Guide on EOVs. Deliverable 2.1_BioEcoOcean

Funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement number 101136748. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. Deliverable 2.1 Guide on EOVs January 2025 Authors: Ana Lara-Lopez, Elizabeth Lawrence, Ward Appeltans, Emma Heslop Ref. Ares(2025)10648878 - 03/12/2025 Deliverable 2.1 Guide on EOVs 2 Project Information Project full title: Co-Creating Transformative Pathways to Biological and Ecosystem Ocean Observations Project acronym: BioEcoOcean Grant agreement number: 101136748 Project start date and duration: 1st of February 2024, 48 months Project website: https://bioecoocean.org/ Project Coordinator: Lina Mtwana Nordlund, Uppsala University Deliverable information Deliverable number: 2.1 Deliverable title: Guide on EOV Submission date: 17/01/2025 Level of dissemination: Public Work package and task: WP2 Task 2.1 Lead Beneficiary: UNESCO Authors: Ana Lara-Lopez (UNESCO-GOOS), Elizabeth Lawrence (UNESCOOBIS), Ward Appeltans (UNESCO-OBIS), Emma Heslop (UNESCOGOOS) Reviewers: Internal: Lina Mtwana Nordlund (UU) and Nina Lepola (UU). External: Belen Martin Miguez (GCOS/WMO) and Maciej Telszewski (IOCCP) To be cited as: Lara-Lopez, A., Lawrence, E., Appeltans, W., Heslop, E. 2025. Guide on EOVs. BioEcoOcean deliverable 2.1. 10.5281/zenodo.17776002 Deliverable 2.1 Guide on EOVs 3 Executive Summary The purpose of the Essential Ocean Variables specification guide is to outline and translate the information requested in each field of the EOV specification sheets to facilitate their update and use. The process to create this guide included a complete re-structure of the EOV specification sheet template to simplify the information provided. The creation of this new template considered the following: 1) The audiences it aims to inform, including decision-makers and policymakers, funders, ocean observers, technologists, and data managers. 2) The needs of the different expert panels, i.e. physics, biogeochemistry (BGC) and biology and ecosystems panels, who will be using this standardised template 3) Simplification of the terminology used to make the information more accessible 4) The addition of a thorough metadata and data management section that provides the necessary information to contribute data to global ocean observing. From the restructuring of the EOV specification sheet template, an interactive guide (this deliverable) was created. The guide allows users to understand the information within the EOV specification sheets. Further refinements may be undertaken from additional feedback from the BGC and physics expert panels or from within the BioEcoOcean consortium. Deliverable 2.1 Guide on EOVs 4 Table of Contents Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................................................. 5 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 6 1.1 Guide on EOVs ................................................................................................................................................ 6 1.2 Why are EOVs important? .............................................................................................................................. 6 1.3 What information do EOVs deliver? ............................................................................................................... 7 1.4 How is the information collected for EOVs used? .......................................................................................... 7 2 The EOV specification sheets .................................................................................................................................. 8 3 The Guide on EOVs - GOOS EOV specification sheet guide .................................................................................... 9 4 References ............................................................................................................................................................ 10 Supplementary material ............................................................................................................................................... 11 Deliverable 2.1 Guide on EOVs 5 Abbreviations Abbreviation Definition BGC Biogeochemistry EOV Essential Ocean Variable FOO Framework for Ocean Observing GBF Global Biodiversity Framework GOOS Global Ocean Observing System OBIS Ocean Biodiversity Information System UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization WMO World Meteorological Organisation Deliverable 2.1 Guide on EOVs 6 1 Introduction The Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) program is dedicated to the integration and coordination of multidisciplinary ocean observations, providing essential information to support sustainable development, safety, well-being, and economic prosperity. To do this, GOOS employs the Framework for Ocean Observing (FOO) (Lindstrom et al., 2012) to guide the global ocean-observing community in building observation systems based on the Essential Ocean Variable (EOV) framework. 1.1 Guide on EOVs The GOOS EOVs are key physical, chemical and biological measurements that provide critical information about the state and health of the ocean to improve understanding and help manage it. Examples of EOVs are Sea surface temperature, Nutrients and Seagrass cover and composition. EOVs provide a framework for coordinating the global ocean-observing community by promoting a standardised approach to collecting and managing data across different regions, communities and networks. This ensures that the data collected from various sources are compatible and can be easily compared and combined. This approach enables local to global assessments. The term "essential" in EOVs means that these are the minimum subset of variables needed to monitor and understand specific ocean processes, and properties and changes that occur over time. These core measurements cannot be replaced by other variables. Different GOOS EOVs can contribute to observing different processes from upwelling to ocean acidification, from species migration to harmful algal blooms occurrence. GOOS EOVs are identified to deliver in three main areas: understanding climate change, predicting weather-related events, and keeping track of the health of marine life from local to global scales. 1.2 Why are EOVs important? The philosophy behind EOVs is to “collect data once, use many times”. By using EOVs as a common language and as a standardised approach to collecting ocean observations, researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders can collaborate more effectively, leading to comparable observations at local and global scales that allow for a better understanding of ocean processes and informed decision-making to manage and protect marine environments. Focusing on GOOS EOVs also ensures investment and capabilities in ocean observation are targeted and effective in providing information that is useful for society. Deliverable 2.1 Guide on EOVs 7 1.3 What information do EOVs deliver? EOVs represent different aspects of the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the ocean (Fig. 1). By monitoring EOVs consistently over time and space, scientists can detect trends, identify changes, and assess the health of marine ecosystems. EOVs are organised into three main categories based on their disciplinary focus: • Physics: These EOVs include parameters that help scientists understand the physical processes driving ocean circulation, heat transfer, and climate variability. • Biogeochemistry: Encompasses EOVs related to the chemical composition of the ocean, critical for studying the ocean's role in the global carbon cycle, nutrient cycling and ocean acidification. • Biology and Ecosystems: These EOVs focus on biological parameters to provide insights into ecosystem health, food web dynamics, biodiversity, and the impacts of environmental changes on marine life. Figure 1. GOOS Essential Ocean Variables. Colour coding: physics EOVs in dark blue, BGC EOVs orange, BioEco EOVs in green, cross-disciplinary EOVs in light blue. 1.4 How is the information collected for EOVs used? In physical oceanography, a consistent approach to measuring EOVs, and openly available and comparable data improve global climate models and predictions. These models are also used for weather forecasts, helping to predict atmospheric/oceanic phenomena such as El Niño or La Niña. Comparable biology and ecosystems (BioEco) EOV data can be used to perform global assessments and Deliverable 2.1 Guide on EOVs 8 reporting on the status of marine life and biodiversity for conservation and sustainable development initiatives and policy frameworks like the UN Sustainable Development Goals or the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (Fig. 2). EOVs can also support the development of indicators used by policy makers to report progress toward achieving national or international targets. 2 The EOV specification sheets The GOOS Essential Ocean Variable (EOV) framework is fundamental to the GOOS mission. It enables the implementation of a user-driven observing system design that guides investment, sustains observations, and facilitates the assessment of system effectiveness, helping to identify observation gaps. Additionally, the framework serves as a strong communication tool, uniting the ocean observing community and amplifying GOOS’s impact. Each EOV is accompanied by a detailed specification sheet, outlining the rationale for why a specific measurement is essential, defining its components, and describing the oceanic phenomena it captures. Importantly, the specification sheets also provide guidelines on the spatial and temporal scales necessary for measurements (observing requirements specification), ensuring that data collection aligns with GOOS’s mission to deliver valuable information products and services across its key focus areas. Figure 2. Example of GOOS BioEco EOVs relevance to deliver against targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Deliverable 2.1 Guide on EOVs 9 3 The Guide on EOVs - GOOS EOV specification sheet guide The guide on EOVs (see supplementary material: GOOS EOV specification sheet guide) outlines and translates the information requested in each field of the EOV specification sheets to facilitate their update and understanding of its content. To create the guide, the original EOV specification sheet template was restructured and simplified. A thorough consultation process was undertaken, including several meetings with the GOOS BioEco Panel members, as well as meetings with the other GOOS expert panels to ensure consistency across disciplines. The creation of this new template considered the following: 1) It targets diverse audiences, including decision-makers, policymakers, funders, ocean observers, technologists, and data managers. 2) The needs of the different expert panels, i.e. physics, biogeochemistry (BGC) and biology and ecosystems panels, as well as other users outside GOOS, such as the Global Climate Observing System 3) Simplification of the terminology used to make the information more accessible 4) The inclusion of a section with detailed metadata and data management requirements to contribute to GOOS. Once the new EOV specification sheet template was finalised, an interactive guide was created. To enable all its functions, the guide must be opened with Adobe Reader or Acrobat. Essential Ocean Variable Specification SheetDocument title | 2 Background and justification Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. In fringilla bibendum risus sit amet molestie. Quisque rhoncus blandit orci. Nullam viverra erat at euismod venenatis. Quisque porta sodales lectus, a aliquet ex finibus vel. Nam rutrum dignissim pharetra. Proin tellus dui, ultrices in est at, vehicula elementum ante. Nullam iaculis et lacus vitae eleifend. Ut at nisi maximus, euismod risus eu, efficitur tortor. Maecenas posuere tempus ligula, eget molestie lacus euismod ut. Praesent nec mauris at turpis accumsan tincidunt. Integer non pulvinar diam. Nulla facilisi. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. In fringilla bibendum risus sit amet molestie. Quisque rhoncus blandit orci. Nullam viverra erat at euismod venenatis. Quisque porta sodales lectus, a aliquet ex finibus vel. Nam rutrum dignissim pharetra. Proin tellus dui, ultrices in est at, vehicula elementum ante. Nullam iaculis et lacus vitae eleifend. Ut at nisi maximus, euismod risus eu, efficitur tortor. Maecenas posuere tempus ligula, eget molestie lacus euismod ut. Praesent nec mauris at turpis accumsan tincidunt. Integer non pulvinar diam. Nulla facilisi. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Integration with Global Observation Frameworks The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) developed the Essential Climate Variable (ECV) framework to define necessary observations for monitoring Earth's climate (Bojinski et al., 2014). Some EOVs, including ocean physics, biogeochemistry, and biology/ecosystems variables (GCOS, 2022a; GCOS, 2022b), are also ECVs. The Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) defined and curated by the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) complement the GOOS biological and ecosystem (BioEco) EOVs (Muller-Karger et al., 2018; Bax et al., 2019). The EOVs represent the basic observations of a particular parameter or process. EBVs are time series of biodiversity observations across genes, species populations, communities, or ecosystems. Thus, EOVs may be seen as the building blocks for GEO BON. The EOVs can be used to synthesise the EBVs as time series of BioEco EOV sub-variables at one location, or as time series of gridded, mapped, or modelled EOVs (Jetz et al., 2019). The GOOS Biology and Ecosystems Panel collaborates with the Physics and Climate and Biogeochemistry Panels to advance EOVs, advocating for the need for biological observations, information management, and applications. GOOS, MBON, GEO BON, and OBIS work together to standardise guidelines and data management for EOVs, EBVs, and ECVs. Current observing networks and coordination Diverse networks and communities are collecting observations of biology and ecosystems EOVs at different scales and in different regions. An initial baseline survey conducted in 2019/20 identified 203 active, long-term (>5 years) observing programs systematically sampling marine life. These programs spanned about 7% of the ocean surface area, mostly concentrated in coastal regions of the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia (Satterthwaite et al 2021). This information can be found in the GOOS BioEco Metadata Portal, which is continually updated. To consult the latest information, please visit: https://bioeco.goosocean.org Contributes to: Essential Ocean Variable Specification SheetDocument title | 3 1. EOV information ESSENTIAL OCEAN VARIABLE (EOV) DEFINITION EOV SUB-VARIABLES SUPPORTING VARIABLES Environmental EOV related DERIVED PRODUCTS Essential Ocean Variable Specification SheetDocument title | 4 2. Phenomena to observe - what we want to observe with this EOV This section presents an example of priority phenomena for GOOS that can be (partly) characterised by this EOV’s sub-variables. This list is not exhaustive but serves to provide general suggestions on how observation efforts can structure their planning and implementation. The GOOS application area(s) the phenomena are relevant for are depicted as follows: Climate , ocean health , operational services PHENOMENA TO OBSERVE Phenomena #1 Phenomena #2 Phenomena #3 PHENOMENA EXTENT HORIZONTAL VERTICAL TEMPORAL RESOLUTION TO OBSERVE PHENOMENA HORIZONTAL VERTICAL TEMPORAL SIGNAL TO CAPTURE SUB-VARIABLES NEEDED TO MEASURE SUPPORTING VARIABLES NEEDED Essential Ocean Variable Specification SheetDocument title | 5 3. GOOS Observing Specifications or Requirements This section outlines ideal measurements for an optimal observing system for this Essential Ocean Variable (EOV). It offers guidance on creating a longterm system to observe key phenomena related to the EOV. These values are not mandatory, and no single system is expected to meet all requirements. Instead, the combined efforts of various observing systems should aim to meet these goals. Observations at different scales are also valuable contributions to global ocean observation if shared openly. EOV PHENOMENA EOV SUBVARIABLE DEFINITION Resolution Timeliness Uncertainty Measurement Stability Sampling approach References Spatial Horizontal Spatial Vertical Temporal IDEAL DESIRABLE MINIMUM Essential Ocean Variable Specification SheetDocument title | 6 EOV SUBVARIABLE DEFINITION Resolution Timeliness Uncertainty Measurement Stability Sampling approach References Spatial Horizontal Spatial Vertical Temporal IDEAL DESIRABLE MINIMUM EOV SUBVARIABLE DEFINITION Resolution Timeliness Uncertainty Measurement Stability Sampling approach References Spatial Horizontal Spatial Vertical Temporal IDEAL DESIRABLE MINIMUM This is a continuation of table 3 t Essential Ocean Variable Specification SheetDocument title | 1 4.Observing approach, platforms and technologies This table provides examples of approaches and technologies used to collect this EOV to help observe priority phenomena APPROACH / PLATFORM APPROACH #1 APPROACH #2 APPROACH #3 EOV SUB-VARIABLE(S) MEASURED TECHNIQUE / SENSOR TYPE SUGGESTED METHODS AND BEST PRACTICES SUPPORTING VARIABLES MEASURED APPROACH / PLATFORM APPROACH #4 APPROACH #5 APPROACH #6 EOV SUB-VARIABLE(S) MEASURED TECHNIQUE / SENSOR TYPE SUGGESTED METHODS AND BEST PRACTICES SUPPORTING VARIABLES MEASURED Essential Ocean Variable Specification SheetDocument title | 7 This section needs to include information that is standard across all EOVs on: •Where to deposit your data (OBIS for BioEco, GCOS and IOCCP to define where) •Where to add your meta-data (BioEco Portal for BioEco/ OceanOPS for the others?) •Instructions for submission and data ingest (standards and conventions) •Data QC •Data exchange conventions and standards Individual EOVs to include information on ●Data products ●Data schemas 5. Data and information management Access to data and information is at the core of an ocean observing system. This section provides essential information on how to contribute data to the GOOS Essential Ocean Variable Specification SheetDocument title | 2 References Background information Bax, N. et al. 2019. A response to scientific and societal needs for marine biological observations. Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00395 Bojinski, S. et al. 2014. The concept of essential climate variables in support of climate research, applications, and policy. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 95, 1431–1443, doi:https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-13-00047.1. GCOS, 2022a. The 2022 GCOS Implementation Plan (GCOS-244). World Meteorological Organization, Geneva. https://library.wmo.int/records/item/58104-the-2022-gcosimplementation-plan-gcos-244. GCOS, 2022b. The 2022 GCOS ECVs Requirements (GCOS 245). World Meteorological Organization, Geneva. https://library.wmo.int/records/item/58111-the-2022-gcosecvs-requirements-gcos-245 Jetz, W. et al. 2019. Essential biodiversity variables for mapping and monitoring species populations. Nature Ecology & Evolution. 3, p. 539–551. Doi: 10.1038/s41559-0190826-1. Miloslavich, P et al. 2018. Essential Ocean Variables for sustained observations of marine biodiversity and ecosystems. Global Change Biology. Volume 24, Issue 6. Pages 2416-2433. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14108. Muller-Karger, F. 2018. Advancing Marine Biological Observations and Data Requirements of the Complementary Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) and Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) Frameworks. Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2018.00211. Satterthwaite et al. 2021. Establishing the Foundation for the Global Observing System for Marine Life. Front. Mar. Sci. 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.737416 Guides, best practices and methods Standards and reference materials Integrated EOV products and visualisations Essential Ocean Variable Specification SheetDocument title | 3 Contributors Leading authors [Insert text] Contributing authors [Insert text] Essential Ocean Variable Specification SheetDocument title | 11 Acronyms and Abbreviations CBD: Convention on Biological Diversity EBV: Essential Biodiversity Variables ECV: Essential Climate Variables EOV: Essential Ocean Variables GCOS: Global Climate Observing System GEO BON: Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network GOOS: Global Ocean Observing System IOCCP: International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project MBON: Marine Biodiversity Observation Network OBIS: Ocean Biodiversity Information System ODIS: Ocean Data Information System OCG: Observation Coordination Group OOPC: Ocean Observations Physics and Climate Panel SDG: Sustainable Development Goals ABCD: Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit EFG: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consecteteur ABCD: Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit EFG: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consecteteur ABCD: Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit EFG: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consecteteur ABCD: Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit EFG: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consecteteur ABCD: Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit EFG: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consecteteur ABCD: Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit EFG: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consecteteur ABCD: Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit EFG: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consecteteur ABCD: Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit EFG: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consecteteu