PLOCAN hosts in thee week of 20th November the 3rd General Assembly of the European AtlantOS Project. The plenary sessions will take place in The Alfredo Kraus Auditorium of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on the 22nd and 23rd of November, while the rest of the sessions have been organized in the PLOCAN onshore facilities. The objective of the AtlantOS project is to act as an umbrella and organise oceanic observation activities into an integral Atlantic Ocean observation system.

PLOCAN, partner in the AtlantOS Project, which is led by one of the leading benchmarks in the field of marine research in Europe, the German GEOMAR institute, is hosting the III general assembly. The assembly will tackle the co-ordination and enhancing the efficiency of oceanic observation systems. These improvements will translate into an Integral Atlantic Ocean Observation System (IAOOS).

The AtlantOS Project will represent a major contribution to the Global Ocean Observing System, as it intends to enhance existing co-ordination in observation activities and information management, and help to off-set the deficiencies of Global Earth Observation systems by enhancing access to, and availability of data.

The event brings together 62 partners representing companies and institutions linked to the Atlantic Ocean marine and maritime sector from 18 countries of Europe, Africa and America.

AtlantOS will support activities to share, integrate and standardise oceanic observations, it will help to reduce costs by optimising existing observation networks and by deploying new technologies, and it will increase the competitiveness of the European industry, especially the small and medium-sized enterprises working in the marine-maritime sector.

PLOCAN plays a leading role in AtlantOS, helping to improve ship-based observation networks by providing new equipment for taking bio-geo-chemical measurements at the Time Series Station (ESTOC) that it manages, and by undertaking a range of missions in collaboration with other partners, using remotely-operated marine observation vehicles.

GEOMAR is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres and its main task is to study chemical, physical, biological and geological processes in the oceans and their interaction with the ocean floor and the atmosphere. Their research focuses on four key areas: oceanic circulation and climatic dynamics; marine bio-geo-chemistry, marine ecology and ocean dynamics.

The AtlantOS project has been funded by the Horizon 2020 European Union research and innovation programme through Grant Agreement nº 633211.