EMSO: European multidisciplinary seafloor observatory

EMSO, an ESFRI large-scale Research Infrastructure (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures Roadmap), is the European-scale network of multidisciplinary seafloor and water column observatories from the Arctic to the Black Sea with the scientific objective of long-term real-time monitoring of processes related to geosphere/biosphere/hydrosphere interactions. EMSO will enhance our understanding of processes through long time series appropriate to the scale of the phenomena, constituting the new frontier of studying Earth interior, deep-sea biology and chemistry and ocean processes. EMSO will reply also to the need expressed in the frame of GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems) and GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) to develop a marine segment integrated in the in situ and satellite global monitoring system. EMSO is presently at the stage of Preparatory Phase, funded in the EC FP7. The EMSO status, the perspectives and relations with other existing or incoming sensor networks and data infrastructures are outlined.