EOSC Node | Digital Twin of the Ocean

The Digital Twin of the Ocean EOSC Node originated from the Blue-Cloud initiative, which de-facto piloted a marine thematic node to advance high-quality marine science in support of the European Digital Twin of the Ocean programme and its implementing facilities.

The Node federates multidisciplinary marine data, offering Virtual Research Environments (VREs) and Virtual Labs (VLabs), as well as supporting ocean research and FAIR-based collaboration.

Undertaken by leading European ocean and marine data and knowledge services, research infrastructures and e-infrastructures, the Digital Twin of the Ocean EOSC Node facilitates collaborative research, offering computing, storage, analytical and generic services, orchestrated with a large variety of data resources for constructing, hosting and operating analytical workflows for specific applications.

EOSC Node | Digital Twin of the Ocean homepage

Key objective: To consolidate a marine thematic node in EOSC, and establish the technical and governance conditions that will guide the transition towards becoming a core component of the EDITO core infrastructure platform of the European Digital Twin of the Ocean.

Science areas: Marine and oceanographic research, climate change, biodiversity, ecosystem monitoring, coastal dynamics, fisheries, and biogeochemical modelling.

SCIENTIFIC IMPACT

FAIR data

The pilot Blue-Cloud project (2019-2023) and its successor Blue-Cloud 2026 (2023-2026) have made significant progress combining the interests of EOSC and the blue research communities, successfully reaching a large marine research audience. The Digital Twin of the Ocean EOSC Node aggregates over 10 million datasets from EMODnet, CMEMS, and other infrastructures. It supports FAIR data and metadata via DD&AS, ensuring discoverability and accessibility.

Scientific use cases

Biological sequestration of carbon in the ocean

The scientific use case addresses the ocean’s critical role in mitigating climate change through biological carbon sequestration, a process by which marine microorganisms capture atmospheric carbon dioxide and store it in the deep ocean for centuries.

Despite its global importance for climate modelling, this mechanism remains poorly represented in current models, which still rely on simplified representations of marine ecosystems. The use case seeks to fill this knowledge gap by integrating genomic, environmental, and modelling data within a unified, open, and interoperable framework provided by the EOSC Federation.

EOSC Federation scientific use case – Biological sequestration of carbon in the ocean

Imaging data workflows on Galaxy

This science case on imaging data workflows on Galaxy demonstrates how a federated, open-access computational platform can transform the way imaging data are processed, shared, and reused across diverse scientific domains.

The use case leverages the Galaxy platform to integrate data from a wide range of imaging-based research fields—such as life sciences (microscopy), astrophysics (telescope data), climate science (satellite data), and marine science (underwater imagery)—into a unified analysis environment. The goal is to demonstrate that Galaxy can be integrated into the EOSC Federation’s common infrastructure to serve many disciplines simultaneously, allowing researchers to share workflows, reuse methods, and access powerful computational tools without needing specialised technical expertise.

EOSC Federation scientific use case – Galaxy integration

Other use cases

Facilitating Cross-Domain Web-Based Open Science through Virtual Labs (VLabs)
Assessing Transboundary Processes and Connectivity
Carbon Sequestration and Plankton Dynamics
Eutrophication Assessment – EOV Data Harmonization and Climatology Workbench
A pilot for EOSC nodes collaboration: Integration and testing of FAIR-EASE components within Blue-Cloud’s Virtual Research Environment
Enhancing Marine Research through Collaborative Services: A Synergy Between the Blue-Cloud Marine Thematic Node and the Italian Node

STATUS & TIMELINE

Status

Candidate thematic EOSC Node (Build-up phase)

EOSC Node | Digital Twin of the Ocean Project Charter

The EOSC Federation MoU was signed by the DTO EOSC Node on 18 November 2025.

Deliverables

IT Governance documentation (CNR)
Data protection policies (MARIS)
Operational quality plans (CNR)
Stakeholder engagement strategy (Trust-IT)
Service component roll-out and APIs (CNR)

Technical status

Completed

Federated AAI (OIDC/UMA2)
Onboarded service catalogues
Application workflow management (VLabs)
Service monitoring (FitSM-aligned)
Service and research product accounting
Order management
Helpdesk
Management system (D4Science Service Registry)

CAPABILITIES & ACCESS

COORDINATION

The Digital Twin of the Ocean EOSC Node originated from the Blue-Cloud initiative, which de-facto piloted a marine thematic node to advance high-quality marine science in support of the European Digital Twin of the Ocean programme and its implementing facilities.

FAIR data