SOCIB: The Balearic Islands Coastal Ocean Observing and Forecasting System Responding to Science, Technology and Society Needs

TLDR

New monitoring technologies are increasingly deployed in coastal and open‑ocean observatories, and the Mediterranean Sea serves as a natural laboratory for studying meso‑ and submesoscale processes, while such infrastructures foster international cooperation and scientific breakthroughs. The paper aims to describe SOCIB’s structure and present its science‑, technology‑, and society‑driven outcomes relevant to global ocean research. SOCIB is a multiplatform, distributed, integrated observing and forecasting system that spans nearshore to open sea, leveraging the Balearic Islands’ strategic Atlantic/Mediterranean position to address biodiversity and societal needs. Recent SOCIB results demonstrate its effectiveness in advancing global ocean science, technology, and societal applications.

Abstract

Abstract New monitoring technologies are being progressively implemented in open-ocean and coastal observatories. The Mediterranean Sea is a well-known, reduced-scale ocean, an ideal natural laboratory to study global ocean processes, in particular those associated with meso- and submesoscale variability, interactions with mean flows and associated ecosystem response. SOCIB, the Balearic Islands Coastal Ocean Observing and Forecasting System, is one of such observatories, a multiplatform distributed and integrated system, a facility of facilities that extends from the nearshore to the open sea. SOCIB profits from the strategic position of the Balearic Islands at the Atlantic/Mediterranean transition area, one of the “hot spots” of biodiversity in the world’s oceans, and also of societal needs in islands where preservation of the environment is essential to assure both residents’ welfare and the competitiveness of the tourist sector. SOCIB is unique in that, from peer-reviewed excellence, its mission and objectives are science-, technology-, and society-driven. These types of new marine infrastructures, because of their critical mass and sustained funding, are presently establishing new ways of international cooperation, leading to major science breakthroughs, innovations in oceanographic instrumentation, and new ways of more efficient and science-based coastal and ocean management. We describe the major elements and structure of SOCIB and present some recent scientific, technological, and society-related results that are of relevance at a global ocean scale.