In an effort to fortify the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), Blue-Cloud is establishing significant collaborations with the FAIR-EASE and CLIMAREST projects, collectively working on innovative approaches and best practices for data access and processing within ocean data providers.
FAIR-EASE and CLIMAREST: two initiatives that aim to adopt best practices to improve ocean data quality
Blue-Cloud aims to develop an Open Science platform for collaborative marine research, a federated ecosystem for FAIR and open data in marine research. Through a web-based platform, it offers simplified access to multidisciplinary datasets, analytical services, and computing facilities. FAIR-EASE and CLIMAREST also operate in open science, aiming to enhance data quality, aligning with the goals of Blue-Cloud.
The FAIR-EASE Horizon Europe project aims to customise and operate distributed and integrated services for the observation and modelling of the Earth system, environment and biodiversity in close cooperation with user-communities and research infrastructures in EOSC, ensuring their availability.
The CLIMAREST Horizon Europe project aims to restore marine ecosystems from the Arctic to the Atlantic through a holistic, transdisciplinary approach, focusing on fragile habitats and developing a generalisable framework for efficient restoration. The project also emphasises upscaling and integration of restoration tools and protocols for policymakers to enhance climate resilience in the region.
Thematic VLabs on the Blue-Cloud Platform
FAIR-EASE and CLIMAREST are collaborating to establish thematic VLabs on the Blue-Cloud platform, enabling researchers and stakeholders to access and utilise valuable data resources for scientific research and ecosystem restoration efforts.
These VLabs will serve as collaborative spaces for data exploration, analysis, and knowledge sharing, fostering interdisciplinary research and innovation in marine and Earth sciences.
Given the scope of their respective research areas, the VLabs aims to exploit data in two different but complementary fields:
- The FAIR-EASE VLab will focus on Marine Omics Observations, serving as a pilot space for finding, browsing, interrogating, and analysing metagenomic data products derived from the analysis of EMO BON sample data using the MetaGOflow analysis pipeline.
- The CLIMAREST Restoration Lab will utilise JupyterHub and develop R shiny apps to host a series of notebooks featuring text, interactive widgets, and figures, allowing users to navigate through pre-created scenarios. By integrating CLIMAREST data ingested into EMODnet, the CLIMAREST Restoration Lab will enhance the Blue-Cloud technical platform with new derived data products.
These collaborative efforts aim to remove barriers in Open Science by promoting Blue-Cloud as a cohesive data platform in marine and Earth sciences, and supporting the adoption of FAIR practices.
What is the Blue-Cloud VRE and how can you create your thematic VLab?
The Blue-Cloud Virtual Research Environment (VRE) serves as a dynamic platform for collaborative research, offering access to diverse datasets and analytical tools alongside essential services such as data sub-setting, pre-processing, harmonisation, publishing, and visualisation. Within this environment, various Virtual Labs (VLabs) host a range of analytical workflows, comprising applications that support collaboration, execute analytical tasks across distributed computing infrastructure, and foster the co-creation of open science-friendly working environments. This setup empowers scientists and practitioners to seamlessly access, process, and experiment with marine data using analytical and visual tools provided by each demonstrator.
In addition to hosting the FAIR-EASE and CLIMAREST VLabs, the Blue-Cloud project has established two additional VLabs for the JONAS and JERICO projects throughout its lifetime. The JERICO project, dedicated to holistic appraisal of coastal marine system changes, benefits from a dedicated VRE on the Blue-Cloud platform, enabling technical integration of data and products offered by the JERICO-Research Infrastructure. Similarly, the JONAS project, focused on improving ocean noise monitoring and risk prediction, finds support in the Blue-Cloud VRE to address acoustic pressures on marine biodiversity.
Interested in learning more about the Blue-Cloud VRE and exploring potential synergies? Contact us!
