Data flow
Within Europe
EurOBIS aims to centralise biogeographic data on marine species collected by European institutions. The data can be collected either inside or outside European waters. If the institute providing the data is European, EurOBIS acts as the responsible OBIS node to make these data available to the wider community.
Data are submitted to EurOBIS through different pathways:
- Individual providers via e.g. email or the EurOBIS IPT instance;
- OBIS European regional nodes - OBIS Black Sea, MedOBIS and OBIS UK;
- OBIS thematic nodes - OBIS Seamap, Oceans Past Initiative (OPI), OBIS Deep Sea, Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) OBIS;
- Other networks - e.g. ICES, EMODnet Biology, LifeWatch;
(International data flow scheme. Click on the image for an enlarged view.)
The EurOBIS system and its data are part of two large European initiatives, EMODnet Biology and
LifeWatch. A strong collaboration exists between these initiatives, resulting - amongst others - in the
active growth of available datasets within EurOBIS and its wider dissemination.
International context
Together with the host institutes or organisations hosting the other OBIS nodes, the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) has committed to continuously support OBIS. This support is achieved by making occurrence information of European marine species freely available online, and by tranferring these data to OBIS on a regular basis. EurOBIS is one of OBIS' largest data providers.
EurOBIS also publishes its data through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), a network of data providers that facilitates the digitisation of biodiversity data and builds a biodiversity information infrastructure. OBIS is recognized as the marine thematic sub-network of GBIF.
There is also a 'back-flow' of data from GBIF to EurOBIS. When EurOBIS is notified (e.g. by users, OBIS, etc.) of the existence of European marine data in GBIF that is not included in the database, a request is sent to GBIF and once the data pass the quality control procedures, it is made available through the existing EurOBIS services.
