About EMOD-PACE

EMODnet Partnership for China and Europe (EMOD-PACE)

China-EU Marine Data Network Partnership (CEMDnet)

As a concrete step towards achieving these common Partnership objectives, both the EU and China had set-up two collaborative projects with a focus on marine data exchange and diplomacy, which were intricately connected:

• The European funded EMOD-PACE (EMODnet PArtnership for China and Europe); and

• The CEMDnet (China-EU Marine Data Network Partnership) - ‘中国-欧盟海洋数据网络伙伴关系’

The WMO_ICO Centre for Marine Meteorological and Oceanographic Climate Data (CMOC/China) is the executive of the CMOC/China and promotes its general interest.

Background

Marine data sharing

The publication and sharing of marine data follows established best practice. The EU shares marine observation data through EMODnet and ocean modelling data through Copernicus Marine Service. In general, European marine observation data originates with the Member States, and is aggregated by EMODnet for publication on the EMODnet Portal as a centralised hub for European in situ marine data.

In China, NMDIS is responsible for national marine data collection, management, processing and distribution, and the construction and operation of the marine environmental and geographical information service platform, undertaking quality control and evaluation of marine data and information products. In addition, it is responsible for operational tide and tidal current forecast, sea level change prediction and evaluation and development and release of marine environment data re-analysis products.

Optimising data sharing and user access between EMODnet and NMDIS – the Challenge

Marine observations are fundamentally geospatial in nature. An observation consists of measurements associated with any particular parameter (temperature for example) at a location for a certain time. Each component of the observation can vary depending on standards used, for example:

• Temperature, Fahrenheit, Celsius and Kelvin are all valid measurements;
• Time can vary depending on local sunrise and sunset;
• Location description can be depending on the geospatial grid being used to describe the Earth.

Science can address some of these problems, for example, through the development of standardised units for measurement and by recording a universal time. Also, in general, the World Geodetic System (WGS84) is used as the reference coordinate system, but not always, and the geographic coordinate system (datum and projection) will vary depending on the region in the world, and also on the area being mapped.

The necessity to share scientific quality environmental data online for the support of research, policy formulation and implementation and others, has led to the realisation that observations need to be annotated by metadata (data that describes data), to provide more context to the observations. For example, who made the observation, what were the general weather conditions or what datum was the observation location made against.

With EMODnet, EU has gained considerable experience over the past decade with providing users access to a wide range of multidisciplinary datasets at European level by fostering interoperability of data collected and stored by different countries, institutes and thematic and regional data assembly initiatives. 

The overall aim of the EMOD-PACE project was to promote international ocean governance with China and support the implementation of global commitments by making Ocean marine data and data products more easily accessible and by providing better data and data products. As such this project investigated ways to optimise data sharing and user access between EMODnet and NMDIS by investigating ways to improve interoperability between EMODnet geodata servers and NMDIS geodata servers. For example, the project investigated the suitability of the following aspects facilitating the exchange and interoperability of data from different sources:

• Open Geospatial Consortium web services;
• Metadata standards;
• File format standards.

The project delivered a searchable catalogue of EMODnet and NMDIS data that can be either downloaded or displayed in a web map. This catalogue exists in duplicate on both the EMODnet Portal and NMDIS portal.

Project Partners

EMOD-PACE Consortium

*The European Commission inter-services Steering Committee is chaired by Directorate-General Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) and Foreign Policy Instruments.

National Marine Data and Information Service (NMDIS)

Communication

EMOD-PACE CEMDnet leaflet

Find more information in our project leaflet about the EMOD-PACE CEMDnet European Union and China Partnership for Marine Data.

News

• NMDIS news item: 国家海洋信息中心和欧洲海洋观测与数据网签署谅解备忘录 中国-欧盟海洋数据网络伙伴关系合作阶段性成果丰硕

Reports

• EMOD-PACE Deliverable 4.5 (6 MB) - May 2022: EMOD-PACE final report on the "Marine Resource-Environment Carrying Capacity and Spatial Development Suitability" approach application to Europe, showing the Bay of Biscay as an example". Short summary: Analysing the applicability of each sides models (i.e., the models used within Europe and China), by testing the European model for seabed habitats in Asian waters and the Chinese model for ecosystem vulnerability in European waters. This includes a description of the methodology used in the analysis.
• EMOD-PACE Deliverable 4.4 (3 MB) - December 2022: This report details the collaborative effort between partners from Europe and China to deliver the first broad-scale habitat map for a Chinese sea basin, using the EUNIS (European Nature Information System) approach. The case study site selected for this work covers part of the Beibu Gulf, located in the north-western parts of the South China Sea. Included is a summary of the methodology used, as well as a presentation of the habitat map, its input layers and associated confidence assessments. Furthermore, discussed are limitations of the approach, applicability to Chinese sea basins and proposed next steps to improve in this work.

Media

• EMOD-PACE final project video (5 min)