European Seafloor Observatories Implementation Model

WP2. Scientific Justification

The scientific argument for the need to establish seafloor observatories has been established by the ESONET CA project which outlined the requirement for a long time series of data relating to geohazards, climate change and biodiversity and ecosystem function on the European margin.

ESONIM developed the scientific arguments further by considering the concerns and policy issues relevant to European states which could be addressed by an ocean observatory, such as the prediction and mitigation of climate change impacts, management and conservation of biodiversity, monitoring anthropogenic impacts, the identification and exploitation of natural resources and the study of geohazards.

A key objective of ESONIM was to identify end users with a commercial interest in the observatory or end users who would be prepared to pay for the high resolution data that an ocean observatory could provide. The review indicates that at present there is limited commercial interest by private sector entities (e.g. insurance and petroleum companies) in using the data and services of an offshore ocean observatory. The ESONIM partners found that the revenue generated by the ocean observatory will most likely derive from the R&D budget of marine research institutes and Government agencies with responsibility for impacts of climate change and marine resource management. However, income streams from commercial entities will most likely increase once the observatory is established and operational.

Fundamental to the ESONIM business plan was the need to quantify the magnitude of revenues likely to derive from the research community. The potential revenue of the observatory was calculated by reviewing the historical spend of a selection of EU funded research projects that collected oceanographic data in the North Atlantic, and calculating a percentage of the budget that could have been spent on data acquisition from an ocean observatory had it been in place. The review of the selected projects indicates a spend of over €1.3m on data acquisition annually within Commission funded projects, although this estimate is very conservative, as not all EU funded projects were included and national and other funded programmes were also not considered.

To view the full ESONIM report on the scientific justification please click here.