Applications: There are several ways to classify all the applications. From a checkpoint perspective, “Applications” means gathering all activities that exploit marine data products.
Characteristics: “Characteristic” is the terminology used in MSFD. It means either a variable of an observed or estimated phenomenon (eg depth) or a geographical feature (eg roads, protected areas) represented by a spatial object with a vector (point, line, polygon) or raster geometry (eg image).
Data: Numbers and information pertaining to observations made in time and space. The data considered here are meteo-marine, oceanographic and freshwater physical, biological, chemical and geological variables as well as data related to human activities.
Monitoring data: Data that are collected by an instrument at a particular place and time and that are repeated periodically in order to monitor changes over time. They may be raw or processed to make them interoperable with other data.
Data layer: Aggregated data, assimilated, interpolated or extrapolated values that provide a complete coverage over the whole area at certain dates. The data can be two, three or four dimensional (including time) depending on the nature of the data and the needs of the user.
Dataset: A “dataset” is a collection of data. It can be a time series, a lithological description of a marine sample, a gridded data set such as a DTM, a hydrodynamic model output, a GIS dataset ie a set of geographical features with a vector geometry such as the polygonal limits of protected areas or a raster geometry such as a satellite image, or a table of values in a publication.A dataset can be made up of several files (eg. seismic data files recorded along the same line). A database can be considered as a dataset or a dataset series.
Dataset series/Collection of data sets: A dataset series (term used by ISO) is a collection of datasets sharing (usually or in principle) the same specifications of production: see the Inspire Geoportal. To avoid any misunderstanding, the term “collection of datasets” will be used.
Input Dataset: This is the collection of existing data to be inputted to the Challenges.
Metadata: Information on one or more aspects of data, such as time and date of creation, owner of data, standards used, access rights.
GIS contiguous: A set of data, points, gridded or polygons that can be represented on a map.
Tile: A spatial unit by which data are organized, subdivided, and stored. A tile can be a regular, geometric shape (e.g., corresponding to a map sheet) or an irregular polygon.
Marine or region/subregion: A specified area or sub-area of Europe’s seas, as defined within the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. These are specific instances of sea-basins.
Sea baseline: A baseline is the line from which the seaward limits of a state’s territorial sea is calculated.
Sea basin: A recognisable geographical area of marine waters, often confined by land to form a distinct body of water.
Thematic assembly groups: “Consortia of organizations that assemble data from all data centres on specific themes”. Thematic assembly groups are divided into 7 discipline-based themes: bathymetry, geology, physics, chemistry, biology, physical habitats and human activity. It includes EU initiatives other than Emodnet projects, such as Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), the Data Collection Framework in fisheries.
Environmental matrices: The environment matrix is the environment to which a characteristic is related and defined as:
Air, Water (Marine or Fresh), Biota/Biology, Seabed, Human activities.
GIS: A geographic information system, also known as a geospatial information system, is any system for capturing, storing, analyzing and managing data and associated attributes which are spatially referenced to the Earth. Within the marine domain, it is regulated by Inspire.
Assessment criteria: The criteria are focused on two questions: “what” is made available to the challenges and “how”? They are derived from the quality principles of the ISO19113 standard for geographical information which concerns 99% of the data needed by the challenges and additional criteria related to services recognized in the literature as key elements for the establishment of fitness for use.
Fitness for use or fitness for purpose: Within the ISO 8402 framework, fitness for purpose is understood as the “totality of a product characteristics that bear on its ability to satisfy stated and implied needs” and it includes the ease with which a user can obtain data. The geographical information standards developed ‘to describe geographical information’” (ISO 19115) and “to assists a data user in determining a product’s ability to satisfy the requirements for their particular application” (ISO 19113, ISO 19157) seem an appropriate basis for the establishment of their fitness for use.


Please select from the menu above

  • ACCOBAMS

    Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea Mediterranean Sea and Contigous Atlantic Area

  • AEMET

    State Meteorological Agency (ES)

  • AIS

    Automatic Identification System

  • API

    American Petroleum Institute

  • ARGO

    system for observing temperature, salinity, and currents in the Earth’s oceans

  • ARPEGE

    Research Project on Small and Large Scales

  • AVISO

    Archiving, Validation and Interpretation of Satellite Oceanographic Data

  • BirdLife

    Global Species Programme collates and analyses information on all the world’s birds

  • BODC

    British Oceanographic Data Centre

  • BOUSSOLE

    Buoy for the acquisition of long-term optical time series

  • Cal/Val

    Calibration/Validation

  • CAMP

    Coastal Area Management Programme

  • CARBONOCEAN

    Marine carbon sources and sinks assessment

  • CetaceanAlliance

    Preserving Whales and Dolphin of the Mediterranean Sea

  • CFP

    Common Fisheries Policy

  • CH4

    Methane

  • Chl

    Chlorophyll

  • CISL

    Computational and Information Systems Laboratory

  • CLIM012

    Global and European sea level rise

  • CLIM013

    Sea surface Temperature

  • CLIM9434

    Ocean heat content

  • CLS

    Collecte Localisation Satellites (FR)

  • CLU

    CLU s.r.l. (IT)

  • CMCC

    Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change (IT)

  • CNR

    National Research Council (IT)

  • CO2

    Carbon Dioxide

  • COCONet

    Continuously Operating Caribbean GPS Observational Network

  • CODAS

    Consolidated Operations and Delay Analysis System

  • Copernicus

    European Programme for the establishment of a European capacity for Earth Observation

  • COST

    Cooperation in Science and Technology

  • CPR

    Continuous Plankton Recorder

  • Cs-137

    Caesium-137

  • CSDMS

    Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System

  • CYCOFOS

    Cyprus Coastal Ocean Forecasting and Observing System

  • DAC

    Data Assembly Center

  • DCF

    Data Collection Framework

  • DCR

    Data Collection Regulation

  • DDT

    Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane

  • DG-MARE

    Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

  • DIC

    Dissolved Inorganic Carbon

  • DIN

    Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen

  • DIP

    Dissolved Inorganic Phosphorous

  • DIRM

    Inter-Regional direction of Mediterranean Sea

  • DON

    Dissolved Organic Nitrogen

  • DOP

    Dissolved Organic Phosphorus

  • DTM

    Digital Terrain Model

  • E-AIMS

    Euro-Argo Improvements for the GMES Marine Service

  • E-HYPE

    Pan-European hydrological model

  • E-SURFMAR

    Surface Marine Operational Service

  • EC

    European Commission

  • ECMWF

    European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts

  • ECV

    Essential Climate Variables

  • EDF-EN

    EDF Energies Nouvelles (FR)

  • EDMED

    European Directory of Marine Environmental Data

  • EEA

    European Environmental Agency

  • EEC

    European Economic Community

  • EEZs

    Exclusive Economic Zones

  • EGO

    European Glider Observatory

  • EIONet

    European Environment Information and Observation Network

  • EMODnet

    European Marine Observation and Data Network

  • EMSA

    European Maritime Safety Agency

  • EMSO

    European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and Water Column Observatory

  • ERIC

    European Research Infrastructure Consortium

  • ESA

    European Space Agency

  • ESFRI

    European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures

  • ESI

    Environmental Sensitivity Index

  • ESONET

    European Seas Observatory NETwork

  • EU

    European Union

  • EUMETNET

    European National Meteorological Services

  • EUNIS

    European Nature Information System

  • Euro-Argo

    European contribution to ARGO program

  • EUROGOOS

    European Global Ocean Observing System

  • EUROSION

    European initiative for sustainable coastal erosion management

  • EuroSITES

    European Open Ocean Observatory Network

  • EUROWATERNET

    European Environment Agency’s Monitoring and Information Network for Inland Water Resources

  • EUSeaMap

    Mapping European seabed habitats

  • EWGs

    Expert Working Groups

  • FAO

    Food and Agriculture Organization

  • FEM

    Association de Préfiguration de l’IEED France Energies Marines (FR)

  • FishStat

    Universal software for fishery statistical time series

  • FixO3

    Fixed point Open Ocean Observatory network

  • FP7

    Seventh Framework Programme

  • GDAC

    Global Data Assembly Center

  • GEBCO

    General Bathimetric Chart of the Oceans

  • GEO

    Group on Earth Observation

  • Geoportal

    type of web portal used to find and access geographic information

  • GEOSS

    Global Earth Observation System of Systems

  • GES

    Good Environmental Status

  • GFCM

    General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean

  • GIS

    Geographic information system

  • GISC

    GMES in-situ coordination

  • GLA

    Green Line Association

  • GMES

    Global Monitoring for Environment and Security

  • GNOO

    National Group for Operational Oceanography

  • GOOS

    Global Ocean Observing System

  • GPS

    Global Positioning System

  • GRDC

    Global Runoff Data Center

  • GSA

    Geographical Sub-Areas

  • H2S

    Sulfuric Acid

  • HAB

    Harmful Algal Bloom

  • HadISST

    Hadley Centre Sea Ice and Sea Surface Temperature data set

  • HCMR

    Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (GR)

  • HF

    High Frequency

  • HO

    Hydrostatic Office

  • HyMeX

    Hydrological cycle in the Mediterranean Experiment

  • ICCAT

    International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas

  • ICES

    International Council for the Exploration of the Sea

  • ICZM

    Integrated Coastal Zone Management

  • IEO

    Instituto Español de Oceanografía

  • IFREMER

    Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer (FR)

  • IH-Cantabria

    Fundación Instituto de Hidráulica Ambiental de Cantabria (ES)

  • IHO

    International Hydrographic Organization

  • IMEDEA

    Mediterranean Advanced Studies Institute

  • IMO

    International Maritime Organization

  • IMP

    Integrated Maritime Policy

  • INGV

    National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (IT)

  • INSPIRE

    Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community

  • IOC

    Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission

  • IPCC

    Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

  • IRIS-SES

    Integrated Regional monitoring Implementation Strategy in the South European Seas

  • ISAC

    Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate

  • ISCOMAR

    Isleña Marítima de Contenedores

  • ISO

    International Organization for Standardization

  • ISPRA

    Italian National Protection Agency

  • IUCN

    International Union for Conservation of Nature

  • IUU

    Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated

  • JCOMM

    Joint WMO-IOC Commission on Marine Meteorology

  • JERICO

    Towards a joint European research infrastructure network for coastal observatories

  • JRC

    Joint Research Centre

  • LAT

    Lowest Astronomical Tide

  • LBS

    Land Base Sources

  • LIFE

    EU’s financial instrument supporting environmental, nature conservation and climate action projects throughout the EU

  • MAP

    Mediterranean Action Plan.

  • MAPMED

    Management of port areas in the Mediterranean Sea Basin

  • MARBEF

    Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning

  • MARBOUND

    VLIZ Maritime Boundaries Geodatabase

  • Med-Hycos

    Mediterranean Hydrological Cycle Observing System

  • MEDAR/MEDATLAS

    Mediterranean Data Archaeology and Rescue

  • MEDESS4MS

    Mediterranean Decision Support System for Marine Safety

  • MEDISEH

    Mediterranean Sensitive Habitats

  • MEDPAN

    MEDiterranean Protected Areas Network

  • MEDPOL

    Programme for the Assessment and Control of Marine Pollution in the Mediterranean

  • MEDSLIK

    Mediterranean oil spill model

  • MNHN

    Inventaire National du Patrimoine Naturel

  • MONGOOS

    Mediterranean Operational Network for the Global Ocean Observing System

  • MOOSE

    Mediterranean Ocean Observing System on Environment

  • MPA

    Marine Protected Area

  • MRE

    Marine Renewable Energy

  • MRI

    Marine Research Infrastructure

  • MS

    Member States

  • MSFD

    Marine Strategy Framework Directive

  • MSP

    Maritime Spatial Planning

  • MSSD

    Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development

  • MyO

    MyOcean, Ocean Monitoring and Forecasting

  • NATURA 2000

    centrepiece of EU nature & biodiversity policy

  • NAUSICAA

    National Sea Centre

  • NKUA

    National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

  • NOAA

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

  • NRT

    Near Real Time

  • NUTS

    Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics

  • OCEANS-CAT

    OCEANS Catalonia International SL (ES)

  • OCHA

    Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

  • OGC

    Open Geospatial Consortium

  • OSE

    Observing System Experiment

  • OSOCC

    Oil Spill Operations and Co-ordination Centre

  • OSSE

    Observing System Simulation Experiments

  • OWF

    Offshore Wind Farms

  • P01

    BODC Parameter Usage Vocabulary

  • P02

    SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary

  • P03

    SeaDataNet Agreed Parameter Groups

  • PAL

    Passive Acoustic Listener

  • PANGAEA

    Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science

  • PCB

    polychlorinated biphenyls

  • pCO2

    partial pressure of carbon dioxide

  • PERSEUS

    Policy-oriented marine Environmental Research in the Southern European Seas

  • pH

    Acidity

  • PLOCAN

    Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands

  • PODAC

    Product-Oriented Design And Construction Cost Model

  • POSEIDON

    Applications of Seismic Oceanography

  • PROTECTEDPLANET

    The latest initiative harnessing the World Database on Protected Areas

  • PSMSL

    Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level

  • Pu-239

    Plutonium-239

  • RAC-SPA

    Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas

  • RAMSAR

    Convention on Wetlands of International Importance

  • REMPEC

    Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea

  • REMSS

    Remote Sensing Systems

  • RESPONSES

    project investigating EU policy action on climate change

  • RI

    Research Infrastructure

  • RITMARE

    Italian Marine Research Program

  • RivDIS

    Global River Discharge

  • RMS

    Root Mean Square Error

  • ROOS

    Regional Operational Oceanographic Systems

  • RORO

    Roll-on/roll-off

  • S-AWS

    Shipborne Automated Weather Stations

  • SACOSTA

    Environmental Sensitivity of the Coastline

  • SAR

    Search and Rescue

  • SCREAM

    Spatially Continuous Resource Economic Analysis Model

  • SDN

    SeaDataNet, pan-european infrastructure for ocean & marine data management

  • SeaBASS

    SeaWiFS Bio-optical Archive & Storage System

  • SEDNET

    European Sediment Network

  • SESAME

    Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East

  • SHOM

    Service hydrographique et océanographique de la marine

  • SIH

    French Fisheries Information System

  • SKIRON

    The regional weather forecasting system

  • SOCIB

    Balearic Islands Coastal Observing and Forecasting System (ES)

  • SONEL

    Système d’Observation du Niveau des Eaux Littorales

  • SOOP

    Ship Of Opportunity Programme

  • SPA

    Special Protection Area

  • SPAMI

    Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance

  • SPLASHCOS

    Submerged Prehistoric Archaeology and Landscapes of the Continental Shelf

  • SST

    Sea Surface Temperature

  • STAG

    Scientific and Technical Advisory Group

  • STECF

    Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries

  • TAC

    Total Allowable Catch

  • TBT

    Tributyltin

  • TMOOS

    Marine Technologies, Operational Oceanography and Sustainability Department

  • TN = Tot_N

    Total Nitrogen

  • TOC

    Total Inorganic Carbon

  • TOSCA

    Tracking Oil Spills & Coastal Awareness network

  • TP= Tot_P

    Total Phosphorus

  • TPT

    triphenyltin

  • UCY

    University of Cyprus (CY)

  • UHSLC

    University of Hawaii Sea Level Center

  • UN

    United Nations

  • UNCLOS

    United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

  • UNEP

    United Nations Environment Programme

  • UNESDO

    United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

  • VLIZ

    Flanders Marine Institute

  • VMS

    Vessel Monitoring System

  • VOS

    Voluntary Observing Ship

  • WASP

    Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program

  • WDPA

    World Database on Protected Areas

  • WFD

    Water Framework Directive

  • WISE

    Water Information System for Europe

  • WMO

    World Meteorological Organisation

  • WMOP

    SOCIB Western Mediterranean Sea Operational forecasting system

  • WRF

    Weather Research and Forecasting

  • WSAG

    Water System Analysis Group

  • WWF

    World Wildlife Fund