SOCIB participates in the JERICO Week #2, a meeting space for enhanced coastal observation in Europe

39 expert partners, representing 16 European countries, have taken part in the second edition of the JERICO Week (JERICO Week #2), a high-level scientific meeting held online from April 19 to 23, 2021. Among its participants, the Balearic Islands Coastal Observing and Forecasting System (SOCIB), member of the Horizon 2020 project JERICO-S3 (Joint European Research Infrastructure of Coastal Observatories: Science, Service, Sustainability), has actively engaged in its programme and participated through keynotes speeches on Modelling activities in JERICO-NEXT and JERICO-S3 and a session presenting e-JERICO and its status update, while delivering scientific excellence with impact on society. Furthermore, SOCIB has participated in several sessions of the JERICO Design Study (JERICO-DS) project, as both the WP3 (e-Infrastructure technical design and data integration strategy) leader and the Spanish national representative (in the context of the ESFRI roadmap of which JERICO RI aims to be part).

JERICO-S3 aims to provide a state-of-the-art, fit-for-purpose and visionary observational Research Infrastructure (RI), expertise and high-quality data on European coastal and shelf seas, supporting world-class research, high-impact innovation and a window of European excellence worldwide. Furthermore, it aims at significantly enhancing the current value and relevance of the JERICO-RI, through the implementation of the science and innovation strategy elaborated as part of the JERICO-NEXT project. JERICO-S3 is mainly targeting a more science integrative approach to better observe the coastal ecosystem, raising up the scientific excellence, with consideration of the regional and local ecosystems; the preliminary development of an e-infrastructure in support to scientists and users by offering access to dedicated services; progress on the design of the RI and its strategy for sustainability. The design of the JERICO-RI (both hardware and software components) will be covered by JERICO-DS, including cutting edge technologies from the sensor level to the information and service distribution to users, hence contributing to the Smart Ocean.

JERICO-S3 workshop on coastal model-observation integration

According to researchers, modelling, as one of the ocean monitoring instruments to provide a 4-Dimension continuous proxy and digital ocean, has been significantly advanced in the last two decades to cover physical, biogeochemical and high trophic marine systems. JERICO-S3 is a research infrastructure to improve EU multidisciplinary coastal ocean observations, but also has its own modelling activities. In this context, on Wednesday 21 April, Baptiste Mourre, researcher at SOCIB presented the past collaborative modelling activities in JERICO-NEXT and moderated a round table about coastal model-observation integration in the framework of a dedicated half-day workshop. During this workshop, researchers specifically discussed how coastal monitoring and modelling communities both in and outside JERICO could be benefited through model-observation integration and collaboration with non-JERICO modelling action and users.

JERICO-S3 session “e-JERICO presentation and status update”

Furthermore, on Thursday 22 April, Miguel Charcos, engineer at SOCIB, held a session presenting e-JERICO and its status update. e-JERICO is a unified central hub of JERICO to access all kinds of resources allowing the creation of advanced services based on the complete knowledge of the RI capabilities. Charcos informed partners about the development status of the e-infrastructure. The presentation included a review of the conceptual design, the impact, the status of the development and the main plans for the following months. It also included an overview of the relation with WP11 on virtual access led by SOCIB. Among its objectives, JERICO-S3 aims to facilitate virtual access to coastal ocean resources by providing a unique entry point for better discovery. Thus, reinforcing the whole coastal ocean value chain: from science to society.

Overall, the JERICO Week #2 engaged all partners in exploring new co-innovation pathways and strengthened its roadmap.