Overview

EuroGOOS is an association of national governmental agencies,  research organizations,  and private companies, committed to oceanography within the context of the intergovernmental Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). EuroGOOS is one of the UNESCO-IOC Global Ocean Observing System regions. Founded in 1994, EuroGOOS has today 46 members from 19 European countries providing operational oceanographic services and carrying out marine research. EuroGOOS is registered as an international non-profit association under the Belgian law and its headquarters are in Brussels. 

EuroGOOS goals are to identify strategies, cooperate, co-produce, and promote the operational oceanography value for society. EuroGOOS is achieving this through a broad network of organizations and initiatives operating at various levels. Collectively through EuroGOOS, its members and partners improve the overall European capacity and competitiveness in ocean observing sectors. 

  • Five regional sea areas operate within EuroGOOS: the Arctic (Arctic ROOS), the Baltic (BOOS), the North West Shelf (NOOS), the Ireland-Biscay-Iberian area (IBI-ROOS) and the Mediterranean (MONGOOS). In addition, EuroGOOS has strengthened the European leadership in the Black Sea, with this GOOS region. Cooperation within these regions, enabling the involvement of many more regional partners and countries, forms the basis of EuroGOOS work, and is combined with high-level representation at European and global forums.
  • EuroGOOS Working Groups develop strategies, priorities and standards to establish a concerted European approach to the development of operational oceanography. These strategies are actively promoted towards the European and national operational and funding agencies aiming to maximize their impact.
  • EuroGOOS Task Teams are operational networks of observing platforms, promoting synergy and technological collaboration among European ocean observing infrastructures. Task Team members exchange open source tools, collaborate in areas of common interest, and jointly make European data available to the EuroGOOS ROOS regional data portals, which in turn are feeding data to pan-European portals, e.g. EMODnet and Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service, CMEMS.

All EuroGOOS activities are developed within the framework of the European Ocean Observing System, EOOS, setting out a vision for a truly integrated end-to-end ocean observing in Europe, for the benefit of society, science and innovation.

Watch a 2.40-minute slide show about EuroGOOS below: