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EMSO-the European Multidisciplinary Seafloor Observatory |
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Envisioned EMSO sites distribution around Europe |
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The EMSO Research Infrastructure |
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EMSO, the European Multidisciplinary Seafloor Observatory, is a large-scale European Research Infrastructure. EMSO will be based on a European-scale network of seafloor observatories and platforms with the basic scientific objective of long-term monitoring, mainly in real-time, of environmental processes related to the interaction between the geosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere, including natural hazards. It will be a geographically distributed infrastructure composed of several deep-seafloor observatories, that will be deployed on specific sites around European waters, reaching from the Arctic to the Black Sea passing through the Mediterranean Sea, thus forming a widely distributed pan-European infrastructure. |
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The creation of a multidisciplinary network of seafloor observatories is being supported by the EU through several initiatives. The first one is the ESONET Network of Excellence (http://www.esonet-emso.org), coordinated by the French institute IFREMER. The project aims at gathering together the community interested in multidisciplinary ocean observatories in deep waters. Within the European Commission 7th Framework Programme (FP7, http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7), the Research Infrastructure sub-section of the Capacities programme launched in 2006 a call for proposal for Preparatory Phase projects. These projects will provide the necessary European support to create the entities in charge of managing the Research |
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Current Status |
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2 seafloor observatories on board Urania, before deploying in the Southern Tyrrhenian sea (Marsili Volcanic seamount, over 3300m of depth. |
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The main objective of the EMSO-Preparatory Phase (EMSO-PP, a 4-years project) is to establish the legal and governance framework for the infrastructure serving scientists and other stakeholders in Europe and outside Europe for long-term deep water observation and investigation. This framework will enable the deployment of the infrastructure and its long-term management. |
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Objectives of the Preparatory Phase Project |
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Envisioned governance structure for EMSO-PP |
