A few decades ago, the European landscape of ocean observation facilities was characterised by the diversity of equipment, methodologies, and operational models, often operated independently, deployed for short periods and centred on one specific scientific discipline.
The societal context urged for a unified framework of European initiatives. The communities who shared common strategic visions, scientific goals, methodologies, and expertise were established as permanent bodies, among which EMSO ERIC – the multidisciplinary and distributed Research Infrastructure dedicated to the water column and deep ocean observation.
A Decade of Innovation
EMSO accomplished a significant advancement with the EGIM, EMSO Generic Instrument Module, which emerged from the EMSODEV project around ten years ago. The EGIM has played a key role in strengthening the EMSO Community.
This versatile multi-sensor instrumentation module, designed for standardised and continuous measurements of physical, biogeochemical, biological and ecosystem variables, has been deployed in various marine environments for long periods, providing acquisition of generic ocean variables, temperature, conductivity, pressure, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, passive acoustics, current profiles and more specific parameters at various depth.
In this article, together with Nadine Lantéri—who coordinated the development team for the EMSODEV project and now leads the EMSO French national branch—we will embark on an exciting journey with the EGIM, exploring its scientific applications and advancements within the GEORGE project.
A Journey Through Time
Since its inception, the EGIM has developed significantly. Today, multiple EGIM units are operational, collecting data from various places, and reaching depths of thousands of meters. The deployments provided invaluable insights into the EGIM’s capabilities and capacities for future applications.
How many EGIM prototypes currently exist and where have they been deployed?
“There are 7 copies of the EGIM. There were 3 units at the end of the EMSODEV project, the prototype and 2 units owned by NOC. EMSO Portugal has three, and Plocan has one. EMSODEV prototype has been deployed on the Azores for almost 10 years, where it serves SeaMoN West, one of the two seabed stations monitoring this site”, Lantéri explains.
“The development of EGIM and the definition of the generic parameters was inspiring for the design of new, more comprehensive monitoring systems. For instance, the MARLEY observatory (Monitoring deep-seA coRaL EcosYstems), monitors the activity of a colony of Madrepora oculata and its associated fauna at a depth of 776 metres in the Lampaul Canyon, and Jerico cEGIM. The systems measuring EGIM generic parameters are usually enriched to fit the scientific needs with a large number of more specific instruments, including cameras, sediment traps, eco-sounders, or seismometers. Of course, the shape and size of the equipment are quite different from EMSODEV EGIM”.
The GEORGE Project: Elevating the EGIM
The EU-funded project GEORGE aims to optimise the observing platforms operated by EMSO, Euro-ARGO and ICOS for carbonate system measurements in order to enhance the ability of these 3 RIs to relay information and communicate with each other, and develop new procedures to reduce the environmental impact of observing operations.
Even if EGIM offers a standardised and reliable platform for data collection, to meet the ever-increasing demands of marine research, continuous innovation is essential. One of the project objectives for the EGIM advancements is to integrate new sensors to allow for measurements of the marine carbonate system, which is critical as it plays a major role in regulating Earth’s climate and marine ecosystems.
Nadine Lantéri leads the EMSO French national branch and the EGIM upgrade within the GEORGE project
How will the GEORGE project impact future applications of the EGIM?
“In GEORGE, the objective is centred on carbon measurement, which is quite rarely implemented in the deep sea. We are integrating 7 new sensors to the EGIM: pCO2 and CH4 from 4HJena, pH from CWS, LoC TA, and Loc DIC from NOC. Having on board the private companies and the academics producing the equipment is a major asset. We are testing the new configuration in the lab and at sea. Early September, we deployed an EGIM in Norway and we are preparing a deployment on PAP, Porcupine Abyssal Plaine, at 4850 m, which is an exceptionally deep place”, Lantéri says.
“GEORGE is a precious opportunity to carry on the collaboration experience that started in EMSODEV in a multi-RI context. Although part of the technical constraints are different, ARGO and EMSO measure the same variables and sharing calibration procedures, sensor evaluation, and data quality control is fundamental. However, the integration of new sensors on EMSO and ARGO platforms will benefit carbon monitoring”.
Adrien Chauvet (IFREMER) is preparing for the EGIM deployment within the GEORGE project. Photo: Tor de Lange, University of Bergen
What are the upcoming steps for the EGIM within the GEORGE project?
“I am looking forward to the final deployment of the project. It brings together the 3 RIs in a concerted operation with all the vectors available, EGIM, gliders, AUV and floats with a real-time optimization of the observation strategy, using a neural network approach”, Lantéri concludes.
References:
Tourolle Julie, Marcillat Marin, Moreau Bertrand, Lagadec Jean Romain, Menot Lenaick (2023). MARLEY: An autonomous platform to monitor cold-water coral behavioural phenology as a high-frequency essential biodiversity variable. 8th International Symposium of Deep Sea Corals. 29 may – 2 june 2023, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Tourolle J., Moreau B., Marcillat M., Lagadec J.R., Silva Jacinto R. and Menot L. (in prep.). MARLEY: a new deep-sea observatory for long term monitoring of cold-water corals behaviour.