16 June 2023
From 13 to 15 June, NODC contributed to the Blue-Cloud 2026 workshop, detailing Virtual Research Environment (VRE) services to support VLabs and Workbenches in hands-on sessions.
Blue-Cloud 2026 builds on the Blue-Cloud pilot project, which established a pilot cyber platform to provide researchers with access to multidisciplinary datasets from observations, analytical services and computing facilities that are essential for blue science. Blue-Cloud 2026 aims to further develop this pilot ecosystem into a federated European ecosystem, i.e. a thematic marine extension of the EOSC for open web-based science that meets the requirements of the EU Blue Economy, Marine Environment and Marine Knowledge Agendas. Since 2023, the partnership has been working on a) a Discovery & Access Service for FAIR data (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable Data), b) an Open Science virtual research environment combining several e-infrastructures, c) 3 WorkBenches focusing on Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs), d) 5 Virtual Labs, e) a Blue Strategic Roadmap and f) a Digital Twin of Ocean Task Force.
OGS is mainly involved in 2 Virtual Labs and an EOVs Workbench. The Virtual Lab entitled "Carbon-Plankton Dynamics" aims at predicting the biomass of phyto- and zooplankton based on given abiotic conditions. The 'Marine Environmental Indicators' virtual laboratory will be a tool for calculating online metocean information and indicators of the environmental quality of the Mediterranean and global oceans. Finally, the 'EOV Workbench for Eutrophication: Chlorophyll, Nutrients, Oxygen' will provide a user-configurable toolbox to create customisable validated datasets and assess the consistency of the information.
Regarding the latter, during the event, the NODC explained the work progress, technical requirements and expectations of the workshop. The NODC also showed the prototype for a virtual laboratory to assess the spatio-temporal changes of the trophic level in the coastal waters of the northern Adriatic Sea.
