Eduardo Balguerías Guerra, director of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), highlighted that the study of the ocean is essential for the climate regulation during the opening of the commemorative meeting on the 25th anniversary of the European Oceanic Time Series Station in the Canary Islands, located in the North of Gran Canaria.
Octavio Llinás, director of the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands, and Eduardo Balguerías opened the meeting that includes the scientific, technological and social areas related to ocean observation, the present and future technological advances, the major scientific topics related to the new European facilities (EMSO, ICOS, Lifewatch) and the Atlantic observation strategies.
At the beginning ESTOC was boosted and supported by the Canary Institute of Marine Sciences (actually PLOCAN), the Institut für Meereskunde Kiel (IfmK, actually included in GEOMAR, Kiel, Germany), the Marine Geology Group (actually included in MARUm, University of Bremen, Germany) and the IEO.
The director of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography explained that the ESTOC data is highly demanded related to climate change. Moreover, the political agenda is asking for a global and stable ocean observation in the ocean surface and in the water column. He added that “we need technological development, we have to reach the digital ocean and a high capacity in data interpretation is needed”.
The director of PLOCAN, Octavio Llinás, pointed out that the 25 years of ESTOC is the result of personal and institutional efforts and the European continuous support. Furthermore, he included the continuity of ocean observation at PLOCAN, with the technological development and the sea trials.
Llinás highlighted the importance of global and Atlantic deep sea observation, the present and future technological advances, the major scientific topics related to the new European facilities (EMSO, ICOS, Lifewatch) and the Atlantic observation strategies.
