NorEMSO – a new ocean observation system in the Nordic Seas – has received 60 million Norwegian kroner from the Research Council of Norway. This will fill a huge gap in the European ocean monitoring network, says co-leader Benedicte Ferré from CAGE.
Text: Maja Sojtaric
Close observations of world’s oceans are crucial for our understanding of the immense power they have to store and distribute heat and greenhouse gases. This knowledge is more urgently needed than ever, with climate change bringing on big challenges for humanity in the years to come.
The European network EMSO ERIC is a system of ocean observatories placed in key sites around Europe – from the Atlantic, through the Mediterranean, to the Black Sea. The observatories are platforms equipped with multiple sensors, placed along the water column and on the seafloor. They constantly measure different biogeochemical and physical parameters, to monitor processes pertaining to natural hazards, climate change and marine ecosystems.
Nordic Seas are very important for understanding many of these processes, but are not included in this large European network. Until now, that is.
“The Nordic seas have been underrepresented in EMSO. Luckily, we now have substantial funding that enables us to fill this big gap in the European network. Including in-kind contributions from our institutions, the project will be funded with about 87 million NOK.” says co-leader of the project, researcher Benedicte Ferré from Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate (CAGE) at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, who is a co-leader of the project.
NorEMSO will provide high-quality, open-access, long-term and consistent observations of essential ocean and carbon parameters. The observatory network in the Nordic Seas will comprise of three main components: moored observatories, gliders, and one seafloor observatory.
«Data from NorEMSO will be integrated into the European network. These observational data sets are of high interest for the research community. Also, governmental agencies, and educational institutions can benefit from them. The data sharing protocol of NorEMSO will be in line with open data policies of Research Council of Norway and EU.” says Ferré.
The NorEMSO project has a duration of five years and is funded through RCN’s INFRASTRUKTUR program. The project is led by Ilker Fer at University of Bergen with Benedicte Ferré as co-leader.
