Next generation of web enabled ocean sensor systems

The complexity of installations in the oceans to carry out observations on specific processes and for detecting long-term trends have grown significantly in the past years. This applies also to the type and number of sensors that are in use in observing systems. In these days, sensors shall be compatible to different platforms that are in use like floats, gliders or moorings, and accordingly also different data acquisition systems. Facilitating the integration process in existing or newly established observing systems comes with a real benefit for the operators and is important for the broader application of different sensors. Therefore, the situation at this point in time is characterized by the fact that parallel approaches have been developed (IEEE 1451, the OGC set of standards, etc.) that are ready to be evaluated but still lacking the support by the community. The objective of the European FP7 project NeXOS (Next generation Low-Cost Multifunctional Web Enabled Ocean Sensor Systems Empowering Marine, Maritime and Fisheries Management) is to develop several sensor systems for specific technologies and monitoring strategies such as: ocean passive acoustics, ocean optics, and EAF monitoring (Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries), that will provide an integrated, technologically coherent system for multi-scale, multi-parameter monitoring of the oceans. For all these sensors system, NeXOS will develop the Smart Electronic Interface for Sensors and Instruments (SEISI) which is a set of standards and functionalities to enable Web-based sharing, discovery, exchange and processing of sensor observations, and operation of sensor systems. The architecture will satisfy international standards, defined by ISO, OGC, and the INSPIRE directive, to enable integration of marine sensors with existing observing systems. The SEISI will provide a multifunctional interface for many types of current sensors and instruments as well as the new multiparameter sensor systems, and a standard interface for existing observing systems platforms such as: cabled observatories, buoys, gliders or Ferryboxes on ship or vessel of opportunity. To achieve the compatibility with all these platforms, the sensor systems developed in NeXOS based on SEISI will be designed to accomplish two main requirements of these platforms regarding the communication bandwidth and the power consumption. Keywords— Multifunctional ocean sensors, Interoperability, OGC; standards, SensorML