OBSERVATION

At the beginning of the 21st century, the sea is a major scientific and societal issue. Studying it over the long term, understanding it and predicting its evolution in the face of climate change and local constraints is the IUEM’s mission as an Observatory of the Sciences of the Universe (OSU) of the National Institute of the Sciences of the Universe (INSU) of the CNRS (OSU since 2005).

IUEM carries out its observation mission in synergy with its research and higher education missions. For IUEM, this mission is an axis that federates ideas, projects, achievements and expertise over the long term.

Based on scientific logic, the Observation mission combines measurements, experiments and modelling with regard to past and future trajectories. The sea object and its evolution are approached from all disciplinary fields: the sciences of the universe with the national observation services on the high seas (SNO-Argo) and the coasts (SNO-Somlit/Coast-HF/Dynalit); the life sciences with SNO-Phytobs/Benthobs and the Human and Social Sciences with the observation of the socio-ecosystem Brest-Iroise Workshop Area (ZABrI).

As an OSU, the IUEM carries out its Observation mission by coordinating more than ten monitoring systems which, through regular and long-term measurements, build up physical, chemical, biological, floristic and faunistic databases, available to the scientific community and the public.

In particular, IUEM ensures that:

  • the quality and sustainability of the resources and skills mobilised,
  • the optimal coordination of resources,
  • the link between stakeholders (actors, services and organisations),
  • the alignment of the national compliance strategies of the different schemes.

With several decades of experience, IUEM is a leading contributor to knowledge of the evolution of the marine system, a key player in federating, structuring and promoting marine observation at regional, national and international levels.

Today, in order to better respond to societal needs, IUEM is focusing its Observation mission on the Man-Earth-Sea continuum with a multidisciplinary and integrative vision.

Discover our observation series

Offshore observation

Covering 70.8% of the world’s surface, the ocean’s vastness constitutes a scientific and technical challenge that requires systems organised on an international scale. IUEM is part of this approach as coordinator of the SNO-ARGO-France system, which aims to monitor the physics of the world’s oceans, and as co-sponsor of the national structuring of deep-sea observation for monitoring seismic hazards (MARMOR and OHASISBIO).

Integrated observation of the vulnerability of territories

Situated at the crossroads of scientific and societal issues, vulnerability monitoring (OSIRISC) is one of the key areas of IUEM’s Observation mission. Primarily aimed at the risks of erosion and submersion, it consists, around “pilot” integrated observation sites, of co-constructing data, knowledge and visualization and management tools with all the scientific, management and public players in order to anticipate and manage the evolution and transition of the territory in the face of climatic hazards.

The Brest-Iroise Workshop Zone (ZABrI)

The Brest-Iroise Workshop Zone is a scientific project supported by the CNRS Institute of Ecology and Environment (INEE) which focuses on the coastal socio-ecosystem of the Iroise Sea, the Brest roadstead and its catchment areas. The project is coordinated by two IUEM laboratories (LETG-Brest and LEMAR) and brings together a group of researchers from different universities and institutes conducting environmental research in the context of integrated management, sustainable development and transformation along the land-sea continuum. It also involves a large number of non-academic partners: protected areas, local authorities, associations, professional groups, watershed managers and scientific mediation. The work combines environmental sciences and human and social sciences.

Participatory monitoring

Faced with the need to collect more data to better understand the functioning of marine environments, IUEM has included citizen participation in its observation approach. The objective is twofold: firstly, by increasing the number of operators, it improves the spatial and temporal coverage of phenomena, and secondly, it contributes to transmitting knowledge and raising awareness among civil society in its role as an operator for the preservation of these environments.

Historical series

Historical series are elements such as fauna, flora, evolution of the coastal landscape… which are and/or have been monitored over long periods.

Support for coordination and development

IUEM has been involved in observation for more than 25 years with all its common services (observation, administration, communication, nautical means, technical platforms). This community of expertise constitutes a solid support force for specific areas of national interest, such as the coordination of the Coastal Research Infrastructure (IR-Ilico) and the Network of Workshop Zones (RZA), the implementation of the Coriolis observation data management tool, and support for the observation effort in southern countries.

IR ILICO

ILICO is the national research infrastructure dedicated to the observation and understanding of coastal environments. ILICO federates SNOs and provides scientific leadership for the French community (spread over >70 laboratories incl. overseas) involved in the study of these environments.

Contact : Joanne BURDEN

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RZA

The RZA RI (Réseau des Zones Atelier du CNRS-INEE) studies the functioning and evolution of socio-ecosystems. It is a socio-ecological RI, with unique characteristics in the national landscape and in the type of services rendered (co-production of knowledge, decision support, capacity building and empowerment, etc.).

The RZA IR has about fifteen ZAs around functional units (mountain ranges, large rivers, cities, agricultural plains, land-sea continuum). It contributes with IR OZCAR to the French node of eLTER on the ESFRI roadmap of European infrastructures.

Go to the RZA website

Contact: Olivier Ragueneau

Observation in the South

“Observation in the South” is part of the “In the South” transverse axis. This scientific coordination axis is carried out by the IUEM in support of units conducting research, training and observation work in southern countries.

The main objective is to structure and perpetuate the series of observations in progress in the partner countries.

How do we get there?

  • by relying on the expertise of national observatories, particularly for the quality approach (e.g. Somlit).
  • by making data available to IUEM and to partners in the South (e.g. DataSuds).
  • training local partners in coastal observation techniques (e.g. Obsaloum, Upwelling).
  • developing budget-friendly measurement systems and providing support for their use (e.g. Osofl)
  • stimulating interdisciplinary convergence through the sharing of observations made in the South

Examples of research projects in the South: LEMAR in the South

Contact: Etienne POIRIER

Access to data

Assigning DOIs (Digital Identifiers of an Object) to the end products of long-term observation is a major step. DOIs facilitate and ensure long-term access to the information collected and validated by the authors.

Indigeo

The Indigeo data infrastructure allows the georeferenced data produced by the IUEM and ZABrI observation services to be made known, visualised and made available

The INfrastructure scientifique de Données et d’Informations GEOspatialisées sur l’environnement (INDIGEO) allows the georeferenced data produced within the observation services of the IUEM and the ZABrI to be made known, visualised and made available. It is based on the use of interoperability norms and standards in accordance with the European INSPIRE directive and also complies with the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles advocated by the National Open Science Plan, the CNRS Open Science Roadmap, and more recently the CNRS Research Data Plan.

Indigeo offers cataloguing, visualisation and dissemination services for research data and, since July 2020, has been able to assign DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) to datasets in order to facilitate their reuse and traceability.

Contact: Mathias Rouan

Maddog

MADDOG is the coastal line and geomorphology observation data portal of OSIRSIC, the ObServatoire Intégré des RISques Côtiers en Bretagne.

MADDOG is a platform for the provision and visualisation of topo-morphological data sets (coastline, transverse beach profile, Digital Terrain Model (DTM)) of the Brittany coastline: beaches, dune systems, barrier beaches, cliffs, mouths. MADDOG implements cataloguing and geographic information processing tools that allow the valorisation of these monitoring data in the form of interactive databases, and provides online data processing services that allow a preliminary analysis of the morphological evolution of the coastline (kinematics of the coastline, variations in the transverse beach profile and sediment balances, surface morphological changes of the coastal domain).

Resif

Thanks to the MARMOR project (PIA3/EQUIPEX programme), national parks of marine geodesy, seismometers and autonomous hydrophones will be integrated into the new marine component of the TGIR RESIF