites.