Jay Pearlman

Requirements and approaches for a more cost-efficient assessment of ocean waters and ecosystems, and fisheries management

Development of a new generation of multifunctional sensor systems is underway to address ocean monitoring challenges. These range from more precise monitoring of the marine environment to an improved management of fisheries and, among other things, address improved life cycle cost-efficiency. These advances will be achieved through innovations such as multiplatform integration, greater reliability through better antifouling management and greater sensor and data interoperability. Requirements for the sensors have been refined through surveys and discussions with science and industry users. This paper will describe these developments in the NeXOS project.

Facilitating open exchange of data and information

By broad consensus, Open Data presents great value. However, beyond that simple statement, there are a number of complex, and sometimes contentious, issues that the science community must address. In this review, we examine the current state of the core issues of Open Data with the unique perspective and use cases of the ocean science community: interoperability; discovery and access; quality and fitness for purpose; and sustainability. The topics of Governance and Data Publication are also examined in detail. Each of the areas covered are, by themselves, complex and the approaches to the issues under consideration are often at odds with each other. Any comprehensive policy on Open Data will require compromises that are best resolved by broad community input. In the final section of the review, we provide recommendations that serve as a starting point for these discussions.

Oceans of Tomorrow sensor interoperability for in-situ ocean monitoring

The Oceans of Tomorrow (OoT) projects, funded by the European Commissions FP7 program, are developing a new generation of sensors supporting physical, biogeochemical and biological oceanographic monitoring. The sensors range from acoustic to optical fluorometers to labs on a chip. The result is that the outputs are diverse in a variety of formats and communication methodologies. The interfaces with platforms such as floats, gliders and cable observatories are each different. Thus, sensor “drivers” have to be built for each kind of sensor interface, which leads to extensive efforts in developing large-scale systems and additional fielding cost. Since the price of sensor devices is expected to decrease rapidly, these adaption efforts become the key cost factor in large-scale sensor network systems. At the other end, from a system perspective, the data transmission and visualization must be individually tailored. When multi-sensors are making measurements, the challenge of interoperability is compounded. The Oceans of Tomorrow projects are addressing interoperability in the complete data flow from sensor to user. Selected innovations at the sensor end are through implementation of the OGC PUCK protocol [PUCK web reference, OReilly 2006]. PUCK provides a protocol and “container” to store instrument-related information (“payload”) with the instrument itself. An observing system retrieves and utilizes information through instruments serial interface. PUCK protocol was developed by MBARI and its use is expanding [Toma 2014]. For the information flow from platform to user, an approach is the use of Sensor Observation Service (SOS), which acts as a common interface to observation data stores. For transmitting collected data from platforms to such an observation data store, the transactional and resultant handling operations of the SOS interface are used which allow the insertion/publication of measurements as well as corresponding metadata. Common SWE templates and profiles (e.g. for OGC SensorML, OGC Observations and Measurements and OGC SOS) are being used. These will be comprehensive data flow descriptions for the Oceans of Tomorrow sensors and are being created through the OoT projects in order to increase interoperability. In addition to information flow described above, further work is necessary for a common visualization and means of sharing data that can support multiple sensor types and enable overlay of observation data. The visualization will need to be supported by data transformation capabilities such as the GEOSS DAB or ERDAPP when the information used is from an array of sensors and platforms. This presentation will consider necessary standards and best practices to extend the current implementations of sensors in an ocean observation environment. The directions and recommendations will be presented in the paper.

Objectives of the NeXOS project in developing next generation ocean sensor systems for a more cost-efficient assessment of ocean waters and ecosystems, and fisheries management

The NeXOS project aims to develop new multifunctional sensor systems supporting a number of scientific, technical and societal objectives, ranging from more precise monitoring and modelling of the marine environment to an improved management of fisheries. Several sensors will be developed, based on optical and passive acoustics technologies, addressing key environmental descriptors identified by the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) for Good Environmental Status (GES). Two of the new sensors will also contribute to the European Union Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), with a focus on variables of interest to an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF). An objective is the improved cost-efficiency, from procurement to operations, via the implementation of several innovations, such as multiplatform integration, greater reliability through better antifouling management, greater sensor and data interoperability and the creation of market opportunities for European enterprises. Requirements will be further analysed for each new sensor system during the first phase of the project. Those will then be translated into engineering specifications, leading to the development phase. Sensors will then be tested, calibrated, integrated on several platform types, scientifically validated and demonstrated in the field. Translation to production and broad adoption are facilitated by participating industry. Overall, the paper presents an overview of the project objectives and plans for the next four years.

NeXOS, developing and evaluating a new generation of in-situ ocean observation systems

Many changes are occurring in the physical, chemistry and biology processes of the ocean. Understanding how these changes are driven is an element of the key environmental descriptors identified by the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) with the ultimate goal being to protect the resource base upon which marine-related economic and social activities depend. The Directive furthers the ecosystem approach to the management of human activities having an impact on the marine environment, integrating the concepts of environmental protection and sustainable use. To meet these goals, in-situ data are necessary for comprehensive modeling and forecasting of ocean dynamics. Yet, collection of in-situ observations is inherently challenging from the perspective of both time and resources. This paper addresses a new generation of acoustic, optical and fishery in-situ sensors that address these challenges. These sensor systems are multifunctional (single sensor systems addressing several phenomena), can be deployed on a large majority of ocean monitoring systems from surface to the seafloor, and operate for long periods with less maintenance. In addition, at the system and user interface level, the publication of data uses processes and formats conforming to OGC SWE standards and consistent with global ocean observing initiatives and ocean modeling portals such as Copernicus marine environment monitoring services. During the last three years, NeXOS has achieved a number of milestones, providing ten new sensors along with important transverse capabilities for anti-fouling and data management. The optical sensors include monitoring of marine contaminants such as hydrocarbons and components of the carbon cycle. New sensor systems for passive acoustic measurements with extended dynamic range include internal post-processing of acoustic information to reduce communication loads. Two additional sensors (chlorophyll-a and oxygen) have been added to the RECOPESCA system to support an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF) for improving measurement of stock-relevant parameters, such as fluorescence (proxy of chlorophyll-a) as well as physical parameters (T, S, Depth) and fish species. Interface with the sensors is through a miniaturized smart sensor interface common to all new NeXOS sensor systems and a PUCK implementation facilitates streamlined platform interfaces. A common toolset for web-enabled and reconfigurable downstream services supports marine databases and data facilitators, from SeaDataNet to GOOS and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). This paper provides description of sensors and their capabilities along with validation testing.

Smart electronic interface for Web Enabled Ocean Sensor Systems

The objective of the European FP7 project NeXOS (Next generation Low-Cost Multifunctional Web Enabled Ocean Sensor Systems Empowering Marine, Maritime and Fisheries Management) is to develop cost-efficient innovative and interoperable in-situ sensors deployable from multiple platforms to support the development of a truly integrated Ocean Observing System. Therefore, several sensor systems will be developed in NeXOS project for specific technologies and monitoring strategies such as: ocean passive acoustics, ocean optics, and EAF monitoring (Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries), that will provide an integrated, technologically coherent system for multi-scale, multi-parameter monitoring of the oceans. For all these sensors system, NeXOS will develop the Smart Electronic Interface for Sensors and Instruments (SEISI) which is a set of standards and functionalities to enable Web-based sharing, discovery, exchange and processing of sensor observations, and operation of sensor systems. The architecture will satisfy international standards, defined by ISO, OGC, and the INSPIRE directive, to enable integration of marine sensors with existing observing systems. The SEISI will provide a multifunctional interface for many types of current sensors and instruments as well as the new multi-parameter sensor systems, and a standard interface for existing observing systems platforms such as: cabled observatories, buoys, gliders or Ferryboxes on ship or vessel of opportunity. To achieve the compatibility with all these platforms, the sensor systems developed in NeXOS based on SEISI will be designed to accomplish two main requirements of these platforms regarding the communication bandwidth and the power consumption.

A Sensor Web Architecture for Integrating Smart Oceanographic Sensors Into the Semantic Sensor Web

Effective ocean and coastal data management are needed to manage marine ecosystem health. Past ocean and coastal data management systems were often very specific to a particular application and region, but this focused approach often lacks real-time data and sharing/interoperating capability. The challenge for the ocean observing community is to devise standards and practices that enable integration of data from sensors across devices, manufacturers, users, and domains to enable new types of applications and services that facilitate much more comprehensive understanding and analyses of marine ecosystem. A given kind of sensor may be deployed on various platforms such as floats, gliders or moorings, and thus must be integrated with different operation, and data management systems. Simplifying the integration process in existing or newly established observing systems would benefit system operators and is important for the broader application of diverse sensors. This paper describes a geospatial “sensor web” architecture developed by the “NeXOS” project for ocean and coastal data management, based on the concepts of spatial data infrastructure and the Sensor Web Enablement framework of the Open Geospatial Consortium. This approach reduces the effort to propagate data from deployed sensors to users. To support the realization of the proposed Next generation Ocean Sensors (NeXOS) architecture, hardware and software specifications for a Smart Electronic Interface for Sensors and Instruments (SEISI) are described. SEISI specifies small lower-power electronics, minimal operating system, and standards-basedresearch software to enable web-based sharing, discovery, exchange, and processing of sensor observations as well as operation of sensor devices. An experimental scenario is presented in which sensor data from a low-power glider with low-bandwidth intermittent satellite communications is integrated into the geospatial sensor web using the NeXOS architecture.

Validation and demonstration of novel oceanographic sensors on selected measurement platforms in the NeXOS project

This article describes the initial planning and outcomes of validation and demonstration efforts for oceanographic sensors in the EU-funded project NeXOS. The project has developed novel, multi-functional optical and acoustic sensors for environmental monitoring and mapping. These sensors are subject to validation and demonstration in real sea conditions. Procedures for validations are described, followed by examples of successful demonstrations t provided either delayed or real-time, to users through a Sensor Web Enablement capability developed in the project.

Impacts of Geospatial Information for Decision Making

Geospatial information contributes to decisions by both societal decision-makers and individuals. Investments in geospatial data have become a part of the political and policy debates that are focused on reducing government spending, as well as increasing societal wellbeing. Although many examples in our everyday life come to mind, good benchmarks of the value of geospatial information are missing. Quantifying this value involves comparisons of the decisions that would have been made with and without the information, and what the consequences of those decisions would have been. The Value of Information (VOI) is linked to the outcome of choice in uncertain situations. Individuals may be willing to pay for improved information depending on how uncertain they are, what is at stake, and the degree to which the benefit exceeds the cost of the information (Macauley 2006). Problems with data access, content interpretation (due to obscure file formats, for example) or use of the data all reduce the information value. Systematic analysis of the benefits of geospatial information in decisions focuses on the quantitative demonstration of why and how scientific data such as earth observations have economic value. Case studies apply the science and technology of geospatial data to inform decisions concerning the costs and benefits of economic and resource development. Two cases studies are provided which show net economic value but different approaches to assessing the VOI. Further steps in refining communication skills, providing a broad acceptance of approaches and a pool of experts to support community needs is envisioned in addressing paths forward.

Intelligent sensors — Why they are so important for future ocean observing systems

The complexity of installations in the oceans to carry out observations on specific processes and for detecting long-term trends have grown significantly in the past years. This applies also to the type and number of sensors that are in use in observing systems. In these days, sensors shall be compatible to different platforms that are in use like floats, gliders or moorings, and accordingly also different data acquisition systems. Facilitating the integration process in existing or newly established observing systems comes with a real benefit for the operators and is important for the broader application of different sensors. However, how to achieve the goals is under debate. The most serious obstacle for all initiatives is the willingness of stakeholders to adopt a strategy and, even more so, to adopt a specific architecture to enable interoperability across platforms and observing systems. Therefore, the situation at this point in time is characterized by the fact that parallel approaches have been developed (IEEE 1451, the OGC set of standards, etc.) that are ready to be evaluated but still lacking the support by the community. Therefore it seems to be a good time to consider and to agree on the implementation of interoperability arrangements. These and related aspects shall be discussed in this paper.