ESTABLISHING THE ATLANTIC DISTRIBUTED BIOLOGICAL OBSERVATORY

NEWS


  • The agenda for our upcoming A-DBO Autumn Meeting 2022 is now set, please see further down for more information and link to agenda and registration! Last date to register is 25 October.



BACKGROUND


The Atlantic-Arctic Distributed Biological Observatory (A-DBO) is under development, and envisioned as a comprehensive marine observing system for climate and environment in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic Ocean - one of the key gateway areas of the Arctic, currently experiencing rapid changes in climate and ecosystems.


Together with the pioneering observatory in the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean (DBO), and the recently established Davis Strait DBO, the Atlantic DBO will serve as an important contribution to the pan-arctic collaborative observatory network.


The fundamental incentive for the DBO sampling concept is to work toward better integrated and available observations across disciplines within dedicated geographical areas of common interest and relevance (focus areas). The DBOs are, therefore, aiming to:

•  Cover key ocean phenomena and processes under rapid change 

•  Bring together all disciplines needed to understand the ecosystem functioning

•  Increase the spatio-temporal data coverage within the focus areas
•  Facilitate both dedicated (long-term) and opportunistic sampling

•  Utilize common, harmonized procedures for data sampling and sharing

•  Encourage technological development for improved multidisciplinary coupling 

•  Be sustainable and overarch shorter observational efforts


Arctic PASSION currently provides the means for increased coordination capabilities to establish the A-DBO and the common protocols for sampling, analysis and data sharing.


This webpage serves as our main hub of information during the pilot implementation phase. From here you will be able to find contact info, access common documents, and get the latest information about our events. The implementation process is open to scientists and institutions with interest to collaborate in this region, as well as to end-users who will benefit from results from the A-DBO. The opportunities for getting involved are listed in 'Upcoming Events' below.



Bathymetric map over the Atlantic-Arctic gateway region, in which the A-DBO will be established (tentative Focus areas outlined in yellow). The white lines show the typical (median) sea ice extent for the months of March (dashed) and September (solid), based on a 30-year climatology from 1981 to 2010 as provided by the National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC). Note that this spatial layout is under construction!



UPCOMING EVENTS


A-DBO Autumn Meeting 2022

31 October (11:00 CET) – 1 November (11:00 CET), in Bergen, Norway (+ via TEAMS)


Welcome to our first A-DBO dedicated autumn meeting!

Focus will be put on defining the fundamental spatio-temporal characteristics of the A-DBO and the associated core parameters to sample. We will also make time for planning of cruise activities in upcoming seasons, and for sharing provisional results and metadata from recent sampling activities.


The meeting is open to all who have an interest in joining these collaborative network activities.
Please find the agenda and registration form here. The registration is open until 25 October!



ASSW2023 DBO Sessions

17 – 24 February, in Vienna, Austria


All DBOs (Atlantic, Pacific, Davis Strait) will be represented at the Arctic Science Summit Week 2023:

• ASSW 2023 Business and Community Meetings (17 - 21 February 2023)

• ASSW 2023 Science Symposium (21 - 24 February 2023)

The programme will be finalized in November 2022 and shared here shortly thereafter. For more information on attending ASSW2023, see the official website.


PAST ACTIVITIES

ASSW2022 Session on Establishing the Distributed Biological Observatory system in the Atlantic Sector of the Arctic Ocean 

27 March 2022 in Tromsø, Norway


A workshop was held during the Arctic Science Summit Week to invigorate the process initiated in 2016 to implement a comprehensive marine observing system for climate and environment in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic Ocean. With inspiration from the Pacific DBO system and existing long term observational programmes on the Atlantic side, discussions were initiated about priorities for sampling locations, variables, and methods as well as means of collaboration. A steering group was established to support the work of the executive team. 


For a summary of the workshop, please see the meeting minutes.



CONTACTS


Executive team:
Arild Sundfjord and Anna Nikolopoulos (NPI), Marit Reigstad (UiT)

Steering group:
Agnieszka Beszczyńska-Möller (IOPAN), Michael Karcher (AWI), Angelika Renner (IMR), Mikael Sejr (AU), Thomas Soltwedel (AWI), and Laura de Steur (NPI).