Underway research data project to be continued

Every day, research vessels collect measurement data such as water temperature, current velocity, seabed structure and indicators of marine pollution – essential knowledge for protecting and sustainably using the ocean. In order to systematically make this data available for research and society, DAM has been establishing a standardised, cross-institutional data infrastructure since 2021 as part of the Underway research data project. The Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) has now approved the continuation and expansion of the project for a further two years under the short title ‘Data Infrastructure and Management FS’. The aim of the new funding phase is to secure the infrastructure that has been established on a permanent basis and to consolidate it structurally.

‘Data collected during research expeditions provide unique information about the state of the oceans – an important prerequisite for understanding marine changes and global climate processes. The DAM is committed to making this database available to as many people as possible,’ explains Joachim Harms, Chairman of the DAM. ‘Thanks to continued funding and the planned continuation of the project, we can permanently establish coordinated, efficient data management in German marine research – and thus create sustainable added value for science, politics and society.’

Sustainable data structures with added value for science and politics

Research data collected at sea form the basis for understanding the oceans: using permanently installed sensors, research vessels continuously deliver high-quality data on (geo)physical, chemical and biogeochemical parameters during their voyages – even from regions that are difficult to access. This data is used in modelling ocean-atmosphere processes, improving forecasts, validating remote sensing data and contributing to the development of climate models and the monitoring of environmental changes such as ocean acidification and warming. Collecting this data is very time-consuming and cost-intensive. A central goal of the DAM is therefore to make this ship data available for further research and as a basis for informed decisions in politics and society in the long term and in a sustainable manner.

In previous funding phases, the Underway project developed joint guidelines, technical interfaces and advisory services in collaboration with marine research institutions that operate ships to support scientists on research vessels in data collection and provision. The data is processed according to FAIR and open science principles and published and integrated in (inter)national infrastructures such as PANGAEA, the German Marine Research Data Portal, GEBCO and Copernicus.

With the recently launched funding extension ‘Establishment and expansion of data infrastructure and management for data from the operation of German research vessels’, the project results are to be transferred into permanent operational and governance structures. The aim is to anchor data management as an integral part of marine research projects, to continuously develop it further and to further strengthen interfaces with higher-level national and international infrastructures and initiatives in the field of research data, thereby also contributing to sustainably strengthening the performance and international visibility of German marine research.