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Mercator Ocean

MOi serving EU priorities   

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Mercator Ocean International (MOi) is fully committed to supporting the European Union’s (EU) policies and goals in which the understanding of the current state of the ocean and predicting its future play a critical role. With its longstanding experience in serving EU priorities of the European Commission (Defence, Industry and Space; Maritime Affairs and Environment; Research and Innovation) and of the European Union’s diplomatic service (EEAS), MOi continues to take an active part in helping the EU pursue its agenda towards a green and digital transition.
MOi laid the foundation for its partnership with the European Commission by coordinating the 6-year MyOcean project series between 2009 and 2015. Funded under the EU’s Research and Innovation programmes FP7 and H2020, the MyOcean projects involved 60 European partners and set the pre-operational groundwork for what would evolve into the Copernicus Marine Service.
In November 2014, the European Commission selected MOi to implement the Copernicus Marine Service, and MOi has been implementing and operating the Service on behalf of the EU since.
As a key organisation in the Copernicus Programme, MOi joined EUMETSAT and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) in 2017 to develop the WEkEO Copernicus DIAS service and cloud computing platform. This provides a comprehensive portfolio of original Copernicus programme and Sentinel satellite data and information.
MOi is a participating organisation of the Group on Earth Observation (GEO), a worldwide network working to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). The European Commission currently co-chairs the GEO Executive Committee, and the Copernicus programme, hence its Marine Service, is a major European response to GEOSS.
In November 2020, the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments entrusted MOi with the implementation of the partnership instrument action “International Ocean Governance: EU Component to Global Ocean Observations (EU4OceanObs)”. Through this action, MOi has set up two teams to head the EU actions of the GEO Blue Planet initiative and the G7 Future of the Seas and Oceans Initiative.

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Copernicus Marine Service

MOi was officially entrusted by the European Commission in 2014 to design, manage, implement and operate the Copernicus Marine Service over the multi-annual financial framework 2014-2021. This role and responsibility has been renewed over the next phase of the Copernicus programme 2021 – 2027. Copernicus Marine is one of the 6 thematic services of Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth observation programme, providing free, regular and systematic authoritative information on the state of the Blue (physical), White (sea ice) and Green (biogeochemical) ocean, on a global and regional scale.

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The service is designed to increase global ocean knowledge, serve the implementation of EU policies and boost the Blue Economy across all maritime sectors by providing free-of-charge state-of-the-art ocean data and information. It provides key inputs that support major EU and international policies and initiatives and can contribute to: combating pollution, marine protection, maritime safety and routing, sustainable use of ocean resources, developing marine energy resources, blue growth, climate monitoring, weather forecasting, and more. It also aims to increase awareness amongst the general public by providing European and global citizens with information about ocean-related issues.

The Copernicus Marine Service contributes to the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) & Africa programme. This illustrates the longstanding cooperation between Africa and Europe, to promote the development of local capacities, institutional, human and technical resources for access to and exploitation of Earth observation-based services in support of sustainable development in Africa. MOi is committed to providing comprehensive support and technical assistance to the four Marine and Coastal African consortia of GMES & Africa.

> Visit the Copernicus Marine Service website and learn more

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WEkEO DIAS Cloud Platform

In 2018, the European Commission launched an initiative called DIAS (Data and Information Access Services) to provide a single access point to all Copernicus data and information, alongside processing resources, tools and other relevant data. As key organisations in the Copernicus Programme, EUMETSAT, ECMWF and Mercator Ocean International were selected for their long-standing experience to develop the WEkEO Copernicus DIAS service, one of 5 DIAS platforms.  The European Union flagship Earth observation initiative, the Copernicus Programme is in the WEkEO DNA both in terms of direct connection to data and to the Copernicus and Sentinel expertise.

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This initiative benefits a wide range of users including institutional bodies, the private sector, scientists, and civil society to enable them to develop their own value-added products, applications and services. WEkEO DIAS provides users with a powerful tool, including big-data analysis tools, to develop applications for their own specific needs.

WEkEO’s strength relies on its distributed infrastructure built thanks to the Copernicus organisation already in place in the 3 centres. Infrastructure and data from the 3 centres are therefore not duplicated but rather linked together, reducing costs for the European tax payer and avoiding the need for new energy-consuming infrastructure. This approach gives users direct access to work with the most up-to-date Copernicus data instead of having to rely on copied, archive datasets. Finally, this federative approach can be extended to other selected external partners, so the system has the potential to continually grow and expand in the future.

> Visit the WEkEO DIAS website and learn more

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EU4OceanObs

Since November 2020, MOi has been entrusted with the European Commission Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI): International Ocean Governance: EU component to global observations. This action will be executed by MOi through a two-year project entitled “EU4OceanObs” which aims to increase the EU’s visibility as a leading global actor, defend its interests and strengthen its influence in international decision-making bodies on the collection and use of ocean observations to address societal and environmental needs.

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EU4OceanObs will spearhead and promote the EU’s increasing commitment and activities in the domain of ocean observation with a focus on two major international programmes, the G7 Future of the Seas and Ocean Initiative, and the GEO Blue Planet component. The project will also enrich the Copernicus Marine Service by supporting the increased deployment and access to much needed in situ ocean observations, crucial for validating and improving the quality of weather and ocean forecasts and climate models, as well satellite data.

EU4OceanObs will also showcase and create synergies among the numerous projects and services contributing to ocean observations across the ocean data value chain initiated, operated and funded by the EU. From upstream activity in international ocean governance to downstream in situ and space ocean observations, which are needed to drive the development of marine and maritime downstream services and applications contributing to a sustainable ocean. By doing so, EU4OceanObs aims to clarify and promote the roles and benefits of main European initiatives related to the development of global ocean observing systems.

By playing a catalytic role in support of the blue economy and the development of sustainable practices for marine and maritime applications, EU4OceanObs will contribute to the objectives under the European Green Deal, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals targeted at the oceans (SDG 14: Life Below Water) and the common framework of the UN decade of ocean science for sustainable development -Towards the ocean we need for the future we want (2021 – 2030).

For more information:

> EU4OceanObs website – eu4oceanobs.eu

> EU4OceanObs Press Release

> EU4OceanObs kick-off article

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