Specifications for a European FerryBox data management system. WP5.3, D5.3. Version 1.1.

Abstract

Today observational data from FerryBoxes in both near real time and delayed mode is collected and stored by different data providers. The stored data may differ in both format and in quality controls performed. Some of the observations are made public and shared with open access, others are not. It is time-consuming for the users to visit different sites/data bases from different data providers and also complicated if the data offered is in different formats. This is applicable for most marine observational data and the reason for international databases/data like EMODnet, SeaDataNet (delayed mode) and CMEMS (near real time and delayed mode) with standardized formats and quality controls. The Copernicus Marine Environmental Monitoring Service (CMEMS) provides open access to marine data and information, with both a regional European and a global perspective. CMEMS focuse s on monitoring and forecasting . The online service includes satellite data and products, marine observational data and model data. The different data types are offered in a standard netCDF format to ensure compatibility and continuity. The observational data is managed by CMEMS’s InSitu TAC (Thematic Assembly Centre), a cooperation by the Regional Ocean Observing Systems (ROOS’s) in Europe. The ROOS’s are represented by one national institute respectively , the dissemination unit, in the In Situ TAC . The ROOS’s , via the dissemination units, have the responsibility to collect, encourage to apply open access and disseminate to CMEMS , any marine observational data , including FerryBox data, that can be of interest in their regions and to make sure that standard ized automatic quality controls have been performed . The strength of CMEMS is that the observational data is updated daily at the CMEMS site in netCDF format and has undergone specified quality controls, data al so relay on a set parameter list stating standardized parameter names and units . By using the CMEMS’s track FerryBox data follow how other open marine observational data in Europe is handled and made available. Ferrybox data benefit from the automatic qual ity controls and standard formats and is straightforward to handle. It is easy to use with all other types of data that is made available online on the CMEMS site . While CMEMS is the route , in particular , for near real time data, SeaDataNet offers the possibility of delayed mode quality control and long term storage, discovery and access of validated data sets. SeaDataNet has a close cooperation with CMEMS and they work together on climatologies which are used for calibrating numerical models. SeaDataN et, CMEMS and EuroGOOS are the 3 main pillars under the EMODnet Physics portal and bring together past, present, and future data for a major part of all European physical oceanographic observations. Data collected by FerryBoxes is no t much different than d ata collected by other operational systems and benefits from use of the existing European infrastructure and capacities of both the operational data nodes and the delayed mode data centres. The HZG FerryBox Database , established at the Institute of Coastal Research at HZG , can be an alternative, a Common European FerryBox Database, for those data providers that don’t’ provide their data to CMEMS or SeaDataNet . The reasons can be that the data providers for some reason don’t want their data to be diss eminated via the ROOS’s n or giv ing open access to the data. A Common European Ferrybox Database may then step in and store the data and even perform quality controls or offer the online tools to the data provider before making the data available to CMEMS, if data is marked as open access. Data is stored as transects and is easily viewed in the online software and compared with other transects