George Petihakis

• Hellenic Centre for Marine Research

This report provides a summary of the outputs of the 1st Stakeholders’ Meeting of the CIPM Sectorial Task Group for Climate Change and Environment.

The European Ocean Observing Community (EOOC) integrates inputs from diverse entities dedicated to comprehensively monitoring and forecasting oceanic phenomena in European Seas. With increasing climate and anthropogenic pressures, the urgency of ensuring the EOOC’s preparedness to observe Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) is evident. This paper advo...

The EU funded project EuroSea brought together key actors of the European ocean observing and forecasting communities with key users of the ocean observing products and services in order to better integrate existing ocean observation systems and tools, and to improve the delivery of ocean information to users. EuroSea was constructed around the oce...

The interdisciplinary community of ocean and coastal observers and modelers in Europe is driven by national observing needs for prediction and management of intricate processes shaping Europe’s Seas. Not all observing needs can be addressed by nations alone and various coordination activities exist to overcome fragmentation and create cross benefit...

The 2024 Ocean Decade Conference took place on 10-12 April in Barcelona, Spain, three years after the beginning of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). It brought together the scientific community participating in Decade activities on a variety of topics, including ocean observation, to look at the ach...

Accurate and traceable measurements are required to understand ocean processes, to address pressing societal challenges, such as climate change and to sustainably manage marine resources. Although scientific and engineering research has resulted in advanced methods to measure Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) there is a need for cross comparison of...

Abstract EMSO is a European Research Infrastructure (RI) focused on seafloor and water column observations, offering resources to scientists and stakeholders via its Regional Facilities (RFs). Its goal is to enhance research and understanding of global changes in Europe’s surrounding regions. EMSO ERIC’s data access employs the ERDDAP technology, w...

The ocean regulates the exchange, storage of carbon dioxide, plays a key role in global control of Earth climate and life, absorbs most of the heat excess from greenhouse gas emissions and provides a remarkable number of resources for the human being. Most of the geo-hazards occur in oceanic areas. Thus, high-quality systematic observations are nec...

Advanced marine observation infrastructures are the most significant scientific tool for the study of marine ecosystem trends and shifts. Ocean monitoring technologies, though highly demanding and expensive, are essential for the monitoring and long-term study of oceanic systems. The POSEIDON system for monitoring and forecasting the marine environ...

The oceans are a fundamental source for climate balance, sustainability of resources and life on Earth, therefore society has a strong and pressing interest in maintaining and, where possible, restoring the health of the marine ecosystems. Effective, integrated ocean observation is key to suggesting actions to reduce anthropogenic impact from coast...

Understanding and sustainably managing complex environments such as marine ecosystems benefits from an integrated approach to ensure that information about all relevant components and their interactions at multiple and nested spatiotemporal scales are considered. This information is based on a wide range of ocean observations using different system...

A modelling tool was implemented in an Eastern Mediterranean Allocated Zone for Aquaculture (AZA) (Vourlias Bay, Greece) to examine the fate of seabass/seabream aquaculture wastes from multiple farms and assess their potential impacts on the surrounding ecosystem in terms of good environmental status. The model was validated against available satel...

This paper presents major gaps and challenges for implementing the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) in the Mediterranean region. The authors make recommendations on the scientific knowledge needs and codesign actions identified during two consultations, part of the Decade preparatory-phase, framing them in the Medi...

Coastal observing systems are typically nationally funded and built around national priorities. As a result, there are presently significant differences between countries in terms of sustainability, observing capacity and technologies, as well as methods and research priorities. Ocean observing systems in coastal areas must now move toward an integ...

This EMB Policy Brief focuses on in situ Ocean observations and highlights their benefits, funding and governance challenges, and the investment needed for their transformation and sustainability. In situ Ocean observations are all Ocean, seas or coastal observations, and complement remote sensing observations (e.g. from satellites). This Policy Br...

Abstract EMSO is a distributed Research Infrastructure currently comprising nine Regional Facilities (RFs) and three shallow water test sites, strategically located all the way from the southern entrance of the Arctic Ocean across to the North Atlantic through the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. Since the beginning of 2021 Norway has been integrate...

Microplastics (MPs) are a contaminant of growing concern due to their widespread distribution and interactions with marine species, such as filter feeders. To investigate the MPs accumulation in wild and cultured mussels, a dynamic energy budget (DEB) model was developed and validated with the available field data of Mytilus edulis (M. edulis, wild...

The European Copernicus programme ensures long-term delivery of high-quality, global satellite ocean colour radiometry (OCR) observations from its Sentinel-3 (S3) satellite series carrying the ocean and land colour instrument (OLCI). In particular, the S3/OLCI provides marine water leaving reflectance and derived products to the Copernicus marine e...

Research Infrastructures (RIs) are large-scale facilities encompassing instruments, resources, data and services used by the scientific community to conduct high-level research in their respective fields. The development and integration of marine environmental RIs as European Research Vessel Operators [ERVO] (2020) is the response of the European C...

Abstract. Microplastics (MPs) are a contaminant of growing concern due to their widespread distribution and interactions with marine species, such as filter feeders. To investigate the MPs accumulation by wild and cultured mussels, a Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) model was developed and validated with the available field data of Mytilus edulis (wild)...

EMSO ERIC, a pan-European Research Infrastructure, is supported by an integrated system of Regional Facilities involving 11 multi-sensor fixed-point Regional facilities-platforms deployed in 'key environmental sites' across the European seas. These platforms are engaged to the long-term multidisciplinary observation of the deep-sea ocean and water...

The Mediterranean community represented in this paper is the result of more than 30 years of EU and nationally funded coordination, which has led to key contributions in science concepts and operational initiatives. Together with the establishment of operational services, the community has coordinated with universities, research centers, research i...

Maritime economy, ecosystem-based management and climate change adaptation and mitigation raise emerging needs on coastal ocean and biological observations. Integrated ocean observing aims at optimizing sampling strategies and cost-efficiency, sharing data and best practices, and maximizing the value of the observations for multiple purposes. Recen...

The oceans play a key role in global issues such as climate change, food security, and human health. Given their vast dimensions and internal complexity, efficient monitoring and predicting of the planet’s ocean must be a collaborative effort of both regional and global scale. A first and foremost requirement for such collaborative ocean observing...

The oceans play a key role in global issues such as climate change, food security, and human health. Given their vast dimensions and internal complexity, efficient monitoring and predicting of the planet's ocean must be a collaborative effort of both regional and global scale. A first and foremost requirement for such collaborative ocean observing...

The importance of stakeholder engagement in ocean observation and in particular the realization of economic and societal benefits is discussed, introducing a number of overarching principles such as the convergence on common goals, effective communication, co-production of information and knowledge and the need for innovation. A series of case stud...

In the field of ocean observing, the term of “observatory” is often used without a unique meaning. A clear and unified definition of observatory is needed in order to facilitate the communication in a multidisciplinary community, to capitalize on future technological innovations and to support the observatory design based on societal needs. In this...

Europe lacks a multi-purpose integrated biological ocean observing system. The Future Science Brief recommends building an integrated biological ocean observation system, while supporting current capacity. Europe needs a strategic vision to increase the relevant biological ocean observation capacity. We also need to bring together key stakeholders,...