What are SeaDataNet and SeaDataCloud?
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SeaDataNet is a major infrastructure in Europe for managing, indexing and providing access to ocean and marine data sets and data products, acquired from research cruises and other observational activities in European coastal marine waters, regional seas and the global ocean. It also develops and governs common standards for metadata and data formats, common vocabularies and quality flags as well as standard software tools. SeaDataNet core partners are the National Oceanographic Data Centres (NODCs) and major marine research institutes in Europe, together with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and EU Joint Research Centre. |
The SeaDataNet network is a major contributor to the development of the European Marine Observation and Data network (EMODnet), from its start in 2008. EMODnet is an initiative of EU DG MARE, aimed at supporting the implementation of Marine Knowledge 2020, Blue Growth and Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD by developing generic marine data products and services for all European sea regions.
SeaDataNet is an operational infrastructure, well established on a pan-European scale with national nodes and currently serving many users and applications. However it lags behind in a number of expectations and there are new challenges, from lead user communities, from progressing standards and IT developments, and from required interaction with international initiatives.
These challenges are being taken up in the EU HORIZON 2020 SeaDataCloud project, started in November 2016 and running for 4 years. This project aims at upgrading and expanding the architecture and services of the SeaDataNet infrastructure, inter alia by adopting cloud and High Performance Computing technology.
What's the link between EUDAT and SeaDataCloud?
In the SeaDataCloud project, the SeaDataNet members have entered into a strategic and technical cooperation with the EUDAT consortium, with which it will collaborate to build upon the state of the art in ICT and e-infrastructures for data, computing and networking. EUDAT participates in SeaDataCloud through 5 sites which joined the project as partners: CSC (Finland), DKRZ (Germany), CINECA (Italy), STFC (United Kingdom), and GRNET (Greece). These 5 EUDAT centres will establish a common cloud and computing environment that will be integrated with the SeaDataNet data management infrastructure to provide central caching and cloud computing facilities. EUDAT brings in a number of EUDAT common services that will be adopted and, where needed, adapted for upgrading and optimizing the SeaDataNet Common Data Index (CDI) Data Discovery and Access service and for establishing the new SeaDataNet Virtual Research Environment (VRE). All services, upgraded and newly established in the SeaDataCloud project, will be accessible from the SeaDataNet portal.
Read the full SeaDataCloud newsletter here or visit www.seadatanet.org to learn more about SeaDataNet.