Amid the climate and biodiversity crises, ocean observation has become critically important today. Autonomous systems have revolutionized marine observation with their low cost and the use of miniaturized scientific sensors that can reach depths of nearly 6,000 meters. Research projects are developing advanced autonomous systems (GROOM II) or seeking to integrate marine data into climate prediction models (AMRIT).
A digital twin of Earth could become a reality through initiatives that map ocean currents in high resolution from space. The European Commission’s « Ocean Observation – Sharing Responsibility » project, if adopted, could require EU member states to conduct operational ocean observation, particularly focusing on the ocean’s carbon absorption capacity.
The Paris Polytechnic Institute (IP Paris) is creating a new Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Seas and Oceans (CIMO). This project is the result of the imminent merger of ENSTA Bretagne and ENSTA Paris, offering IP Paris an oceanic campus in Brest and significant potential for marine and maritime teaching and research. Ocean observation is one of CIMO’s key focuses. In the context of climate and biodiversity crises, as well as sustainable development goals, ocean observation is of paramount importance. The United Nations has launched the « Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development » (2021-2030), coordinated by UNESCO. The UN is also organizing the 3rd Ocean Conference (UNOC), which will take place in Nice next year. As engineers, IP Paris scientists can provide fresh insights into marine environmental research, and CIMO will be at the heart of this effort.
Advancements in Ocean Observation
Ocean observation techniques have made giant leaps in recent decades. While research, commercial, and even leisure and racing vessels have long been used for observations, it was satellite observations in the 1970s that revolutionized many aspects of land and ocean observation. Today, in the age of robotics, satellite-based surface observations can autonomously move from the surface to the seafloor. Autonomous systems, especially gliders, have revolutionized marine observation. They are cost-effective and can carry miniaturized scientific sensors to depths of nearly 6,000 meters, driving innovations in various fields.
To make the most of these small robots, which are being deployed in large numbers—4,000 « Argo » profilers today (the simplest of these robots)—specialized infrastructures are required.
GROOM II and AMRIT: Key Projects to Support Ocean Research
In Europe, numerous large Research Infrastructures (RIs) are dedicated to various sciences or major societal issues and are organized and largely funded at the EU level. One of the most well-known is CERN [Editor’s note: The European Organization for Nuclear Research]. Another is the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile, a collection of very large telescopes. In the context of ocean observation, the Horizon 2020 project GROOM II (Gliders for Research, Ocean Observation and Management Infrastructure and Innovation) is developing a distributed European RI to support research and Ocean Observation Systems (OOSs) with autonomous systems capable of remaining in the ocean for months or even years on end.
Laurent Mortier, from ENSTA Paris, has spent the past 20 years developing such RIs and OOSs. He is now the coordinator of the Horizon Europe Advanced Marine Research Infrastructure Together (AMRIT) project after having coordinated the recently completed GROOM II. Europe is increasingly encouraging the integration of RIs and innovation, and in this regard, autonomous marine systems and the GROOM II proposals will play a key role in the future of marine RIs. AMRIT will, in particular, develop standards, best practices, and tools to ensure that observation data can be optimally integrated into existing and future climate prediction models, serving research needs and, more broadly, the blue economy and society.
« One of AMRIT’s goals is to improve the ocean component of the Copernicus program [Editor’s note: A EU program that continuously collects and disseminates Earth data], » explains Laurent Mortier. « By observing the ocean, the driver of the climate, models will be able to better predict its oceanic dynamics, but also weather and climate. This is, of course, crucial for understanding climate change, but more importantly for proposing mitigation and adaptation measures, » he adds. Currently, ocean forecasting and information services are mainly provided by the Copernicus Marine Service, led by Mercator Ocean International in Toulouse. This entity was largely created by polytechnic engineers from the French Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Navy.
The Importance of a Digital Twin of the Ocean
To this end, researchers have already turned to artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. Destination Earth, a major project from the European Commission and the European Space Agency, is developing a digital twin of Earth, with its oceanic component, EDITO. These digital twins rely on advanced Earth system models and integrate more specific digital twins. However, these models and digital twins require a steady flow of observations and data, covering all physical and living components, such as those found in extreme environments, at great depths, or beneath Arctic ice. « It’s nearly an impossible task, unless you use autonomous underwater systems, » explains Laurent Mortier. « Robotics is a solution, but sending robots under the ice is not easy, and the instruments they carry can be lost. These twins will prove useful in designing 21st-century observation systems. »
France has often been a pioneer, and AI has been very useful in designing the SWOT satellite mission to map ocean currents from space at high resolution, he adds. IP Paris could position itself in this field since it has many laboratories capable of handling such work on far more complex problems with numerous parameters.
GOOS and EOOS: Systems to Fund and Support
« Beyond Argo, the groundbreaking observation program launched in the 1990s and a cornerstone of the Global Ocean Observation System (GOOS), we now need to integrate all observation systems so that these digital twins are truly useful, » says Laurent Mortier. « And the GOOS would not exist without the funding of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States. Europe does not have an equivalent to NOAA for the ocean. Agencies like Ifremer, research organizations, and universities are trying to coordinate the European component of GOOS, the European Ocean Observing System (EOOS), but neither the Commission nor the member states have yet found a way to make it work and, above all, to fund it. The European Commission recently contacted me because they see in AMRIT a project that could change the game. »
He adds that a proposed regulation from the Commission titled « Ocean Observation – Sharing Responsibility » could be a significant step forward. If adopted by the next Commission, it would require EU member states to observe the oceans operationally. « Ocean observation involves many elements: temperature, salinity, of course carbon, but also fish and parameters related to maritime activities, such as noise—and of course pollution. Carbon is the parameter we all want to measure more systematically because the ocean is a carbon pump, and this pump is weakening dangerously due to climate change. Better tracking of the ocean’s carbon absorption capacity is now essential, and it’s a global issue. » The Global Green House Gases Watch (G3W), an ongoing program by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), is working in this direction, and measuring carbon dioxide exchanges could become mandatory.
« This will be the focus of my work in the coming months. Together with my colleagues from European marine RIs, we intend to have a say in the development of EOOS and propose solutions. And with its exceptional research potential, IP Paris must participate in this collective effort, » says Laurent Mortier.
Source: polytechnique insights
