EMODnet Secretariat · Annual Progress Report September 2015 – September 2016 3 1 Introduction 1.1 Background During the first phase of the European Marine Observation and Data

EMODnet Secretariat

EMODnet Phase 2 – Annual Progress Report

Reporting Period: September 2015 – September 2016

Annual Progress Report September 2015 – September 2016

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Contents

1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 3

2 Progress summary .................................................................................................. 5

2.1 General highlights and achievements .............................................................. 5

2.2 Specific progress and achievements of the thematic lots ................................ 7

2.3 EMODnet Central Portal ................................................................................. 9

2.4 The EMODnet Sea-basin Checkpoints ........................................................... 9

3 Remaining key challenges of common interest ................................................... 11

4 User Feedback ...................................................................................................... 11

5 Outreach and communication activities ............................................................... 13

5.1 EMODnet Open Conference ......................................................................... 14

6 Summary of progress indicators and user statistics ............................................. 15

6.1 Supply of data, metadata and data products .................................................. 15

6.1.1 Volume of data made available through the portal ................................ 15

6.1.2 Difficulties encountered trying to obtain data from potential suppliers 17

6.2 Usage of EMODnet data, metadata and data products .................................. 19

6.2.1 Portal user statistics and preferred user navigation routes ..................... 19

6.2.2 Volume of data and data products downloaded from the portals .......... 22

6.2.3 Organisations that have downloaded data .............................................. 23

6.2.4 Use and purpose of downloaded data and products ............................... 23

List of acronyms and abbreviations ............................................................................. 25

Sources of additional information ................................................................................ 27


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1 Introduction

1.1 Background

During the first phase of the European Marine Observation and Data Network

(EMODnet) from 2009 onwards, six internet portals were established. Each one

provides access to marine data, metadata and data products of a specific type. In May

2012, a call for tender (MARE/2012/10) launched EMODnet development Phase II

with an aim to increase the resolution and extend EMODnet coverage to all EU

waters. A number of entirely new EMODnet activities were launched at the same

time, including the creation of a new portal on human activities and two sea-basin

checkpoints (MARE/2012/11) to assess the observation capacity in the North Sea and

the Mediterranean. Tenders for several other sea-basin checkpoints for the Arctic,

Atlantic, Baltic and Black Sea have been released mid-2014 to start beginning of

2015. In addition, since September 2013 the Flanders Government is supporting the

development of a central entry portal www.emodnet.eu providing access to the

thematic EMODnet portals and which should, over time, allow to retrieve data layers

from multiple portals at the same time.

To support the widening scope and growing number of partners and activities in

EMODnet Phase II, the European Commission Directorate-General of Maritime

Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) launched a tender in 2012 (MARE/2012/15) for a

service contract to administer and monitor EMODnet, and the Flanders Government

made office space available at the InnovOcean site in Ostend (Belgium) to host its

core staff. The EMODnet Secretariat contract was awarded to Seascape Consultants

Ltd in September 2013 for an initial period of two years, to provide high-level

coordination and technical skills to support (i) the monitoring of EMODnet projects;

(ii) the dissemination of their results, and (iii) the analysis of user feedback and

statistics. The overarching aim is to develop a more effective, efficient and fit for

purpose EMODnet.

1.2 Overview of Progress

This report presents an overview of the progress of the thematic portals and regional

activities achieved during the third year of operation of the EMODnet Secretariat, i.e.

in the period from September 2015 to September 2016. The report is largely based on

the inputs provided by the EMODnet thematic lots, inter alia from available second

year interim reports supplemented with updates from the Secretariat. However,

because the starting dates of the various thematic and regional activities are not the

http://www.emodnet.eu/


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same, some of the progress indicators and statistical information covers periods which

may slightly deviate from the Secretariat’s second year of operation and reporting

period.

The most important achievements in this period were:

The successful organisation of the 1st EMODnet Open Conference, gathering

more than 300 stakeholders to discuss marine data acquisition, management

and sharing and to consider avenues for the future development of EMODnet.

Rapid progress of the Sea-basin Checkpoints for the Atlantic, Baltic Sea,

Arctic and Black Sea, with all websites providing information about the

projects in a coherent way.

Consolidation of links with other EU initiatives such as INSPIRE and

developments in the framework of the MSFD MSPD and Copernicus.

Significant progress towards improved harmonization of thematic and

Checkpoint portals to achieve a seamless experience for users. This has relied

on a continuous collaborative effort by the whole EMODnet partnership led

and coordinated by the EMODnet Secretariat.

Increased visibility of EMODnet amongst non-traditional stakeholders beyond

the monitoring and observation communities, in particular from SMEs and

maritime industry.

Creation and establishment of the new EMODnet Associated Partnership

Scheme enabling EMODnet to become a more flexible, open and inclusive

network. Three new Associated Partners have formally joined the network,

including a large, international dredging company. These relationships pave

the way to improved uptake of EMODnet resources by industry users as well

as opening avenues for industry to contribute more data to EMODnet.

The launch in spring 2016 of an EMODnet Data Ingestion Facility. This

facility will provide a helpdesk and gateway for public and/or private data

holders who wish to share their data but are currently unable to do so.


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2 Progress summary

2.1 General highlights and achievements

September 2015: A joint kick-off meeting for the four new Sea-basin

Checkpoint projects (Atlantic, Artic, Baltic and Black Sea) was hosted at HR

Wallingford, (2-4 September 2015). Methods and results of the existing

checkpoints (North Sea and Med Sea) were presented for information.

October 2015: Holding of the First EMODnet Open Conference and Jamboree

(Oostende, 19-23 October 2015), together with DG MARE, SCIC and

Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ). More than 300 participants attended the

Conference and participated actively in the proposed activities, including

plenary sessions and breakout sessions. The Conference provided a unique

forum for many of the partners and stakeholders to exchange their views and

contribute to the further improvement of EMODnet. The conference outcomes

and recommendations, including those from the break-out and cross-cutting

sessions were collated and published in the Conference report which has been

disseminated widely (download available via

http://www.emodnet.eu/conference/Open-conference).

November 2015: Launch of all remaining Sea-basin Checkpoint websites

providing access to information about the project and their results.

December 2015: 5th EMODnet Steering Committee (9-10/12/2015, Brussels)

organised back-to-back with meetings with INSPIRE and MSFD experts to

consider how to serve more data to support MSFD implementation, promote

INSPIRE compliancy and develop more useful products and services.

December 2015: Coastal Mapping project website up and running.

January 2016: EMODnet Human Activities designed and implemented a

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy in order to improve the visibility

of their thematic lot activities. As part of the strategy, they set up a blog which

has significantly increased the number of visits to their portal.

February 2016: Outreach activities were particularly relevant during this

period. Amongst them, German EMODnet-EuroGOOS Workshop on

challenges of open marine data management in Hamburg, Germany, was

attended by the Head of the Secretariat as well as the coordinator of EMODnet

Physics. EMODnet was also present at the American Geophysical Union

http://www.emodnet.eu/conference/Open-conference


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(AGU) Ocean Sciences meeting in New Orleans (USA) with contributions

from Physics, Geology and Bathymetry thematic lots

March 2016: The importance of cooperation within EMODnet was

exemplified by the cross-thematic activities developed jointly with the aim of

assessing the confidence levels of EMODnet Seabed Habitat maps. Seabed

Habitats required the active collaboration of Bathymetry and Geology, as its

assessment depended on the reliability of the maps produced by these two

thematic lots.

April 2016: Launch of the Biology Download toolbox.

May 2016: All EMODnet Checkpoints faced the oil leak challenge

simultaneously and were asked to assess the impact of simulated oil spills in

their basins. They all succeeded in delivering bulletins describing the fate of

the oil and the potential effect on coastal ecosystems, populations and

economic activities.

May 2016: Successful representation of EMODnet at the European Maritime

Day 2016 in Turku, Finland.

June 2016: EMODnet Steering Committee met in Brussels and noted

significant progress on activities leading to a further harmonization amongst

thematic lots, including the development of the central portal.

June 2016: The fruitful cooperation between EMODnet Physics and Mercator

Ocean, the organisation responsible for the implementation of the EC

Copernicus Marine Monitoring Service (CMEMS), was formalised in a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

July 2016: On 8th

July, the EMODnet Secretariat received Karmenu Vella,

European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, at

the Secretariat premises in the InnovOcean site in Oostende (Belgium). The

visit concluded with a formal signing ceremony with the Secretary General of

the Department of Economy, Science and Innovation of the Flemish

Government to mark the agreement with Flanders to support EMODnet.

August 2016: EMODnet Phase II enters its concluding period with thematic

lots preparing to submit final reports to DG MARE.


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2.2 Specific progress and achievements of the thematic

lots

An important part of EMODnet Bathymetry activity was linked to producing

a new version of the EMODnet Digital Terrain Model (DTM), last updated in

September 2015. The new version includes 10% more surveys sourced from

27 data holders in 18 countries. The DTM resolution is a grid with 1/8 * 1/8

arc minutes (circa 230 metres) complemented with layers displaying high

resolution bathymetry for selected coastal waters as well as shipwrecks.

Cooperation with the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) is

notable and has enabled the improvement of both GEBCO DTM and

EMODnet DTM via the integration of both products, thus filling gaps in

geographical coverage and reducing anomalies at boundaries. Another

interesting highlight concerns the inclusion of EMODnet Bathymetry in the

NOAA North Atlantic Data viewer, which provides an overview of the

available bathymetric surveys from the US, together with EMODnet

Bathymetry and the existing DTMs.

The third year of EMODnet Geology has seen the revamping of its web

portal, making available 86 datasets and 6 services covering very different

themes, from aggregate deposits to coastal behaviour. The update enables

users to browse products and download certain maps improving their

experience. The use of the latest version of Geonetwork (open source

catalogue application) for the updating of the portal proved very challenging.

Major issues remain to be resolved before it can be considered to be fully

operational.

EMODnet Seabed Habitats key product is a pan European broad scale

Seabed habitat map. Close collaboration with Bathymetry and Geology, both

of whom provide underlying data to Seabed habitats, led to the development of

a comprehensive method to estimate confidence levels for Seabed Habitat

Maps. These confidence estimates allow users to make decisions on the

adequacy of the maps for decision-making. In addition, future survey efforts

can be strategically directed to areas where maps have relatively low

confidence. The map also saw major improvements in the status of underlying

physical oceanographic data following a better definition of the photic zones

and the usage of higher resolution models for hydrodynamical conditions.

EMODnet Chemistry progressed in the building of a harmonized system to

manage European chemistry data and in the provision of products specifically

http://sextant.ifremer.fr/record/c7b53704-999d-4721-b1a3-04ec60c87238/

http://maps.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/north_atlantic/


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relevant for MSFD implementation. Progress was particularly relevant for

eutrophication related parameters, with improved temporal and spatial

coverage for all basins. EMODnet Chemistry has been very active in

maintaining the dialogue with many stakeholders, and in particular with the

Regional Sea Conventions. Meetings have been held with OSPAR, HELCOM

and a MoU has been signed with the Black Sea Commission. During this

period, a user survey was circulated to all EMODnet Chemistry partners and

also sent to other colleagues not directly involved in EMODnet. Feedback was

collected on several aspects such as data and products discovery and download

as well as data use, restriction and citation. This was taken into account to

improve the portal services with new facilities, data tutorials etc.

The third year of EMODnet Biology saw the portal updated to enhance the

public access to their data and products. One of the major improvements

concerned the launching of a new data download toolbox in April 2016. This

was the result of a long process including a user survey, functional analysis

and technical analysis. Many efforts were devoted to making available new

gridded products to illustrate the temporal and geographic variability of

occurrences and abundances of marine phytoplankton, zooplankton, macro-

algae, angiosperms, fish, reptile, benthos, bird and sea mammal species.

Another interesting initiative was linked to the rescue and digitization of

historical biological data through a grant programme, this translated into an

additional four new datasets being included.

Between September 2015 and August 2016, EMODnet Physics steadily

improved access to new physical data and modified its data portal accordingly.

It also developed a number of new products and services, some of them

particularly popular such as the sea level, wind and ice cover products.

Collaboration between EMODnet Physics and other initiatives such as

Seadatanet, EuroGOOS and the Copernicus Marine Environmental Monitoring

Service (CMEMS) is very active and in the case of CMEMS has been

formalized in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding. Further,

EMODnet Physics has been identified as the dissemination portal for an

increasing number of key international projects and initiatives such as

AtlantOS, JERICO-NEXT, FixO3 and GOOS.

During the third year of contract, EMODnet Human Activities went on

completing the datasets for the different activities. The thematic lot payed

special attention to improving the visibility of its portal by different means,

including implementing a Search Engine Optimisation strategy and a blog.


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Similarly to other thematic lots, Human Activities prepared and distributed a

survey to gather feedback from users of its portal. Following the survey, a

fine-tuning of the portal was undertaken to address the users’ comments.

Furthermore, users demonstrated interest in certain datasets such as shipping

density and oil and gas pipelines that should be enhanced and/or included in

the future.

2.3 EMODnet Central Portal

EMODnet Central Portal has become instrumental to strengthening EMODnet

visibility and impact, providing a unique gateway to the thematic and sea-basin

activities. The Central Portal was widely used on the occasion of the first EMODnet

Open Conference, enabling the communication with participants before, during and

after the event. In the last months, new pages have been added providing access to

the Sea-basin checkpoint portals in a more attractive way. New components such as

a Product Catalogue and a Map Viewer, in different stages of completion have also

been put in place.

2.4 The EMODnet Sea-basin Checkpoints

In June 2015, four new contracts were granted for Sea-basin Checkpoint projects

covering the Baltic, the Artic, Atlantic and the Black Sea. These supplemented the

first two pilots (North Sea and the Mediterranean) which had been awarded in

October 2013 and December 2013 respectively. From September 2015 to August

2016 considerable progress has been achieved for all the six projects, the most recent

four clearly benefiting from the experience acquired by the first two pilots. In this

respect, considerable efforts have been made to maintain an open dialogue between

them all, as well as between the checkpoints and the thematic lots, as checkpoint

findings should contribute to improving the thematic lots. Many relevant partners are

indeed members both of checkpoints and EMODnet thematic projects, and the

Steering Committee Meetings provides the opportunity for coordinators to meet and

discuss issues of common interest. 2016 saw the launch of all new checkpoint web

portals, for the time being providing general information about the projects, as well as

access to reports and outputs. All new checkpoints had to produce a Literature Survey

Report, describing the marine data sources available in their respective sea-basins and

assessing whether there are references to the adequacy and fitness for use of those

data. The North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea checkpoints were in a more advanced

stage, each of them delivering Data Adequacy Reports and products for the different

challenges identified in the call for tenders.


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On 10 May, the oil-spill challenge was launched simultaneously for all 6 sea-basins

checkpoints. EMODnet checkpoint teams successfully assessed the fate of an oil spill

and the derived impacts on ecosystems, human populations and economic activities.

The 24h and 72h bulletins they provided giving account of this information were

published in the DG MARE Maritime Forum and generated considerable interest.


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3 Remaining key challenges of common interest

Huge progress has been achieved during the reporting period at various levels (data

uptake, access, portal development, etc.), a number of important challenges remain to

be addressed by all EMODnet lots to progress further. These challenges are not new

and were already highlighted and detailed in the first year progress report. The main

common challenges relate to developing a single sign-on procedure; maintaining

realistic stakeholder expectations; open access/licences; data ingestion; user feedback

and interoperability issues. For details we refer to the first and second year progress

report and the 2016 Secretariat activity report.

4 User Feedback

Obtaining feedback from users is of paramount importance as a means to better

understand their needs and expectations and thus improve data portals accordingly to

provide a better service.

One of the mechanisms to obtain feedback is by giving users the possibility to interact

with EMODnet developers, either by filling in a form or directly by email. Many of

the portals have a dedicated section in their entry page for this purpose and thematic

lots report regularly on the exchange of messages that they have received through the

portal. For instance EMODnet Bathymetry indicated that users had used the

feedback form to send support messages as well as to pose questions about technical

issues, citations and expected new releases. Between September 2015 and August

2016, a total number of 36 messages were received and answered (within days).

In addition, feedback is also obtained in a less structured way, following interactions

with stakeholders at events and meetings. EMODnet Geology provided information

about feedback received as a follow-up to meetings with stakeholders at scientific

conferences and project meetings. They also received input in a more formal way via,

for example, the North Sea checkpoint report on windfarms. Feedback can also be

internal, and they also describe concrete input received from national partner

organisations who are both providers and users of EMODnet Geology. One of the

most recurrent messages is a request for higher resolution maps.

EMODnet Seabed Habitats reports on comments received by emails and direct

contacts in events, and highlights the importance of the positive feedback received


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from the Regional Sea Conventions, regarding the usefulness of Seabed Habitat

products to fulfil MSFD requirements.

Another way of gathering feedback in this reporting period has been through user

surveys. Seabed Habitats, for instance, devised and sent a questionnaire to 141 experts

to gather information about the use of broad‐scale seabed habitat maps in assessment

and reporting in Europe, in particular in work related to MSFD and MPA

Assessments. Likewise, EMODnet Chemistry undertook two user surveys gathering

feedback from users and stakeholders to guide the further development of the

infrastructure. This very complete survey covered many different aspects of the visitor

experience when using the portal, from registration to data/product discovery,

downloading and visualization. Results were taken into account and some concrete

measures taken, such as the inclusion of video tutorials. In addition, they have

recently added a feedback tool to their portal.

The EMODnet Biology portal includes a “Contact” section with a form that visitors

can use to transmit questions or request for specific datasets. Requests were numerous

and are normally dealt with within 1-2 work days. In the previous reporting period

EMODnet Biology had also gathered feedback about the portal through a survey.

EMODnet Physics highlighted the positive feedback received from data providers

who found the tools provided in the Dashboard section particularly useful as these

inform them about the use and visibility of their data and allow them to check their

data (and data consistency). This provides an interesting example of how data

generators/owners can be incentivised to submit data to EMODnet. In addition, the

continuous improvement of the portal increases user satisfaction, particularly

regarding ease of access to metadata and data, plot parameters, and download data.

Human Activities also undertook a survey to evaluate the portal and the quality of

the datasets provided. A questionnaire including 37 questions was distributed in

January 2016 and 107 responses were received and analysed. The portal was adapted

to respond to these results.

Finally, DG MARE and the Secretariat regularly provide feedback based on

assessment the data portals and reports delivered by the thematic lots, the Secretariat

Harmonization document (2016) and the results of the user assessment of the

Secretariat and follow up interactions with EMODnet thematic lots coordinators,

described in the previous 2014-2015 Annual Progress Report. This feedback have

been translated into recommendations for implementation in phase II and or to be

considered in Phase III.


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5 Outreach and communication activities

The importance of outreach and communication activities developed by the thematic

lots and the sea-basin checkpoints is evident. These activities are also part of the

Secretariat remit, following the EMODnet Communication Strategy in order to

improve the visibility of EMODnet and increase its impact. In this period, the Central

Portal has become an important means of communication, in particular during the

EMODnet Open Conference (see specific section below). The EMODnet brochure

and videos are two of the most popular products available through the Central Portal

and they have been widely distributed in many of the conferences and events attended

by the EMODnet Secretariat and/or thematic lots/checkpoints in 2015 and 2016. We

list here a selection of the conferences and events, indicating the title, organisers and

dates:

- ICES Annual Science Conference ASC 2015 (ICES, 21 – 25 September 2015,

Copenhagen, Denmark)

- EMODnet Open Conference and Jamboree (EMODnet Secretariat and VLIZ,

19 – 23 October 2015, Ostend, Belgium)

- EuroMarine Foresight Symposium Future Coast Europe (EuroMarine, 5 – 7

October 2015, Berlin, Germany)

- Ocean Data Workshop (MEOPAR Canada, 18 – 19 November 2015,

Montreal, Canada)

- EMODnet Italian Information Day (OGS, INV, COGEA, ETT, 25 November

2015, Rome, Italy)

- Maritime Spatial Planning and Marine Environment Conference (DG MARE,

07 December 2015, Brussels, Belgium)

- EMODnet-INSPIRE technical workshop (JRC-DG MARE, 7 – 8 December

2015, Brussels, Belgium)

- AGU 2015 Fall Conference (AGU, 14 – 18 December 2015, San Francisco,

USA)

- VLIZ Scientist Day (VLIZ, 12 February 2016, Bruges, Belgium)

- EMODnet German Information Day (HZG, BSH, KDM, 18 February 2016,

Hamburg, Germany)


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- AGU Ocean Sciences Meeting (AGU, 21 – 26 February 2016, New Orleans,

USA)

- Oceanology International (Reed Exhibitions, 15 – 17 March 2016, London,

UK)

- 4th INSPIRE Marine Pilot Meeting (DG ENV, 13 – 14 April 2016, Brussels,

Belgium)

- European Geophysical Union Assembly EGU 2016 (EGU, 17 – 22 April

2016, Vienna, Austria)

- Marine Geological and Biological Habitat Mapping, GeoHab 2016 Conference

(GeoHab, 2 – 6 May 2016, Winchester, UK)

- European Maritime Day 2016 (DG MARE, 18 – 19 May 2016, Turku,

Finland)

- 10th GEO European Projects Workshop (EASME, 30 May – 1 June 2016,

Berlin, Germany)

- 35th

International Geological Congress (IGC LOC, August 27 – September 2,

Cape Town, South Africa)

5.1 EMODnet Open Conference

On 20 October 2015, more than 300 marine experts gathered in Oostende, Belgium,

for the EMODnet Open Conference “Consolidating the Foundations, Building the

Future”. The conference marked the first occasion that gathered the entire EMODnet

community since the inception of EMODnet. It provided a unique opportunity to

discuss the many challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, both for EMODnet and

for the wider European marine observation and data community. The Conference also

included the participation of stakeholders from the private and public sector and their

views were instrumental towards refining the development of a more user-orientated,

pan- European marine data infrastructure.

The EMODnet Open Conference was organised around a series of high-level

presentations and plenary discussions which benefited from interventions from the

public, as well as brain-storming sessions. Participants in the brain-storming sessions

were encouraged to consider topics such as the improvement of EMODnet visibility,

the interactions with other similar initiatives in Europe, the type of governance and

financing model that should be adopted, or how to better engage with data providers

and industry. The topics of discussion had been carefully selected based on a pre-

conference survey and the sessions were steered by a group of professional


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facilitators. One of the recurring messages stemming from these sessions was the

recognition of the multidisciplinary nature of EMODnet and the added value that this

inferred which must be further exploited. On a political level, participants felt that

EMODnet sits in a complex marine data and information landscape and there is a

degree of confusion and overlapping among the initiatives supported by the different

European Commission Directorate Generals. From a more technical perspective, the

need to assess the confidence levels of data and to ensure their traceability was also

repeatedly stressed. It was further recognized that some prioritization may be needed

in terms of focusing on specific user groups, and that providing data to support the

implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive could be one of the

preferential activities. This was very much in line with one of the conclusions which

could be drawn from the open conference which was that access to accurate and

adequate data is essential to achieve a balance between growth in the blue economy

and the protection and preservation of our marine resources. In this respect, the

publication of the Conference Summary Report has also been a milestone, as it

condenses all major findings stemming from the Conference.

6 Summary of progress indicators and user statistics

Below is a summary of relevant observations based on user statistics and indicators

reported up to September 2016.

6.1 Supply of data, metadata and data products

6.1.1 Volume of data made available through the portal

All thematic lots are making available new data and products through their portals,

which have become the cornerstones of the EMODnet service. In this section we will

provide an overview of the most relevant additions over the last annual period.

From September 2015 until August 2016, EMODnet Bathymetry indicates

that the number of CDI (Common Data Index) entries for available

bathymetric datasets in European waters increased from 13906 to 14791,

sourced from 28 data centres in 15 countries. The number of composite DTMs

in the Sextant directory has stabilised at 78 entries (46 in September 2015).

There was also an increase in the number of unrestricted datasets from 816 to

919. Nevertheless, the vast majority of the datasets are still only accessible

through negotiation.

http://www.emodnet.eu/sites/emodnet.eu/files/public/OpenConference/EMODnet_Conf_Report.pdf


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The seabed substrate datasets on a scale of 1:250,000 and 1:1 million, which

were used to produce the first European substrate map in June 2015, were

updated during this last year of contract and a new version of the map was

produced. This new version was provided to EMODnet Seabed Habitat in June

2016, including a score to assess confidence for the substrate data. In addition

to substrate data sets, EMODnet Geology portal offers access to more than

eighty geological datasets/maps providing information about sediment

accumulation rates, sea-floor geology, bedrock lithology, bedrock stratigraphy,

coastline migration, mineral resources and geological events. Users could not

download maps from the portal throughout the first two years of the project.

The maps are now available on the EMODnet Geology portal for viewing and

can be integrated with users’ GIS systems based on Web Map Services and

map downloads.

There are 481 datasets/maps now available through the EMODnet Seabed

Habitats portal, compared to 349 in the previous reporting period. Many new

data sets are collated habitat maps coming from surveys. There are also 5 new

broad-scale seabed habitat map for Europe with physical data, mostly related

to light conditions description. The popular EMODnet broad-scale seabed

habitat map for Europe (EUSeaMap) including classified habitat descriptors

and confidence was updated in September 2016.

From September 2015 to August 2016, EMODnet Chemistry CDI records

relevant for European waters increased from 660246 to 716062 (813309 for

the whole globe). Approximately 16% require negotiation with data

originators through the Seadatanet interface. They are derived from 64 data

providers in 32 countries.

The number of records available in the EMODnet Biology portal has

increased by approximately 5% in the current reporting period and the portal

now contains over 21 million records from 713 datasets, some of them

collected within the framework of ongoing activities of the European Ocean

Biogeographic Information System (EurOBIS) as well as the result of a grant

programme for data rescue and digitization (see section 2.2.). The portal

currently provides more than 60 data products indicating the abundance of

different marine species. They span a wide taxonomic range, from the smallest

organisms (e.g. bacteria, viruses) to the largest (e.g. fish, mammals), and

encompass all trophic levels.

The number of platforms providing data accessible through the EMODnet

Physics portal has more than doubled in one year (from approximately 5000 in


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September 2015 to 12000 in August 2016), including drifting buoys, ferrybox,

gliders, fixed buoys, profiling floats, ARGO floats (the most numerous type of

platform) and High Frequency Radars. Furthermore, a number of products

have been incorporated following requests by DG MARE. They fall into two

categories: platform products (averages, plots) and other specific products (for

instance, the ice coverage product). This impressive increase in the number of

data, metadata and products has required continuous upgrade of the portal

including implementation of new user interfaces and machine-to-machine

interfacing facilities.

EMODnet Human Activities is currently providing 32 datasets/layers for 13

types/themes related to human activities. These range from Wind Farms to

Dredging, Waste Disposal to Cultural Heritage. These datasets include points,

lines, polygons, related tables or records, and raster tiles/cells. Datasets are

updated regularly, and two new layers have been added namely: ‘Monthly first

sales of fish in EU ports” and “Lighthouses’. The user can view datasets as

maps, and can also search metadata, download GIS files and link to web

services according to the 13 themes and using keywords.

6.1.2 Difficulties encountered trying to obtain data from potential

suppliers

Finding new sources of data is a core activity for all thematic lots. In some cases, even

if the datasets and suppliers are identified, and contact is established, the whole

process can be very laborious and not always successful. Significant efforts have been

made in the past and will continue, also now through dedicated support provided by

the Data Ingestion Project. Thematic lots regularly note the difficulties they encounter

when trying to obtain data, as this can be very time consuming. EMODnet Human

Activities, in particular, often relate that data sources (Governmental Agencies in

Member States) are unwilling to cooperate. Different approaches are used, from more

informal communications to formal letters, and sometimes without success. In some

cases, attempts were made to obtain support from certain European Commission

Directorates General or Agencies. For instance, the possibility to obtain data on

pipelines via DG ENER/MOVE was explored. And both EMSA and JRC were

contacted to obtain vessel position (AIS) data.

Regarding EMODnet Bathymetry, a long-standing issue that remains to be solved is

the reluctance of the Danish Geodata Agency (DGA) to sign the subcontract, which

has prevented this lot from obtaining permission to use the composite DTM data sets

for the Danish waters. Including DGA as a partner of the consortium, may now

address this. EMODnet Bathymetry also reported some difficulties for datasets in the


18

Black Sea and the Mediterranean which had been acquired by organisations in non

EU countries and required an agreement from their side. Unsuccessful attempts to get

new datasets through Turkey (DEU-METU) and Egypt (National Institute of

Oceanography and Fisheries) were reported.

Despite the mediation of DG MARE, EMODnet Seabed Habitats indicated that the

FP7 MEDISEH Project coordinator advised that he was unable to provide access to

geodatabase on samples of Posidonia meadows and other biocenotic data as they were

considered “background data” from the project and hence he was not in a position to

disseminate them. As a result the census of Posidonia cartographies had to be done ex

novo representing a duplication of effort.

EMODnet Biology tried to get access to new datasets by contacting certain initiatives

like the MEDITs survey programme (for benthic and demersal species), or the

ASCOBAMS agreement (cetaceans) or ESAS (seabirds), but none were willing to

cooperate.

EMODnet Physics indicate data gaps in the marine territories of Turkey, Croatia or

Northern Africa. They indicate three possible contributing factors restricting access to

data from these areas: lack of technical expertise, restrictions in certain organizations

(normally military ones) or reluctance of scientists due to a desire and need to first

publish their results. Nevertheless, dialogue with data originators can help to

overcome these limitations and a change of mentality towards a more open data policy

is underway. EMODnet Chemistry did not mention any concrete difficulty when

approaching organizations to seek for new data. Nevertheless, they did point out as a

challenge the delays in receiving data from originators, and the lack of appropriate

metadata due to technical problems and lack of expertise. Support to the originators

was provided to solve those problems.

EMODnet Geology specified that the main focus is on harmonised interpreted map

information rather than the underlying data that have been used to create the

interpreted geological outputs. In addition, most of the relevant geological datasets are

held in fact by members of the EMODnet Geology thematic lot (geological surveys).

Nevertheless, in some cases external data providers were necessary and problems

arose due to confidentiality issues such as in the Faroe Islands (stratigraphy), France

(sediment maps) or Ireland (coastal migration).


19

6.2 Usage of EMODnet data, metadata and data products

6.2.1 Portal user statistics and preferred user navigation routes

As already mentioned, the Central Portal has become the preferred way to access

information and it was frequented, in particular, during the EMODnet Open

Conference in October 2015. The following two figures provide an overview with the

monthly history of visits to the EMODnet central portal (www.emodnet.eu) in 2015

and 2016:

Jan

2015

Feb

2015

Mar

2015

Apr

2015

May

2015

Jun

2015

Jul

2015

Aug

2015

Sep

2015

Oct

2015

Nov

2015 Dec

2015

Month Unique

visitors

Number

of visits Pages Hits Bandwidth

Jan 2015 1,823 3,268 37,505 144,654 3.35 GB

Feb 2015 2,846 4,534 31,774 183,833 3.94 GB

Mar 2015 2,501 4,075 18,583 162,619 4.51 GB

Apr 2015 2,236 3,890 32,318 206,723 5.36 GB

May 2015 2,358 3,899 17,832 136,003 4.84 GB

Jun 2015 3,332 5,669 29,329 241,942 6.14 GB

Jul 2015 2,625 4,370 24,660 153,876 4.38 GB

Aug 2015 2,446 4,012 39,771 147,043 3.84 GB

Sep 2015 2,729 5,386 20,192 227,325 6.14 GB

Oct 2015 3,479 7,001 44,904 335,005 8.82 GB

Nov 2015 2,678 4,827 30,446 232,608 5.27 GB

Dec 2015 1,662 2,486 14,592 78,773 2.49 GB

http://www.emodnet.eu/


20

Total 30,715 53,417 341,906 2,250,404 59.08 GB

Figure 1: Monthly history 2015

Jan

2016

Feb

2016

Mar

2016

Apr

2016

May

2016

Jun

2016

Jul

2016

Aug

2016

Sep

2016

Oct

2016

Nov

2016

Dec

2016

Month Unique

visitors

Number of

visits Pages Hits Bandwidth

Jan 2016 2,629 4,681 19,289 175,501 5.10 GB

Feb 2016 2,911 5,113 17,747 157,191 5.67 GB

Mar 2016 3,186 5,439 31,474 155,167 6.57 GB

Apr 2016 2,598 4,804 22,603 167,090 6.30 GB

May 2016 3,041 5,481 25,420 182,674 6.96 GB

Jun 2016 3,256 5,986 32,626 222,794 7.33 GB

Jul 2016 2,924 5,389 30,140 156,300 5.55 GB

Aug 2016 8,616 10,730 22,521 123,811 4.52 GB

Sep 2016 4,731 7,334 26,269 154,387 5.87 GB

Oct 2016 6,109 9,019 40,348 193,776 8.20 GB

Nov 2016 9,465 12,583 48,789 208,696 8.18 GB

Dec 2016 10,132 13,318 42,182 164,197 6.93 GB

Total 59,598 89,877 359,408 2,061,584 77.17 GB

Figure 2: Monthly history 2016


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After the Central Portal, EMODnet Bathymetry portal is the most visited portal.

Focusing on the period September 2015 to August 2016, the Bathymetry portal

received 2980 visits per month on average (2544 in the previous annual period)

whereas monthly average visits to the Central Portal in the same period were 5743

(3806 from September 2014 to August 2015). Regardless of the variations, the raise in

the visibility and use of the Central Portal as well as the thematic lot portals in this last

year of contract is evident. Figures for EMODnet Geology are only available from

January to August 2016, but as such they give a more meaningful analysis of the use

of the EMODnet Geology portal since the map information was unavailable for the

first years of the project. These are promising, as they compare well with the numbers

for the Bathymetry portal (average visitors per month is also around 3000).

Thematic portals also provide information on the evolution of the visits to their portals

every month (not only the number of visitors, but also the number of visited web

pages, time spent in each of them and so on) allowing the identification of peaks

linked to new products releases or events. This also contributes to identifying the

more popular areas of their portals. For instance, half of the visits to EMODnet

Seabed Habitats portal are related to the interactive map (approximately 250 unique

visits per month). Considered globally (focusing not only on the map, but also the

other pages) the average number of unique visitors per month has not changed

considerably with respect to the previous reporting period (around 800 visits).

EMODnet Chemistry provided statistics differentiating between users of the data

discovery and access service, the Ocean Browser service and the web site. Considered

globally (irrespective of the use), they amounted to a total of roughly 4000 unique

visits in 2015, i.e. a monthly average of 300, considerably less than the other portals.,

but an improvement on the previous reporting period.

EMODnet Biology indicates that while the number of unique visitors remained

relatively stable for the last year and a half of the project (around 1500 visits per

month), there was a noticeable increase in the bandwidth. This increase is probably

related to the inclusion of a new data download toolbox as reported in section 2.2,

which improved the usability of the site.

EMODnet Physics uses Google statistics to track user’s behaviour. The number of

visits to the portal landing page (247 visits per month on average) and to the map page

(895 per month on average) in 2015 are better than those for 2014 (487 and 325

respectively), and indicate that visitors seem to prefer going directly to the map. Peaks

are visible for May 2016 which could be linked to the update of certain products, such

as the Ferrybox (extended to ship data), and the inclusion of radar platforms (Spanish


22

and Croatian HF radar networks). The landing page was also reorganized in that same

period.

EMODnet Human Activities also provided statistics based on Google Analytics and

distinguished between visits to their Home, View data and Search data pages.

Globally speaking, the number of visitors and number of page views have increased

steadily (considered globally, they yield a monthly average of 770 unique visits per

month, 404 in 2014), but unlike in the previous reporting period, there are not

outstanding peak periods identified. The percentage of new visitors oscillates around

40%.

6.2.2 Volume of data and data products downloaded from the portals

In the third year of contract, regional Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) have been

downloaded 40800 times from EMODnet Bathymetry site, which means that it has

almost tripled the amount with respect to the previous reporting period. Web services

are widely used to view and download data, US, Spain and Germany being the most

active countries. ESRI ASCII format is clearly the preferred format for downloading.

Since June 2016, a new facility enables users to define and download their own area

of interest, which has become the most popular type of data product (as opposed to

the fixed 16 pre-defined areas). EMODnet Geology focusses on compiling

interpreted map information, which is then standardised to selected classification

systems and harmonised wherever possible, thus, the measure of volumes of

information made available through the portal are not provided in the report.

EMODnet Seabed Habitats presented a rate of approximately 300 downloads per

month. A total of 481 datasets are currently available through the web portal. The

most popular maps in terms of downloads in the September 2015-August 2016 period

were the Phase 1 Predicted habitats North Sea and Celtic Sea map (394 downloads for

the whole annual period) and the fine scale EUNIS habitat map (375 downloads). The

number of downloads have almost doubled with respect to the 2014-2015 period

following the publishing of the new full-coverage EUNIS and non-EUNIS habitat

maps in September 2015. The number of visitors, however, has not changed notably.

EMODnet Biology provides a detailed account of the data downloaded from their

portal. Statistics show users’ interest in benthos, the North Sea Benthos survey dataset

being the most downloaded one. In 2016, a total of 781 downloads were registered,

which is considerably less than was reported for 2015 (1639, although 2016 only

covers January-August). The use of the different file formats can hint at how the users

of EMODnet Biology use the downloaded data. The most preferred files formats are

txt and .xls. KMZ is used to visualize and interact with the data set on a map viewer,


23

html provides a web-based table while xml is the structured Darwin Core standard for

describing the geographic occurrence of species.

Downloads through the EMODnet Physics portal can vary greatly over time. What is

clear is that in the case of Physics, use of web services to download data (as opposed

to manual downloads) is of great importance. The Dashboard service available at the

EMODnet Physics portal (http://www.emodnet-

physics.eu/map/dashboard/Default.aspx), enables getting access to more detailed

information. For instance, it is possible to identify the number of platforms providing

data (operational, historical…).

EMODnet Human Activities downloads oscillate between 50 and 100 per month

(approximately 30 per month on average in the previous reporting period), so there is

a clear increase. Wind Farms was the most popular layer.

6.2.3 Organisations that have downloaded data

EMODnet thematic lots are requested to provide information about the organisations

that have downloaded data from their portal. They have set up different methods to

gather this type of information, and in some cases identification is not mandatory for

users to download data. Requests do not only come from Europe and in fact, for the

Bathymetry thematic lot, most of the requests come from the United States, followed

by Spain and Germany. Interestingly enough, this was also the case for Geology,

which also registered many requests from China. Chemistry, in its turn, provided a

list that only included European countries, plus Israel and Canada. Demands of

Physical data come from a much bigger number of countries from all over the world,

up to 65 countries, with Belgium and Italy being the most active countries. Biology

thematic lot discloses the names of the most demanding organisations, most of them

belong to the research or academic world, even though there are also some requests

from governmental (Ministry of Environment of Peru, for instance) non-governmental

(WWF) institutions and companies (Deltares). Seabed Habitats provides a list of

more than 200 hundred organisations that have downloaded data, also predominantly

universities or research centres. For Human Activities, 150 organisations identified

themselves when downloading data or requesting WFS links.

6.2.4 Use and purpose of downloaded data and products

Getting information about the potential use of the downloaded data and products can

help improve the portals. This seems to be more meaningful for certain thematic lots,

whereas in other cases, like EMODnet Bathymetry, there is little information

recorded in this regard. Nevertheless, bathymetry is a basic and important parameter

http://www.emodnet-physics.eu/map/dashboard/Default.aspx

http://www.emodnet-physics.eu/map/dashboard/Default.aspx


24

for many applications, beyond scientific ones and it is likely that a considerable

amount of users of the portal come from the private sector. EMODnet Geology

provides interesting information for the last six months, indicating the top-level

domains accessing their portal. From the figures reported, it is evident that at least

half of their users are private companies. Some concrete examples of uses of data for

public purposes in certain countries are also provided, for instance, in Finland, where

the Regional Council of Kymenlaakso has made a regional plan for the trade and sea

area of the Kymenlaakso region that took into account EMODnet Geology seabed-

substrate data. EMODnet Seabed Habitats provides the percentage of users divided

into 8 categories including “Industry” and “Research”. Whereas in the previous

reporting period, the most popular category was “Personal use”, this has changed now

and research is clearly (and more logically) the most common one (47% of the users

indicate research purposes for their request). EMODnet Biology prompts users with a

form where they have to indicate the purpose of their downloads in free text. There is

therefore a great variety of answers, but in most cases they are research related.

EMODnet Chemistry has not demanded this type of information of its users, but

from the type of organisations referred to (as mentioned in the previous section), it is

expected that the purpose of the downloads will be mostly research.

Model assimilation and forecast, validation and re-analysis seems to be one of the

major uses of EMODnet Physics data. As in the previous reporting period, they

highlighted that EMSA is using EMODnet Physics services (WFS and Web Services)

for operational purpose (e.g. Search and Rescue activities). Considering the direct

contacts and interactions with users on the data requests, “waves and winds” and “sea

level” groups are likely to be the most interesting to them.

Users of Human Activities portal, must select their sector when downloading data or

requesting WFS links choosing between 13 categories, from environment, to

education or health. The two most selected are “Environment” (31 %) and “Research”

(24%).


25

List of acronyms and abbreviations

CDI Common Data Index, provides a highly detailed description of the

data, answering to the questions: where, when, how and who

collected the data, and how to get them. One CDI describes a data

series which can be a vertical profile on a fixed location, a time

series or a trajectory data set

DAR Data Adequacy Report

DG MARE European Commission Directorate-General of Maritime Affairs

and Fisheries

DIVA Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis, is a software tool that

allows to spatially interpolate (or analyse) observations on a

regular grid in an optimal way

DTM Digital Terrain Model

EMODnet European Marine Observation and Data Network

EMSA European Maritime Safety Agency

EUNIS European Nature Information System

EuroGOOS European component of the Global Ocean Observing System

(GOOS)

ICES International Council for the Exploration of the Sea

INSPIRE Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community

IODE International Oceanographic Data Exchange System of

UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission

(IOC)

MPA Marine Protected Areas

MSFD Marine Strategy Framework Directive

NODC National Oceanographic Data Centre defined within the

International Oceanographic Data Exchange (IODE) System of

the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission

(IOC)

OceanBrowser EMODnet data products viewing and downloading service that

allows to visualize gridded fields on-line. It is based on open


26

standards from the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), in

particular Web Map Service (WMS) and Web Feature Service

(WFS)

ODP Ocean Data Portal

ODV Ocean Data View, is a freely available software package that

provides interactive exploration, analysis and visualization of

oceanographic and other geo-referenced profiles or sequence

data. ODV and NetCDF data file formats are used as mandatory

data exchange format in SeaDataNet/EMODnet Chemistry

OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the

North-East Atlantic (also known as Oslo Paris Convention)

QA/QC Quality Assurance/Quality Control

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

WFS Web Feature Service

WMS Web Map Service


27

Sources of additional information

More detailed information and the annual progress reports of each thematic lot can be

found on the Maritime Forum (https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/maritimeforum/) and on

the EMODnet thematic portals and Sea-basin Checkpoint portals:

- EMODnet Bathymetry – www.emodnet-bathymetry.eu

- EMODnet Geology - www.emodnet-geology.eu

- EMODnet Seabed Habitats- www.emodnet-seabedhabitats.eu

- EMODnet Chemistry - www.emodnet-chemistry.eu

- EMODnet Biology - www.emodnet-biology.eu

- EMODnet Physics - www.emodnet-physics.eu

- EMODnet Human Activities - www.emodnet-humanactivities.eu

- MedSea Checkpoint- www.emodnet-mediterranean.eu

- Artic Checkpoint – www.emodnet-arctic.eu

- Atlantic Checkpoint - www.emodnet-atlantic.eu

- Baltic Checkpoint - www.emodnet-baltic.eu

- Black Sea Checkpoint - www.emodnet-blacksea.eu

- North Sea Checkpoint – http://www.emodnet.eu/northsea/home

https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/maritimeforum/

http://www.emodnet-bathymetry.eu/

http://www.emodnet-geology.eu/

http://www.emodnet-seabedhabitats.eu/

http://www.emodnet-chemistry.eu/

http://www.emodnet-biology.eu/

http://www.emodnet-physics.eu/

http://www.emodnet-humanactivities.eu/

EMODnet Secretariat · Annual Progress Report September 2015 – September 2016 3 1 Introduction 1.1 Background During the first phase of the European Marine Observation and Data

Documents