Periodic Reporting for period 1 - AquaINFRA (Infrastructure for Marine and Inland Water Research)
Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31
In order to support healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland water, there is a need for:
• easier and seamless access to relevant data covering the whole ocean and freshwater continuum and including environmental as well as socioeconomic data
• coherent and harmonised data across domains based on FAIR and open data principles
• online research environments facilitating task-based data and analysis service discovery
• breaking national and thematic/domain (data) silos
• A better utilisation of EOSC as an integrative research infrastructure
The overall objective of the project is to develop an EOSC compliant research infrastructure equipped with FAIR multi-disciplinary data and services to support marine and freshwater scientists and stakeholders restoring healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters. The AquaINFRA virtual research environment will enable the target stakeholders to store, share, access, analyse and process research data and other research digital objects from their own discipline, across research infrastructures, disciplines and national borders leveraging on EOSC and the other existing operational data repositories – EMODnet, Copernicus Marine Service, Digital Twins, etc. Addressing human activities is fundamental for protecting and restoring heathy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters, and accordingly socio-economic data plays a major role in AquaINFRA – also from inland sources.
The AquaINFRA Data Space with Data Discovery and Access Service (DDAS) will provide access to a seamless pan-European hydrography and thereby facilitate the true integration between the marine and freshwater sciences.
Researchers experiencing the advantage of open and FAIR principles in the AquaINFRA use cases, will lead to further adoption of this principle, contributing to making open and FAIR data the new norm.
It is also expected that the uptake of Open Science practices will increase, when FAIR data from a wide range of data providers can be handled through the AquaINFRA Data Space and DDAS, integrated and made available by means of EOSC-services, and thereby making Open Science services and workflows available through a user-friendly interaction platform.
The expected wider scientific, economic and societal effects of the project contributing to the expected impacts outlined in the respective destination in the work programme includes a transformation in the way researcher share and exploit data, which will be obtained by fully transparent and user-friendly access to analyses and the underlying data in the AquaINFRA infrastructure and services. Researchers will then spend less time looking for data and be able to easily publish their work in a fully reproducible manner.
• easier and seamless access to relevant data covering the whole ocean and freshwater continuum and including environmental as well as socioeconomic data
• coherent and harmonised data across domains based on FAIR and open data principles
• online research environments facilitating task-based data and analysis service discovery
• breaking national and thematic/domain (data) silos
• A better utilisation of EOSC as an integrative research infrastructure
The overall objective of the project is to develop an EOSC compliant research infrastructure equipped with FAIR multi-disciplinary data and services to support marine and freshwater scientists and stakeholders restoring healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters. The AquaINFRA virtual research environment will enable the target stakeholders to store, share, access, analyse and process research data and other research digital objects from their own discipline, across research infrastructures, disciplines and national borders leveraging on EOSC and the other existing operational data repositories – EMODnet, Copernicus Marine Service, Digital Twins, etc. Addressing human activities is fundamental for protecting and restoring heathy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters, and accordingly socio-economic data plays a major role in AquaINFRA – also from inland sources.
The AquaINFRA Data Space with Data Discovery and Access Service (DDAS) will provide access to a seamless pan-European hydrography and thereby facilitate the true integration between the marine and freshwater sciences.
Researchers experiencing the advantage of open and FAIR principles in the AquaINFRA use cases, will lead to further adoption of this principle, contributing to making open and FAIR data the new norm.
It is also expected that the uptake of Open Science practices will increase, when FAIR data from a wide range of data providers can be handled through the AquaINFRA Data Space and DDAS, integrated and made available by means of EOSC-services, and thereby making Open Science services and workflows available through a user-friendly interaction platform.
The expected wider scientific, economic and societal effects of the project contributing to the expected impacts outlined in the respective destination in the work programme includes a transformation in the way researcher share and exploit data, which will be obtained by fully transparent and user-friendly access to analyses and the underlying data in the AquaINFRA infrastructure and services. Researchers will then spend less time looking for data and be able to easily publish their work in a fully reproducible manner.
During the reporting period, a report on the AquaINFRA Baseline Architecture was delivered, describing the baseline architecture for the AquaINFRA project at the start of the project.
The input has been collected from the various technical WPs as a starting point for the further discussions and elaborations of the AquaINFRA architecture. This includes the context related to Mission Ocean and EOSC, and the AquaINFRA high level architecture and the EOSC Blue Cloud 2026 project. Furthermore, it contains a description of the AquaINFRA architectural approach and in particular the potential relationships to EOSC Exchange and EOSC Core and the Digital Twins of the Ocean initiatives and projects including Destination Earth, European Digital Twin of the Ocean (EDITO), and the Iliad Digital Twins of the Ocean.
The AquaINFRA Data Space, Data Discovery and Access Service (DDAS) is introduced, and the approach towards the AquaINFRA Interoperability Framework, Data Space enablers and Data Harmonisation service. Likewise, the AquaINFRA Interaction platform (AIP) for integration and processing, and the approach for the Virtual Research Environment (VRE) to support seamless connectivity and the handling of socio-economic and biodiversity data.
A report on the AquaINFRA DDAS user requirements (D3.1) was delivered. Deliverable 3.1 presents the initial user requirement (UR) research and results for the data discovery and access service (DDAS) of the AquaINFRA project. The purpose is to describe technical development goals for hydrosphere data services. The DDAS is to provide seamless access to relevant data infrastructures and provision of harmonised data in the AquaINFRA data space, particularly through machine-to-machine interfaces.
The user stories, requirements and use case in this deliverable provide a starting point for designing, developing, and demonstrating the Data Delivery and Access System of the AquaINFRA Data Space. The key user requirements defined were to connect an extensive selection of marine and freshwater data resources, to provide users with metadata and data through APIs and to distribute ready-made cross-border harmonised datasets. To illustrate further these requirements a use case was created for discovering and accessing relevant datasets from a catchment area.
In WP5 the use of the components and services provided by WP2, WP3 and WP4 is demonstrated with actual use cases in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the Mediterranean regions, seamlessly integrating data services from freshwater to open marine areas “Source-to-Sea" and on the pan-European level. Furthermore, Work Package 5 utilises and tests the training material provided by WP6.
AquaINFRA case study regions include three essential freshwater and marine ecosystems: The Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
Deliverable 5.1 describes the AquaINFRA framework for creating and developing common and individual requirements of the case study regions, showcasing the interconnection between case studies and use case development.
Use cases are a core component in defining the requirements for the AquaINFRA DDAS in WP3 and the AIP in WP4.
The framework also emphasises the importance of integrating case studies into the IT and data space development process to ensure seamless interoperability with EOSC.
The purpose of the framework is to provide general guidance for the case study regions to:
1) Identify different users of DDAS and AIP.
2) Systematically collect user stories for prioritisation in the next phase of the WP 5.
3) Integrating the case studies into the overall AquaINFRA infrastructure.
The functionality and usability of the Minimum Viable Product of the DDAS (WP3) was tested and approved. Also, the initial concept and prototype of the AIP (WP4) were tested and discussed in relation to the case studies, and the next step regarding the development of workflows for the AIP was started.
The input has been collected from the various technical WPs as a starting point for the further discussions and elaborations of the AquaINFRA architecture. This includes the context related to Mission Ocean and EOSC, and the AquaINFRA high level architecture and the EOSC Blue Cloud 2026 project. Furthermore, it contains a description of the AquaINFRA architectural approach and in particular the potential relationships to EOSC Exchange and EOSC Core and the Digital Twins of the Ocean initiatives and projects including Destination Earth, European Digital Twin of the Ocean (EDITO), and the Iliad Digital Twins of the Ocean.
The AquaINFRA Data Space, Data Discovery and Access Service (DDAS) is introduced, and the approach towards the AquaINFRA Interoperability Framework, Data Space enablers and Data Harmonisation service. Likewise, the AquaINFRA Interaction platform (AIP) for integration and processing, and the approach for the Virtual Research Environment (VRE) to support seamless connectivity and the handling of socio-economic and biodiversity data.
A report on the AquaINFRA DDAS user requirements (D3.1) was delivered. Deliverable 3.1 presents the initial user requirement (UR) research and results for the data discovery and access service (DDAS) of the AquaINFRA project. The purpose is to describe technical development goals for hydrosphere data services. The DDAS is to provide seamless access to relevant data infrastructures and provision of harmonised data in the AquaINFRA data space, particularly through machine-to-machine interfaces.
The user stories, requirements and use case in this deliverable provide a starting point for designing, developing, and demonstrating the Data Delivery and Access System of the AquaINFRA Data Space. The key user requirements defined were to connect an extensive selection of marine and freshwater data resources, to provide users with metadata and data through APIs and to distribute ready-made cross-border harmonised datasets. To illustrate further these requirements a use case was created for discovering and accessing relevant datasets from a catchment area.
In WP5 the use of the components and services provided by WP2, WP3 and WP4 is demonstrated with actual use cases in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the Mediterranean regions, seamlessly integrating data services from freshwater to open marine areas “Source-to-Sea" and on the pan-European level. Furthermore, Work Package 5 utilises and tests the training material provided by WP6.
AquaINFRA case study regions include three essential freshwater and marine ecosystems: The Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
Deliverable 5.1 describes the AquaINFRA framework for creating and developing common and individual requirements of the case study regions, showcasing the interconnection between case studies and use case development.
Use cases are a core component in defining the requirements for the AquaINFRA DDAS in WP3 and the AIP in WP4.
The framework also emphasises the importance of integrating case studies into the IT and data space development process to ensure seamless interoperability with EOSC.
The purpose of the framework is to provide general guidance for the case study regions to:
1) Identify different users of DDAS and AIP.
2) Systematically collect user stories for prioritisation in the next phase of the WP 5.
3) Integrating the case studies into the overall AquaINFRA infrastructure.
The functionality and usability of the Minimum Viable Product of the DDAS (WP3) was tested and approved. Also, the initial concept and prototype of the AIP (WP4) were tested and discussed in relation to the case studies, and the next step regarding the development of workflows for the AIP was started.
During the project period the AquaINFRA DDAS concept has been developed into a prototype – functioning as a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), which has been tested and approved in a workshop for all partners.
Together with the prototypes for the AquaINFRA interaction platform, this paves the road for the futher development of easier and seamless access to relevant data covering the whole ocean and freshwater continuum and including environmental as well as socioeconomic data, which will take AquaINFRA beyond the state the art.
Together with the prototypes for the AquaINFRA interaction platform, this paves the road for the futher development of easier and seamless access to relevant data covering the whole ocean and freshwater continuum and including environmental as well as socioeconomic data, which will take AquaINFRA beyond the state the art.