Why
Data from the marine environment are a valuable asset. Rapid access to reliable and accurate marine data and information is vital in addressing threats to the marine environment, in the development of policies and legislation to protect vulnerable areas of our coasts and oceans, in supporting research with the evidence-base to understand the complexity of marine ecosystems, trends, and in forecasting future changes. Likewise, better quality and more easily accessible marine data is a prerequisite for further sustainable economic development, so-called ‘blue growth’, and to achieve the ambitious targets of the EU Green Deal and EU Mission: Restore our Ocean and Waters.
EMODnet is deployed by a network of > 120 organisations that work together on bringing together data and processing these into high-quality and interoperable data layers and data products, that are freely made available to users by a central map viewer, products catalogue, and data sub-setting service, as well as by standard machine-to-machine services. For the data throughput, the EMODnet thematic groups rely on and interact with European marine data infrastructures such as SeaDataNet, EurOBIS, EGDI, ICES, and others. Their data centres offer validation, long term stewardship, and FAIR documentation, following agreed community standards, for data, observed by currently more than a thousand data originators from public, research and private sector in the European marine data landscape. In addition, EMODnet experts create pan-European data products that are fully open and accessible for use e.g., Bathymetry Digital Terrain Model, EUSeaMap broad-scale seabed habitat map for European seas, Vessel Density composite maps, etc.
Despite their efforts, still many data collected by public authorities, researchers and private operators of coastal or offshore facilities do not arrive to the national or regional repositories and thus remain unavailable, leading to additional costs and reduced confidence in analyses. Encouraging more data providers to contribute could enhance productivity, stimulate innovation in the blue economy, and improve our understanding of the sea's behavior. Data providers will be acknowledged for their contributions through the Data Ingestion area of the EMODnet portal and by means of metadata and data citation as part of the EMODnet data products and services.